Paisley table tennis star Martin Perry made a superb start to the qualifying process for the Paralympic Games in Tokyo next year as he came away from the Lignano Master Open, in Italy, with two medals.
First up for the 24-year-old was the men’s class six singles category, where he received a bye into the quarter-finals after seeing off world number six Bob Simion, of Romania, 3-0 to top his group and guarantee a bronze medal.
Perry couldn’t quite upgrade that bronze but there was more success over the weekend, with the Paisley star shining in the men’s class six team event.
Competing alongside David Wetherill and Paul Karabardak, the British trio topped their group with 2-0 wins over France and Israel, which gave them a bye into the semi-finals, where they beat Slovakia to set up a final against Romania’s Simion and Valentine Kneuss, of Switzerland, with Wetherill and Karabardak combining to win the doubles.
With the doubles taken care of, it fell to Perry to take on Kneuss in the singles with a chance to clinch the gold.
Perry put in an impressive performance to win by three sets to one and secure a gold in his first tournament of the season.
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“It’s great to grab another medal with Dave and PK,” said Perry. “It’s always even better when it is gold. The three of us were a really tight unit out here and I think it showed the way we played. I feel that I’ve played some really good table tennis which I’m hoping to build on as it’s only the first competition of the season so it is exciting times.”
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