Gillian stars for England at PingPongParkinson Worlds

There was a 'medley of medals' for English players with Parkinson's at the recent fifth PingPongParkinson World Championship in Slovenia.

One of the participants, Rob Cook from Leeds, shares his experiences and reports on the success.

For people with Parkinson's, exercise, and especially table tennis, is the best and perhaps only way to slow the progression of Parkinson's.

I was part of a team of English players who took part in the recent PingPongParkinson World Championships in Slovenia. As well as the challenge and fun of competition, this event offers a brilliant, supportive community.

The small and picturesque Slovenian town of Lasko welcomed more than 300 participants, many with supporters and partners, from 28 countries, including Japan, the US and Brazil, with Germany sending by far the largest contingent. During five competition days, 30 tables were in use at all times.

People with Parkinson's play table tennis in one of three classes, defined by factors such as time since diagnosis, the effect of Parkinson's on daily life and age, with the best table tennis players generally being in Class 1. For each competition there is a consolation cup (or plate), for people who are eliminated in the group stage of each competition, which runs parallel to the main competition.

The undisputed star of the show for England was Gillian Lacey-Solymar, who has only been playing table tennis for a few months and, as she says, has never played a competitive sport. But now that she has been introduced to table tennis, she has really caught the bug! After achieving a very creditable bronze with Gary Lee in the Class 2 mixed doubles, Gillian took gold in the Class 3 women's singles.

Gillian (pictured above at the top of the podium – photo by Sanjin Strukic) is a member of the Movers and shakers group whose award-winning podcast raises awareness of Parkinson's. Gillian also appears to be a big believer in the benefits of table tennis.

This was my third consecutive world championship and for the first time I was moving up to Class 2, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was happy to finish second (out of six) by winning the final match of an excellent round-robin group, which saw players all play matches against each other. I dug deep to beat two Germans in consecutive knockout rounds, before falling to a third Matthias Schwarz, who went on to win the title in the semi-finals.

In both men's doubles and mixed doubles I had the daunting prospect of playing in Grade 1 as my respective partners were at that level. Neil Stainthorpe and I played quite well but were outclassed.

I played mixed with Mayumi Kanie, from Japan, for the third year in a row. Wed reached the Class 3 final in 2022 and lost in five of the eventual winners in Class 2 last year. We barely managed to get through our group but then reached the semi-finals of the Consolation Cup. We were 2-0 up against an extremely strong German duo before they came together and won the match back very disappointingly for me and Mayumi.

The PingPongParkinson World Championship is a fantastic event because it brings people together to create new bonds through table tennis, with the level of competition increasing every year.

English medals were won by:

• Gillian Lacey-Solymar (London): gold, women's singles (Class 3)
• Rob Cook (Leeds): bronze, men's singles (Class 2)
• Gary Lee (Essex) and Gillian Lacey-Solymar (London): bronze, mixed doubles (Class 2).
• Rob Dawson (Sheffield) with Sandra Muller (Germany): silver, mixed doubles (Class 1 Consolation Cup)
• Gillian Lacey-Solymar (London) with Petra Kuhnert (Germany): silver, women's doubles (Class 3 Consolation Cup)
• Rob Cook (Leeds) with Mayumi Kanie (Japan): bronze, mixed doubles (Class 1 Consolation Cup)
• Pauline Jones (Essex): bronze, women's singles (Class 2 Consolation Cup)
• Liz Houghton (Bedford) and Pauline Jones (Essex): bronze, women's doubles (Class 2 Consolation Cup)
• Liz Houghton (Bedford) and Pauline Jones (Essex): bronze, women's doubles (Class 2 Consolation Cup)

Want to know more about table tennis and Parkinson's?

If you have Parkinson's, or know someone who does, you can find a local table tennis group through your local table tennis group Parkinson UK website.

Read Table Tennis England's People with Parkinsons Partnership Review.

Blogs by people with Parkinson's that talk a lot about table tennis: