More Ping Pong Parkinson’s medal success for Martyn Symons

Following on from the bronze he won in the Open Singles at the Ping Pong Parkinson’s UK National Championship in St Neots (21 August), Martyn Symons has continued his run of medal winning success at two major tournaments in Germany.

Photos provided by Martyn

Martyn, who was born and grew up in New Tredegar, played at the Ping Pong Parkinson International German Open Championship in Nordhorn (5-6 September).

Twelve countries were represented with 85 participants, and Martyn, the only player representing Wales, won silver in the Mixed Doubles Class 1 (with Liz Houghton representing England), bronze in the Men’s Doubles Class 1 (with Andrew Cassy representing England) and finished second in the Men’s Singles Consolation.

He then travelled to Berlin to take part in the ITTF Parkinson’s World Table Tennis Championship (9-11 September). Twenty-one countries were represented with 135 participants and this time Martyn won bronze in the Men’s Doubles Class 1 (with Holger Teppe representing Germany) and finished third in the Men’s Singles Class 1 Consolation.

“The whole thing has been an amazing experience from the very start, particularly when I first saw the Welsh flag hanging from the rafters in Nordhorn,” said Martyn.

“I was also amazed when we had an opening ceremony in Berlin, when I was introduced as representing Wales and assisted with the hanging of the flag – and then the icing on the cake was being presented with the bronze medal on the podium.

“I can’t express enough how proud I was to be wearing the Table Tennis Wales kit at both of these events!

“I now hope to take part in the Parkinson’s British International Championship and after that the ITTF Parkinson’s World Championship in Croatia in October 2022, with possibly more tournaments as well.

“My main focus between now and Croatia is to improve my game, especially foot work, technique, consistency, serving, tactics and strategies.

Photos provided by Martyn

“I am very conscious and aware of the benefits of regular daily exercise for people diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. I do between one and two hours of training a day which may consist of Tai Chi, Pilates, HITT (using a cross trainer), Cardio, weights and of course table tennis.”