Martin Perry is determined to make the most of his wildcard chance when he takes on the best in the business at the World Championships next month.
The Paisley para table tennis star was named by British Para Table Tennis in a 13-strong squad to compete in the massive competition, which kicks off in Spain on Sunday, November 6.
Having narrowly missed out on automatic qualification, Perry was delighted to be given the opportunity to compete in his first World Championships having been handed a wild card entry.
After grabbing silver in the men’s class 6 singles in the Greek Open earlier this month, the 27-year-old is eager to make the most of his shot at a World medal when he gets up and running in Granada.
Perry said: “I would love to have qualified directly, but I’m over the moon to be given a wild card and very humbled the hard work I put in has been recognised because everyone works hard in this sport.
“It’s a really good opportunity because I feel I have no pressure or expectation so I can go out and enjoy my first World Championships.
“I’ve chatted to a lot of the guys in the team and they said they’ve struggled at big competitions by putting too much pressure on themselves and building it up too much.
“Everyone has put me in a really relaxed mindset. Don’t get me wrong, I think I can get some good results.
“But it is nice going into a competition where I feel no pressure.
“I’m just going to try and enjoy it and getting silver in Greece was a massive confidence boost because it was a strong competition in class 6.”
The World Para Table Tennis Championships take place every four years and will be run under a different format with the competitions played as a straight knockout rather than having initial group stages.
Team events have been replaced by doubles, men’s, women’s and mixed, with the category for pairs determined with a maximum number obtained by combining the classification numbers of the two players.
Perry trains regularly with the British squad in Sheffield and at Drumchapel TTC, where he first started playing table tennis.
And he’s confident he can take advantage of the new format and spring a memorable upset in Spain.
Perry said: “Coming home and training at Drumchapel, everyone is so happy for me that I’m going to the Worlds and that is so nice to see.
“Everyone is helping me to give me what I need and everyone is so supportive.
“I just want to go out and enjoy it.
“It is completely new to have straight knockout and that really excites me because knockout sport is always exciting and fun.
“Upsets are going to happen and I hope I can be one of those upsets.”
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