Para-table tennis player Joshua Stacey has won Wales' sixth gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, dedicating the career highlight to his late grandad.
Cardiff product Stacey defeated Lin Ma in the final of the men's classes 8-10 singles to become Wales' first para-table tennis Commonwealth Games champion on Sunday. Stacey won 25-23, 5-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5 to claim an overall 3-2 victory against his Australian opponent, meaning he has become Wales' first ever Commonwealth Games para-table tennis champion.
Stacey revealed post-match that he would be celebrating by making a special phone call to his nan, saying: "I will probably call my nan, I'd like to speak to her. My gramps passed away in April so this is for him. My nan came to watch from the groups to the semis. It's probably the first time she has ever watched me properly - what a stage to do it on."
"It's something I have worked for for the last four years. To have finally done it, it's an unreal feeling. It's been my goal for the last four years after getting bronze on the Gold Coast."
Stacey, 22, also thanked Simon Oyler, who came to his school in Cardiff and discovered his talent aged 13. "I would like to thank Simon very much after all he has done for me," added Stacey. "If it wasn't for him I wouldn't be here now and I am forever grateful."
At the age of 17, Stacey was diagnosed with cerebral palsy after BPTT coach Mat Kenny, during a visit to Lincolnshire's Grantham College where he was combining his table tennis with his studies, noticed that the young Welshman was walking on his toes and suggested that there may be a physical reason for his inability to place the weight fully on his feet.
Just six months after making his international debut in 2017, Stacey represented Wales at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and took bronze in the men’s class 6-10 singles. In 2019, he took bronze in the men’s class 10 team event at the European Championships with Kim Daybell and Ashley Facey Thompson and having taken singles medals in Italy, Slovenia, Poland, Czech Republic, Finland and China he broke into the world’s top 10 in men’s class 9.
At his first Paralympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, Stacey reached the quarter-finals in the men’s singles class 9 before he and partner Ashley Facey Thompson were beaten by eventual Paralympic champions China in the team event.
READ MORE:
Gemma Frizelle creates history and takes Commonwealth Games gold for Wales
Wales' Gordon Llewellyn becomes oldest Welsh Commonwealth Games medallist of all time at 75
Diver's belly flop video at Commonwealth Games leaves TV commentators wincing
Pensioner, 72, makes Commonwealth Games history by becoming Scotland's oldest gold medal winner
