Gold would better Will’s No.1 status
Table Tennis
Tom Rowing won the 60-mile South East Road Race League meeting at Horsmonden. Abellio-SFA team-mate Jake Mitchell made an early break before being caught by the bunch. Dan Simms and Rowing tried to break away on the hill up to Horsmonden with two laps to go. It wasn’t on, so Rowing sat in and decided to use his speed on the last lap. The final descent into Marden was rapid, with Rowing winning a 400m sprint finish. Elsewhere, Dick Naylor won gold in his category in the South East LVRC Criterium Championships at Redbridge. Sheridan Bridal continued his successful season with fourth place at the North Weald circuit in Essex. Back at the Cyclopark in Gravesend, he came second in a photo finish. Mark Doxey set a personalbest 57min 39sec for fifth place at the Thanet RC 25-mile time trial. Martin Foord was 15th in 60.23, with Nigel Perry 20th in 61.53.
Father-and-son Ian and Jack Forrest impressed for 4t+ Velo at the Leeds Castle triathlon. Dad Ian came third in his age category and sixth overall, while Jack was sixth in the junior aquathlon. Nick Malins finished overall second at the Thanet RC 25-mile time trial in 55min 19sec. Jody Coxon was second novice and overall fourth – her best result of the season – in the Friday Night Locks Series at Fowlmead. Josie Kelly took second place and Matilda Collins sixth in the Spring in the Park event at the Cyclopark, while Toby Martin was eighth in a fast under-16 race. Ian Vagg claimed seventh place in a sprint finish in the South East Road Race League at Horsmonden. Stuart Featherstone and Kevin Newland were just off the main bunch. World para table tennis champion Will Bayley admits his trophy cabinet will never be complete until it contains Paralympic gold.
The 27-year-old from Tunbridge Wells recorded the most significant victory of his career last September, beating the then-world No.1 Maksym Nikolenko in Beijing to claim the world title.
The result came two years on from his loss to Germany’s Jochen Wollmert in the London Paralympic final and, with the Rio Games around the corner, Bayley is under no illusions where his focus lies.
But first on the agenda is the European Championships in Denmark in October.
Bayley said: “It feels fantastic to be world No.1 but my main ambition is to win major medals.
“I’m in good form at the moment and looking forward to October.
“Hopefully I can do the job there – I’m training as hard as I can and staying focused. Winning would be a great stepping stone for Rio.
“I still have a lot of career goals and a lot of years left in me but the main one has to be to win a Paralympic gold medal.”
Bayley will join the celebrations for this year’s National Paralympic Day at the Olympic Park on July 26.
Designed to help continue the legacy of London 2012, the annual event will feature elite athletics and swimming, as well as promoting disability sport.
Tickets for National Paralympic Day are available at Ticketmaster: http:// www. ticketmaster. co. uk/ npd2015/ #NPD2015 is supported by Spirit of 2012