Three British athletes continue to compete for Paralympic qualification in – British Para Table Tennis

Chris Ryan (Men's Class 2), Jack Hunter-Spivey (Men's Class 5) and Megan Shackleton (Women's Class 4) are all still battling for a place at the Paralympic Tournament in Paris heading into the final day of the Paralympic World Qualification Tournament in Pattaya, Thailand. But there was disappointment for Tom Matthews (Men's Class 1) and Ross Wilson (Men's Class 9) who lost in the quarter-finals, while Theo Bishop (Men's Class 7) and Grace Williams (Women's Class 8) crashed out in the group stages of their respective events and their hopes of to participate in Paris now depends on receiving a wildcard.

Men's class 2

Chris Ryan defeated world number 14 Guilherme Marcio Da Costa in five sets at the Brazilian Open in February and their Group 3 match was another big difference. Ryan led 10-6 in the first set but lost it 12-10, but he put that behind him to take the next two 11-6 and 11-9 before the Para Pan American silver medalist from Brazil again the score was level at 2-2 and the decisive set was secured at 11-5 and the match was won 3-2.

Ryan started well against Peter Isherwood, taking the first set 11-5, but the Canadian took the next two and looked in control until Ryan took the fourth 11-4 to level the match and then the deciding set to win 11-6. That took him through to the quarter-finals, where he endured another five-set battle against Masanori Uno, taking the deciding set 11-4 after the world number 21 from Japan had leveled the match twice.

Tomorrow he will play in the semi-finals against world number 12, Thirayu Chueawong from Thailand.

Men's class 5

Jack Hunter-Spivey had lost his last two matches against Sem Roelofs in Spain and Poland earlier this season and came through a thrilling fourth set 19-17 to beat the 26-year-old world number 20 from the Netherlands 3-1 with his eighth match point. He never recovered from a slow start against the improving Isak Nyholm and after winning a tight second set 12-10 to lead 2-0, the 20-year-old world number 17 from Sweden took the third 11-8 and completed a 3-0 win.

Hunter-Spivey advanced from the group as runners-up after Nyholm won a five-set battle against Roelofs and he showed his resilience with a much improved performance by beating the in-form Norakan Chanpahaka of Thailand 3-1 in the quarter-finals defeat. Tomorrow he will play world bronze medalist Lucas Carvalhal Arabian of Brazil in the semi-finals.

Ladies class 4

Megan Shackleton dropped just 10 points in a 3-0 win against Al-Watani Para Open and Kazakhstan Para Open bronze medalist Alexandra Stepanova of Kazakhstan and then showed all her fighting skills against veteran Lu Pi-chun, drawing the match twice before losing the deciding set against world number 13 Chinese Taipei 11-7.

Shackleton left the group in second place after Lu defeated Stepanova and will play 18-year-old Ena Miyazaki of Japan in the quarter-finals tomorrow.

Men's class 1

Tom Matthews was impressive in beating Antreas Aravis, the Al-Watani Para Open gold medalist from Cyprus, 3-0, but then lost in a big battle with Silvio Keller, the former European bronze medalist from Switzerland. Matthews recovered from dropping the first set to lead 2-1, but Keller is such a tough competitor and he got back to level at 2-2 to take the deciding set 11-7.

Matthews emerged second from the group and faced world bronze medalist Andrea Borgato in the quarter-finals. The pair have had some great battles in the past with Matthews winning their most recent meeting in Slovenia 3-1, but today it was the Italian who came out on top, taking the deciding set after Matthews bravely fought back from 2-0 to level at 2-2.

Men's class 9

Ross Wilson recovered from a slow start, coming back from 6-1 down to take the first set 11-9 from Jan Reinig of Germany. He trailed 10-7 in the second and picked up five straight points to make it 12-10 before recording a 3-0 win, and 11-7 in the third. He started much better against Dinesh Pitiyage Don Silva, leading 8-2 in the first set, but Sri Lanka's Al-Watani Para Open gold medalist leveled at 8-8 before taking the set 11-9 won. Wilson came back to take the second 11-9 but couldn't find any consistency and Pitiyage Don Silva won the match 3-1.

Wilson, who was requalified from Class 8 to Class 9 last September, emerged second from the group and a 3-0 win over Hungary's former European medalist Dezso Bereczki in the last 16 put him through to the quarter-finals against Liu Chaodong . The pair met at the Polish Open in March when Liu won in four sets and although Wilson played excellently, winning the second set 11-3 after losing a tight first set 12-10, the Asian bronze medalist Para Games from China the third 11-3. 7 and secured a 3-1 victory, 11-9 in the fourth.

Men's class 7

The day after his 21st birthday^st birthday Theo Bishop could not repeat his victory against Ben Despineux in Slovenia earlier this month and the Belgian used all his experience to secure a 3-0 win. Bishop put in a fighting performance to beat Thailand's World Ability Games silver medalist Suriyone Thapaeng 3-2, but as Thapaeng had previously defeated Despineux 3-0 the group was decided on countback and Bishop was unlucky to he missed out on a place in the knockout. stages.

Ladies class 8

After losing the first set to Kanlaya Chaiwut-Kriabklang, Grace Williams fought back to 1-1, but the Asian Para Games bronze medalist won the next two 11-8 11-9 for a 3-1 win. Williams started well against Elena Litvinenko, taking the first set 11-8, but the former world number five, who competes as an individual neutral athlete, came back to win the match 3-1.