Dumbarton’s Martin Perry says he’ll head to the World Para-Table Tennis Championships next month full of confidence after a sparkling Greek Open.
Martin only lost to top seed Matteo Parenzan in Kefalonia, while he and partner Billy Shilton took a dominant victory in the doubles tournament - where they didn’t drop a single set.
And it sets the Dumbarton man up nicely for the World Championships in Granada which get underway on November 6.
Martin, who has a condition known as congenital limb loss and deformity which resulted in him being born with no hands and only one leg, received a wildcard for the World Championships last month - having narrowly missed out on automatic qualification.
And with under a month until the Worlds, he admits the Greek event was perfect preparation.
Martin told the Lennox: “In table tennis if you don’t adapt quickly then you’ll be found out.
“I got off to a good start winning my first group match 3-0. I had the number one seed, Matteo, in the next match and I got humbled a little bit. Thankfully I won the next match 3-0.
“In the semi-final I didn’t get off to the best start, I was 1-0 down, but thinking I wasn’t doing much wrong. I changed a couple of things to get a foothold in the match, and straight away we had a monster second set. I managed to win 19-17.
“That time I won the second set and, if I’m honest, I should’ve won the third set as well. I had a sizable lead which I squandered. That was tough to take after having such a strong foothold.
“But I was still really happy with my singles performance. The only person I lost to was the number one seed and to get a silver medal when I was fourth seed was really nice.
“To come away with a silver and a gold medal is great for the confidence going into the World Championships.”
And he believes the unforgiving nature of the World Championships will work in his favour.
Martin continued: “The para game is growing year-on-year. The fact we’re emulating the able-bodied system where they do straight knockouts makes it a much more elite environment.
“This moves the game forward in the right way and gives us a much more equal standing.
“It gives the underdogs more of a chance. You only need a run of two or three matches and you’re in with a chance of a medal.
“With a group stage, you’d still be in the group after that many games. I find it quite exciting that you have one shot.
“I know for a fact that a lot of the other athletes don’t feel that way. Which I’ll try and use to my advantage.
“You have one shot at it. You have to be on it from the very first ball. There will be no second chances.”
Whilst he revealed the secret behind his doubles success alongside Billy Shilton, which saw the duo not drop a single set during the tournament.
Martin added: “Billy and I have literally grown up together, we’ve lived together and travelled the world together.
“We’ve progressed at the same time, so a lot of the things we’ve done in our career we’ve done together.
“Having that relationship outside the sport feeds into things on the table. We know each other’s game inside out.”
