STONEHOUSE'S Billy Shilton has been included in a squad of 11 athletes that will represent ParalympicsGB in the table tennis events at the Paralympic Games in Paris next month.

The 25-year-old from Stonehouse received a wild card to compete in the Tokyo Paralympic Games where he took team bronze and his continued improvement since then secured automatic qualification for Paris on his World ranking in men’s class 8 after taking singles gold in the Costa Brava Spanish Open in March.

“Obviously to go to any Paralympic Games is special,” said Shilton, “but I think this time it is a bit different, and I managed to qualify by ranking which is a nice feeling. For me the last three years have been really tough, and I’ve put a lot of work in and I’m happy that the results that I’ve picked up over the last three years have shown. I’m absolutely buzzing to be honest.

“In Tokyo I was so happy to be there I would have taken anything and I was so happy with the bronze but this time I believe that I’m meant to be there and I believe I can win a medal. I’m doing everything I can in the (training) hall to make sure that happens and all the work that we put in in the hall shows in the tournaments especially in situations where it really counts. I genuinely believe that I am one of the best players in the world in class 8 and I’m definitely striving towards a medal.”

Team events have been replaced with doubles and Shilton is also hoping to add the Paralympic title to the World title that he and partner Paul Karabardak won in the men’s class 14 doubles in Spain in 2022.

“Doubles is first which will be quite nice for me and Paul because apart from the Worlds which obviously went really well, in all the other tournaments doubles has been last and if you have a really good singles tournament and your partner doesn’t or the other way round it can be difficult to reset and really focus on doubles. So, I think from that sense it is a positive that we will play doubles first but they are both really important and I’m looking forward to competing in both events.

“Trust is massively important in a doubles partnership and that starts off the table – Paul and I both want to win so badly and our relationship off the table is really good. When you get on to the table it should be all about winning. It’s difficult because I train in Sheffield and Paul is based in Wales so it is very important that we get as much practice as we can and the more repetition we have the better it gets. It’s going in the right direction and I think we will be at our peak in Paris.”

Unlike Tokyo where due to Covid restrictions there were no spectators Shilton will have the support of family and friends in Paris and he is looking forward to a very different Paralympic experience.

“All of my family are going to be there and my friends from home,” he said, “and if I’m going through a difficult patch or a good patch it will be nice to have them there supporting me. Tokyo was my only experience and due to Covid we were so restricted on what we could do and there was no crowd which I think was quite good for me for my first Paralympics but this time I’m really excited and it feels like my first Games again as there are so many things we didn’t do last time that we get to do this time which is something I haven’t experienced before.

“I remember the build-up last time – the atmosphere was so good in the training hall and it was a really exciting time so I’m looking forward to that. We’ve all worked so hard to get to this point that you’ve got to enjoy it. I know it is hard work and there can be difficult moments but the more you enjoy it the more rewarding it will be when we get to Paris.”

The table tennis events in Paris will take place from August 29-September 7 at the South Paris Arena 4 with the doubles events preceding the singles.