British Para table tennis Pathway athlete Shae Thakker from High Wycombe (pictured above) won his first gold medal in the men’s class 10 singles at the 2024 SQY French Para Open in Voisins les Bretonneux in the south-western suburbs of Paris on Tuesday. Chris Ryan was just edged out in the final of men’s class 1-2 and took silver, while Max Flint took bronze in men’s class 10.

Men’s class 10

Shae Thakker was a 3-1 winner against 18-year-old Dominik Bartosik from Poland and progressed from group 3 despite a 3-0 loss to 16-year-old Marlon Lopez from Spain. He won his quarterfinal against Yann Yi Ming Gores 3-0 and then produced a great performance to beat the World number 12 from Poland Pawel Wlodyka 3-2, fighting back from 2-1 down to edge a close fourth set 12-10 before taking the fifth 11-9.

That took him through to his first final where he faced Marat Surtubayev, the 52-year-old newcomer from Kazakhstan. Thakker started well and edged a close second set 13-11 to lead 2-0 but Surtubayev came back to level at 2-2 and take it into a nail-biting deciding set that Thakker eventually took 15-13 after saving four match points.

“I’m very proud to win my first gold medal for GB,” said 21-year-old Thakker, who is studying for a Masters in sport and exercise psychology at the University of Sheffield and was competing in his first international tournament for over a year. “It feels like it’s been a long time coming and I’m so happy to finally have achieved this. Although I feel that I didn’t start the tournament in the best way I think I managed to reset well for today and go again. To beat a player in the top 15 in the world in the semi-final gave me a lot of confidence and I tried to take this into the final. It was a good match, and my opponent was very strong and kept fighting so I’m very happy to have managed to win in the end, saving four match points.

“I’d like to say thank you to Shaun (BPTT Pathway Manager Shaun Marples) and Matjaz (BPTT Pathway coach Matjaz Sercer) who have been so supportive of me. Both give me so much confidence and I’m so grateful to them.”

Max Flint won his first match against 17-year-old newcomer Yann Yi Ming Gores from Netherlands 3-1 and after beating 14-year-old newcomer Jan Dukalski from Poland 3-0 he received a bye into the semi-finals as winner of group 2. After losing the first two sets against Marat Surtubayev he fought back to win the third 11-8 but Surtubayev took the fourth 11-6 to secure a 3-1 win.

“I felt that I played well in the group matches,” said Flint. “I was a bit nervous at the start, but I played myself into it and prepared well for every match. One thing I could have done better was to play more positively and relaxed, but I’ve enjoyed the whole experience so far and will use it as a learning experience when I go back.”

Men’s class 1-2

With men’s classes 1 and 2 combined Chris Ryan began with a 3-0 win against Ivan Pombo Fernandez from Spain followed by a 3-1 win against Alan Papirer, the class 1 former European team silver medallist from France. He led 9-4 and 10-7 in the first set against Dirk Kretzschmar before the Swiss class 2 player came back to edge it 12-10. Ryan took the next two 11-5 11-4 but Kretzschmar took the fourth 11-7 to level at 2-2 and take it into a deciding set.  The Swiss seemed to have the momentum and led 3-0 but Ryan fought back to take the set 11-6 and secure his place in the quarterfinals as group winner.

After edging a tight first set 13-11 he went on to complete a 3-0 win against Mitsuhiro Matsuo, the former Asian Para Games team silver medallist from Japan, and then beat his compatriot Masanori Uno 3-0 in the semi-final.

In the final he faced the very experienced Tomasz Jakimczuk, the World and European doubles bronze medallist from Poland. The pair met in Slovenia in May when World number 19 Jakimczuk won in four sets and at 2-0, 9-5 he looked to be on course for a 3-0 win. But Ryan, who led the GB wheelchair rugby team to gold in Tokyo, is nothing if not a fighter and he came back to take the third set 11-9 and the fourth 11-8 to level at 2-2. The fifth set was nip and tuck all the way and Ryan had match points at 10-9 and 11-10 but Jakimczuk saved them both before taking the set 15-13 on his third match point to secure the gold.

“I’m pleased with how I played today,” said Ryan. “The first two games I was a lot more focused and locked in compared to yesterday which was good and I’m proud of the fight back in the final. I found something during the match and fought back. Disappointing obviously to lose after having match points but I think progression has been shown as I struggled against him last time. A big winter of practice now.”

Men’s class 6

In group 1 Daniel Thomson started well against Piotr Manturz taking the first set 12-10 before the number one seed from Poland came back to win 3-1. The 19-year-old from Brighton progressed to the quarterfinals as group runner-up after a 3-0 win against Amalio Castillo Rodrigues from Spain but went out after a 3-0 loss to Nicklas Jensen from Denmark.

Jacob Wicks recovered from 8-4 down in the first set to beat the experienced former Asian Championships medallist Junki Itai from Japan 3-0 and followed that with a 3-0 win against Francisco Gomez Jimenez from Spain. He lost his final group 2 match against Rafal Kraft, the Czech Para Open bronze medallist from Poland, 3-1 but progressed to the quarterfinals where he lost 3-0 to the 2023 US Open bronze medallist Gabriel Seguin from Canada.

Men’s class 7

Theo Bishop was a 3-0 winner against Pablo Romero from Spain and then lost a close five-set battle against the Austrian Christian Scheiber 11-8 in the deciding set. At 2-0, 8-5 he looked to be heading for a 3-0 win against Huang Ren Ting but a timeout worked well for the 19-year-old from Chinese Taipei and he took the set 12-10 before Bishop secured a 3-1 win 13-11 in the fourth. That took him through to a quarterfinal against World number 10 Bjoern Schnake and although he took the third set 12-10 to keep himself in the match the European bronze medallist from Germany won 3-1.

Men’s class 8

Ryan Henry was a 3-0 winner against newcomer Diego Carrasco Olivos from Spain and was then beaten 3-0 by 21-year-old Frenchman Edgar Empis. He progressed from group 5 as runner-up after a 3-1 win against Mohit Singh from Germany but went out after a 3-1 loss in the last 16 to Nicklas Westerberg, the former class 7 European bronze medallist from Sweden.

On his international debut Jaiden Caldeira lost 3-0 to Polish teenager Marcin Zielinski and 3-0 to 16-year-old Yehonatan Levi from Israel. In his final group match against Hamza Taleb he fought back well from 2-0 down to level at 2-2 but did not progress from group 2 after losing the deciding set to the Belgian 11-6.

The tournament continues with the doubles events that conclude tomorrow.

The full British squad for the SQY French Para Open is:

Chris Ryan, 33, Welwyn Garden City (class 2)

Daniel Thomson, 19, Brighton/Sheffield (class 7)

Jacob Wicks, 19, Cwmbran/Sheffield (class 6)

Jaiden Caldeira, 20, Barnet (class 8)

Max Flint, 20, Guildford/Loughborough (class 10)

Ryan Henry, 24, Ardrossan/Sheffield (class 8)

Shae Thakker, 21, High Wycombe/Sheffield (class 10)

Theo Bishop, 21, Rossendale/Sheffield (class 7)