Tom Matthews
Date and place of birth: 19/08/1992, Merthyr Tydfil
Home town: Aberdare
Lives: Cwmbach
TT Class: 1
Current world ranking: 5
International debut: 2013, Hungarian Open
Major titles: European team champion 2015
Tom’s story:
Tom was a promising mountain biker when he had a fall while out riding with his uncle and a friend in March 2009, which left him wheelchair bound at the age of 16.
“I was racing down a mountain and I went over the handlebars and broke my neck,” he recalls. “I’ve always been competitive and also played rugby and football before my accident. I was looking to become a professional mountain biker but then my accident changed all that.”
While undergoing rehab in Rookwood Hospital he was encouraged to try table tennis by Jim Munkley from Disability Sport Wales. “I wasn’t very keen initially,” says Tom, “as part of me was still thinking that I might go back to what I was doing before my accident. But Jim and GB international Sara Head kept encouraging me to give table tennis a go and the first time I played they couldn’t get me off the table. I just fell in love with it.”
Although he initially trained with the Welsh squad after leaving hospital Matthews then turned his back on the sport, a decision that he still feels was right for him.
“My mind wasn’t 100% on sport - it was more like an activity to do at that time,” he explained. “Having my accident at the age of 16 it became important to get back to normality. So I started going out with the boys and started drinking quite heavily to be honest. I just carried on doing that for about two years – going out as much as I could and just getting back into society. Then towards the end of 2012 I rang Jim up and said ‘could I give it another shot’ and he was more than willing to have me back. He could see some potential in me and I ended up going back and getting classified in 2013.”
Tom won his first major medals at the European Championships in 2015, taking bronze in the men’s class 1 singles and gold in the team event. Having missed out on qualification for Rio due to a broken leg he returned to win the US Open and in 2017 he partnered fellow Welshman Paul Davies to win bronze in the World Team Championships in Slovakia. In October he was part of an historic one-two-three for GB in the men’s class 1 singles at the European Championships, losing to Paralympic champion Rob Davies in the final.
Tom won bronze in the World Championships in 2018 but was hampered by a shoulder injury in 2019 and struggled to find his best form, losing in the quarterfinals at the European Championships to the Russian Dmitry Lavrov.
The postponement of the Paralympic Games in 2020 gave Tom the opportunity to regain full fitness and he played superbly in Tokyo, beating the World number three Ki-won Nam from Korea, Lavrov and former World and European medallist Andrea Borgato from Italy on his way to securing a bronze medal in the men’s class 1 singles on his Paralympic debut.
“It’s my first Games so I’ve got to be proud of coming home with a medal,” he said. “I didn’t think I’d do that. It’s been a massive experience - the team has been amazing, and I’ve been so proud to be part of ParalympicsGB.”
In 2022 Tom was bitterly disappointed to lose a very close quarterfinal at the World Championships to the World number one Joo Young Dae, 13-11 in the fifth, and at the European Championships in Sheffield in 2023, he took bronze after losing his semifinal to the eventual gold medallist Endre Major from Hungary.
“Obviously I’m really disappointed and I have to take it on the chin and come back strongly,” he said. I’m proud of the medal but I didn’t want that colour.”
In 2024 Tom just missed out on automatic qualification for Paris on his world ranking. After taking silver in the Slovenia Open, beating the World number one and World number three he was unable to produce his best form at the Paralympic World Qualification Tournament in Thailand, losing in the quarterfinals to Andrea Borgato, but subsequently received a wild card from the IPC to compete in Paris.
He was unlucky to come up against the two-time Para PanAmerican champion Yunier Fernandez in the quarterfinals of the men’s class 1 singles and the Cuban was a 3-1 winner on his way to becoming Paralympic champion.
“It was just one of those games,” said Tom. “I couldn’t really get going and he was the better guy on the day I’ve got to give him credit for that. I’m proud of the way I kept fighting and I always will keep fighting. I’ve been through bigger things in my life and I fought through those so I’ll keep fighting until I get that gold medal. It’s been an honour to represent ParalympicsGB again. Sadly, I didn’t get the medal this time but LA 2028 let’s hope.”
