Billy Shilton has experienced the joy of becoming a world champion and now he is targeting a Paralympic gold in Paris.

Shilton & Paul Karabardak took the Men’s Class 14 Doubles in Spain in 2022 in only their second tournament together, and in the final they overcame the Thai pair who will be top seeds in Paris.

With another two years of experience under their belts, Shilton & Karabardak will be sixth seeds but have realistic aims to get into the medal shake-up.

“I trust Paul all the way,” said the 25-year-old from Gloucestershire. “With the doubles, I think it’s special because you want to win for yourself, but you want them to do so well as well. And that can mean so much more.

“I remember when we won the Worlds, I was so happy that I got to share that moment with Paul. If you’re out there on your own, it’s obviously still amazing, but to share it with someone else is amazing.

“I honestly believe we can win. After the Worlds, our performances weren’t great but as a team, we’ve done a lot of work together (since then).

“It’s obviously quite challenging because Paul lives in Wales and I live here in Sheffield, but a lot of Zoom calls, a lot of analysis . . . and the last few months we’ve been playing really, really well. So yeah, I genuinely believe we can win.”

Being a left-hand, right-hand combination will help, and Shilton added: “I think it’s definitely a positive for us. With the movement difficulties me and Paul have, I think that helps us even more.

“I think there’s certain balls that me and Paul can set each other up for, which I think’s really helpful. Maybe if it was right-right, you’d obviously have to cross around and move around each other, but we’re side-to-side movement, so that’s a lot easier for us as a pair.”

Shilton was part of the team which won Men’s Class 8 Team bronze in Tokyo, and reached the quarter-finals of the singles – so the aim is simply to go further in the latter.

He will be sixth seed and has some good results to draw on from earlier in the season, notably winning gold in the men’s class 8 singles at the Costa Brava Spanish Open in March, which sealed his place in Paris.

“I genuinely believe I can win a medal in the singles,” he said. “This season’s been a really good season for me. I got my highest ranking, which is six, which is obviously nice for me to take that going into Paris. And I’ve beaten a few top players this season.

“It’s been it’s been a really good few months and the tournaments before have been really good. I’ve had one of the best seasons I’ve had, so I can’t wait to get started.”

As with team-mates Josh Stacey, Megan Shackleton and Tom Matthews, it is a second Paralympics for Shilton – though in many ways it will feel like as first as they had to compete under stringent covid restrictions in Tokyo.

And he is relishing the support he will have in the hall, not just from loved-ones but from team-mates as well, illustrating the bond that runs through the British squad.

“It’ll be nice to compete in front of people,” he said. “It was a bit different in Tokyo with no one being there – this time it’ll be special.

“Family are coming, my brothers are coming, a few of my school friends will be there, so hopefully lots of noise and it’ll be nice for them, I think.

“Obviously, Tokyo was something they couldn’t do – they were getting up in the middle of the night, looking at the live stream and seeing if I was winning or losing. So yeah, it’ll be nice and a special moment for me as well to have my family there.

“Every single opportunity I get to support anyone that’s playing, I’ll be there in the stands, screaming my head off for sure. I think in general we’ll all be behind each other all the way for sure.”