European champions included in squad for Belgian Open

The British Para Table Tennis Team is sending a 19-strong squad to the PTT Belgian Open that takes place in Sint-Niklaas from October 28-30.

Newly crowned European team gold medalists Paul Karabardak and Martin Perry are among six players from the Performance Squad together with London 2012 bronze medalist Paul Davies, five time Paralympian Sue Gilroy and teenagers Megan Shackleton and Billy Shilton.

The 13 players from the Pathway and Development squads include Craig Allen, Conor McAdam and Shae Thakker, who all won gold in their respective classes at the Romania Junior (U23) Open in March; Jack Stockdale, gold medallist in this year’s Italian Junior (U23) Open and Alex Bland, gold medallist in the men’s class 7 team event at the Spanish Open in June.

“Automatic qualification places for next year’s World Championships will be decided at the end of this year,” said BPTT Performance Director Gorazd Vecko, “and the players we are sending to Belgium from the Performance Squad either need tournament credits or ranking points to secure qualification. It will also be exciting to see how the young players from the Pathway and Development squads are progressing and they will all benefit from the experience of another international competition.”

The full list of players competing in the Belgian Open is:

Craig Allen – Bromsgrove, class 9
Alex Bland – Rotherham, class 7
Marc Bonnar – Ingleby, class 2
Lucie Bouron – Bracknell, class 3
Daniel Bullen – St Neots, class 5
Paul Davies – North Cornelly, class 1
Tamlan Eastwood – Swansea, class 9
Susan Gilroy – Barnsley, class 4
Cellan Hall – Bridgend, class 5
Ryan Henry – Ardrossan, class 8
Paul Karabardak – Swansea, class 6
Conor McAdam – Dundonald, class 6
Martin Perry – Paisley/Sheffield, class 6
Felicity Pickard – Burnley, class 6
Megan Shackleton – Todmorden, class 4
Billy Shilton – Stonehouse (Gloucestershire)/Sheffield, class 8
Josh Stacey – St Mellons, class 9 (TBC)
Jack Stockdale – Romford, class 10
Shae Thakker – Slough, class 10

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