2024 Results:
Paralympic Games, Paris – QF, men’s singles (class 1); QF, men’s doubles (class 4)
Paralympic World Qualification Tournament, Thailand – QF, men’s singles (class 1)
Slovenia Open – silver, men’s singles (class 1); group stages, men’s doubles (class 4)
Costa Brava Spanish Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 1); group stages, men’s doubles (class 8)
2023 Results:
European Championships, Sheffield, UK – bronze, men’s singles (class 1); QF, men’s doubles (class 4)
Czech Para Open – gold, men’s singles (class 1)
Slovenia Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 1); group stages, men’s doubles (class 4)
Lignano Masters Open, Italy – QF, men’s singles (class 1); group stages, men’s doubles (class 4)
2022 Results:
World Championships, Spain – QF, men’s singles (class 1)
Czech Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 1)
Slovenia Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 1)
2021 Results:
Paralympic Games, Tokyo – bronze, men’s singles (class 1)
2020 Results:
Costa Brava Spanish Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 1); group stages, men’s teams (class 1-2)
Polish Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 1)
2019 Results:
Dutch Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 1)
European Championships, Sweden – QF, men’s singles (class 1)
Czech Open – QF, men’s singles (class 1)
Slovenia Open – L16, men’s singles (class 1); group stages, men’s teams (class 1)
Lignano Master Open, Italy – QF, men’s singles (class 1); group stages, men’s teams (class 1)
2018 Results:
World Championships, Slovenia – bronze, men’s singles (class 1)
Slovenian Open – silver, men’s teams (class 1); QF, men’s singles (class 1)
Lignano Master Open, Italy – gold, men’s singles (class 1); silver, men’s teams (class 1)
2017 Results:
European Championships, Lasko, Slovenia – silver, men’s singles (class 1)
Bayreuth Open, Germany – gold, men’s teams (class 1); group stages, men’s singles (class 1)
World Team Championships, Slovakia – bronze, men’s class 1
Slovenia Open – silver, men’s teams (class 1); group stages, men’s singles (class 1)
Lignano Master Open, Italy – bronze, men’s singles (class 1); silver, men’s teams (class 1)
2016 Results:
US Open - gold, men’s singles (class 1)
Lignano Master Open, Italy - bronze, men’s singles (men’s class 1); runner-up, men’s teams (class 1)
2015 Results:
Copa Costa Rica - silver, men’s singles (class 1); silver, men’s teams (class 1)
European Championships, Vejle, Denmark - gold, men’s teams (class 1); bronze, men’s singles (class 1)
Korea Open - 3rd, men’s singles RR (class 1); 2nd, men’s teams RR (class 1-2)
Bayreuth Open, Germany - gold, men’s teams (class 1); bronze, men’s singles (class 1)
Slovakia Open - bronze, men’s teams (class 1); group stages, men’s singles (class 1)
Slovenia Open - bronze, men’s teams (class 1); group stages, men’s singles (class 1)
Lignano Master Open, Italy - silver, men’s teams (class 1); QF men’s singles (class 1)
Hungarian Open - bronze, men’s singles (class 1); silver, men’s teams (class 1)
2014 Results:
Cote d’Azur International, France - group stages, men’s singles (class 1); 4th men’s teams RR (class 1)
Spanish Open - group stages, men’s singles (class 1-2); 5th men’s teams RR (class 1-2)
Romania Open - bronze, men’s teams (class 1-2); group stages, men’s singles (class 1)
Slovakia Open - group stages, men’s singles (class 1); group stages, men’s teams (class 1)
Slovenia Open - bronze, men’s teams (class 1); group stages, men’s singles (class 1)
Lignano Master Open, Italy - group stages, men’s singles (class 1)
National Championships - winner, men’s singles (class 1-2)
Career Highlights:
2023: European Championships, Sheffield, UK – bronze, men’s singles (class 1)
Czech Para Open – gold, men’s singles (class 1)
2021 Paralympic Games, Tokyo – bronze, men’s singles (class 1)
2018: World Championships, Slovenia – bronze, men’s singles (class 1)
Lignano Master Open, Italy – gold, men’s singles (class 1); silver, men’s teams (class 1)
2017: European Championships, Lasko, Slovenia – silver, men’s singles (class 1)
Bayreuth Open, Germany – gold, men’s teams (class 1)
World Team Championships, Slovakia – bronze, men’s class 1
2016: US Open - gold, men’s singles (class 1)
Lignano Master Open, Italy - bronze, men’s singles (men’s class 1)
2015: Copa Costa Rica - silver, men’s singles (class 1); silver, men’s teams (class 1)
European Championships, Vejle, Denmark - gold, men’s teams (class 1); bronze, men’s singles (class 1)
Bayreuth Open, Germany - gold, men’s teams (class 1); bronze, men’s singles (class 1)
2013: US Open, San Diego - silver, men’s singles (class 1); bronze, men’s teams (class 1-2)