New era for para table tennis as Welsh players shine
March marked the new ear in para table tennis, with the introduction of a new three-tiered competition structure for the ITTF World Para Circuit, a brand-new logo, an updated ranking system, and more than 20 events across all continents designed to raise the profile of the sport worldwide.
The ITTF World Para Circuit 2025 – the most global and diverse Para circuit in ITTF history – will highlight athletes across three competition tiers: Future, Challenger and Elite.
Each tier offers Para players the opportunity to gain experience and compete at increasingly high levels. Future events are designed to introduce emerging talent to international competition, with Challenger events building towards the Elite events that will feature the very best athletes and showcase the best of Para table tennis.
The ITTF has also introduced a revamped ranking system that offers players a clear and accessible path for advancement. Points are awarded based on performance at each event, with rankings reflecting the best results within the past 52 weeks. Rankings will now be updated on a weekly basis, allowing fans and players alike to track progress in real-time. A one-year transition period will allow players to defend their current points as they adapt to the new ranking system.
Welsh players shine as historic restructuring kicks in
Kicking off this exciting era, five Welsh players competed across three competitions in March, shining on the world stage.
ITTF Para Future Lignano, Italy – 6th-9th March 2025
Men’s Class 6
Jacob Wicks lost 3-1 to Georgios Mouchthis, the former European team silver medallist from Greece before losing 3-1 to 18-year-old Serbian Luka Vidovic 12-10 in the fourth. Unfortunately, Jacob did not progress after a 3-1 loss to Poland’s World Abilitysport Youth Games champion Piotr Manturz, gold medallist in last year’s Copa Tango and French Para Open.
Men’s Doubles class 14
Jacob also featured in the Men’s Doubles Class 14 alongside Dan Thompson, starting well against class 6 World number seven Bobi Simion of Romania and Benedikt Muller, the former European team medallist from Germany, taking the first set 11-7 before Simion and Muller came back to win 3-1.
They then came through a great battle against the Argentinian pair of Luciano Khazandjian, bronze medallist in the men’s class 7 singles here, and Emanuel Martinez Alcalde. The British pair took the first two sets and, although Khazandjian and Martinez Alcalde edged a tight third set 17-15 and took the fourth 11-7 to level at 2-2, Thomson and Wicks took the deciding set 11-6 for a 3-2 win. They were unlucky not to progress to the knockout stages but with all three pairs in the group recording one win the young British pair lost out on countback.
ITTF Para Future Costa Brava, Spain – 11th-14th March 2025
Women’s class 8
Grace Williams recorded a fantastic result here, earning a Bronze in the Women’s Class 8 Singles!
She won 3-0 against the unranked Savita Vittal Ajjanakatti from India and then showed all her character to fight back from 2-1 down and beat World number 13 Lucie Hautiere, France’s European doubles bronze medallist, to progress to the semi-finals as group winner. She had to settle for bronze after a 3-0 loss to Olaia Martinez from Spain.
“I’ve had a good singles tournament overall,” she commented, “with some good things in matches, but there’s lots of things to work on going forward for the rest of the season.”
Men’s Class 6
Jacob Wicks began with a 3-0 win against Lennard Properjohn, the Oceania Para Championships bronze medallist from Australia, and followed up with a 3-0 win against Tokkozha Kadyrbek from Kazakhstan.
He put up a great performance in defeat once again to Piotr Manturz, twice taking the lead before losing 11-9 in the fifth, and progressed to the quarterfinals where he was involved in another five-set battle against fellow teenager Samuel Altshuler from the USA, silver medallist in Brazil last year, which he eventually lost 3-2 having led 2-1.
Men’s Doubles class 14
Jacob combined once again with Dan Thomson here, losing their first match to Tong Chi Ming and Tong Chi Yung from Hong Kong China 3-0.
They kept themselves in contention with a 3-1 win against Yaser Hussaini and Lennard Properjohn from Australia, but finished third in the group and did not progress after a 3-0 loss to Poland’s Piotr Manturz and Marcin Zielinski.
Women’s Doubles class 14-20
Grace Williams and Fliss Pickard never found their rhythm in a 3-0 loss to Ewa Barbara Foskett and Katarzyna Marszal from Poland but secured their place in the knockout stages with a 3-0 win against Aruzhan Giniyatova and Raushan Orynbayeva from Kazakhstan.
After losing a tight first set to Morgen Caillaud and Lucie Hautiere 12-10 Williams and Pickard took the next two 11-5 11-5 to lead 2-1, but the French pair levelled at 2-2 and took the deciding set 11-7.
ITTF Para Challenger Wladyslawowo, Poland – 26th-29th March 2025
Joshua Stacey shone in Poland, claiming Bronze in the Men’s Class 9 Singles, Silver in the Men’s Doubles class 18 and another Bronze in the Mixed Doubles class 17-20, while Grace Williams had another event to remember as she took home Gold in the Woman’s Doubles class 14-20.
Women’s Doubles class 14-20
Grace Williams and Anja Handen, the class 10 World number eight, progressed from their group with 3-0 wins against Hungary’s Zsofia Arloy and Kinga Mihalffy and Sweden’s Cajsa Stadler and Smilla Sand.
Fliss Pickard and Bly Twomey, class 14 bronze medallists in Paris, fought back from 2-1 down to beat Poland’s Barbara Jablonka and Katarzyna Marszal 3-2 before beating Romania’s Camelia Ciripan and Gabriela Constantin 3-0. They lost 3-1 to Tereza Cakorova from Czechia and Freja Larsen from Denmark, but progressed from their group to the semi-finals where Williams and Handen got the better of them with a 3-1 victory.
Williams and Handen went on to take the gold, beating Tereza Cakorova from Czechia and Freya Larsen from Denmark in the final, 3-0.
“Winning gold feels good,” said Williams, who won the women’s class 14 World title with Pickard in 2022. “After the singles I felt that I had something to prove. I’ve played with Anja once before, so we already knew how each other works on the table and we gave a very strong performance in the final which got us the gold medal. Playing Fliss and Bly was tough, but I tried to think that they were just opponents and not my teammates.”
Men’s Doubles class 18
Aaron McKibbin and Joshua Stacey were 3-0 winners against Tobiasz Glowczyk and Jan Dukalski from Poland and then came through a five-set battle against Gabriel De Oliveira Antunes and Jean Carlos De Souza Mashki, the Para PanAmerican champions from Brazil, taking the deciding set 11-8 for a 3-2 win.
They won their quarterfinal against Croatia’s Borna Zohil and Pavao Jozic 3-0 and secured their place in the final with a 3-1 win against Pawel Wlodyka and Michal Deigsler, taking control of the match after the Polish pair had edged a close second set 16-14 to level at 1-1.
That took McKibbin and Stacey through to the final to face Lev Kats and Ivan Mai, but lost 3-1 to settle for Silver.
“I think up until the final we played very well,” said Stacey’s partner McKibbin. “We had a bad start against a very good team but in the middle of the match we played very well. We just need to bring that level for the whole match, and we can beat anyone. I think Josh and I work so well together and I really enjoy playing with him. We have only played four competitions and made three finals so we know that on our day we can win against any team and that is positive for the future towards LA.”
Mixed Doubles class 17-20
Joshua Stacey and Bly Twomey were 3-1 winners against Jean Carlos De Souza Mashki and Sophia Kelmer from Brazil before losing 3-1 to Croatia’s Borna Zohil and Mirjana Lucic. They progressed to the semi-finals as group runners-up and after losing a close first set 12-10 they were beaten 3-1 by Paulo Fonseca and Bruna Alexandre from Brazil.
“Playing with Josh was an incredible experience,” said his Mixed Doubles partner Bly Twomey, “and I feel privileged to play with such a talented player. Playing mixed doubles is a whole different game compared to women’s doubles as the opponents have a lot more power and placement with their shots. Our semi-final against Brazil was very tough. We had our chances, and I made mistakes that I probably shouldn’t have but I’ll go back to Brighton and improve these things and come back stronger.”
Men’s class 9
Joshua Stacey was a 3-0 winner against Brazilian teenager Joao Pedro Ribeiro Possas and then recovered from dropping the first set to beat Koyo Iwabuchi, the Asian Para Games silver medallist and former World bronze medallist from Japan, 3-1.
That ensured that he progressed to the knockout stages as group winner, and he put up a great performance to beat World number two Lucas Didier in five sets. Stacey led 2-0 before the 21-year-old Paralympic silver medallist Frenchman took the third set 11-5 and then edged a tense fourth set 16-14 to level at 2-2; but the Welshman was not to be denied, and he took the deciding set 11-4.
He could not produce his best form in the semi-final and had to settle for bronze after a 3-0 loss to World number four Ander Cepas, the 20-year-old Paralympic bronze medallist from Spain.
“Against Didier I started off really well,” said Stacey, “and he didn’t really know how to cope with what I was doing. He changed tactics a bit going into the fourth set and I just didn’t adjust well enough, but I amended my game well in the fifth and managed to win. In the semi-final I think Cepas played a lot better than me, and I didn’t force him to play enough table tennis to cause him enough issues to win the match. I’ve got doubles to play with Aaron and Bly so that is the focus now for the next couple of days.”
Women’s class 7-8
Grace Williams lost her first match to Kelmer 3-0 and then fought back superbly from 2-0 down to beat Nora Korneliussen, the class 7 World number 10 and European bronze medallist from Norway, taking the third and fourth sets 12-10 to level at 2-2 and then clinching the deciding set 11-9 for a 3-2 win. She then went out in the quarterfinals after a 3-0 loss to Van Hoof.
Men’s class 1-2
Class 1 Tom Matthews faced a tough challenge against the class 2 World number four Luis Flores, but he started well and took the first set 11-7 before the Para PanAmerican champion from Chile came back to win 3-1. Matthews lost the first set to class 1 Adam Urlauber from Hungary, the silver medallist in the Paralympic World Qualification tournament last year, but fought back to lead 2-1 and edged the fourth set 12-10 to secure a 3-1 win and a place in the last 16.
The Welshman faced another difficult opponent in Jan Riapos, the class 2 former World number one and three-time Paralympic champion, and although he fought back from 2-0 down to take the third set he went out after the Slovakian took the fourth 11-6 for a 3-1 win.
Men’s class 6
Paul Karabardak had a tough opening match against World number two Peter Rosenmeier from Denmark and, despite a 3-0 loss, the Welshman contributed to a high-quality match that the former two-time World and Paralympic champion from Denmark had to produce some of his best form to win.
Karabardak then showed all his character to come back from 2-0 down to beat Michael Azulay, the World number 12 from Sweden who won their last meeting in Slovenia last year, 3-2 and progress to the quarterfinals where he lost 3-0 to World number five Bobi Simion from Romania.
Men’s Doubles class 14
Paul Karabardak and Theo Bishop were drawn in a tough group and lost in four close sets to Clement Berthier and Esteban Herrault, the European champions from France. They fought hard and twice came back to level against Emil Andersson and Michael Azulay but the Swedish pair took the deciding set 11-8.
Mixed class 14
Martin Perry and Grace Williams led class 8 World number four Maksym Nikolenko and class 6 World number one Maryna Lytovchenko 2-1 before the Ukrainian pair came back to win 3-2. They also had their chances against Peter Rosenmeier and Freja Larsen from Denmark but did not progress after a 3-1 loss.