Plymouth athlete to take on world’s best Paralympic table tennis players in Rio

The British Paralympic Association (BPA) today announced that David Wetherill (born: Plymouth, lives: Torpoint) will represent ParalympicsGB at the Rio 2016 Games, as they confirmed the athletes selected to compete in one of the most fast-paced sports on the programme.

The 26 year old will be competing in his third Paralympic Games and produced some great performances at the European Championships in Denmark last year to take bronze in the men’s class 6 singles and silver in the team event.

“Being selected for another Paralympic Games means everything to me. Rio is all that I have been working towards. I am a very different player than I was in London and it will be interesting to see the effects of the improvements I’ve made. My preparation is going okay; I haven't hit my top form yet this year but it's all about peaking for September and I am hoping to do myself justice in Rio.

“I am forever grateful for the support of the local community; it has been amazing and I wouldn't be in the privileged position I find myself in without the help and support of a number of people. I want to repay their faith in me with a good performance in Rio.”

Penny Briscoe MBE, ParalympicsGB Chef de Mission for Rio 2016, said: “These talented players have put a huge amount of hard graft in to earn their selection, and I’m delighted to announce that they’re now part of the ParalympicsGB team for Rio.

“Paralympic table tennis is fiercely competitive and huge credit should go to Performance Director Gorazd Vecko and his team who have continued to build on the work that resulted in four medals at London 2012. These players are very bright prospects for Rio, and behind them are the next generation of athletes for Tokyo 2020, so it’s a hugely exciting time for this sport.”

Performance Director Gorazd Vecko said: “Four years ago we had nine players qualified for London and we now have 12 players qualified for Rio so we are in a better position than we were in 2012 when we won four medals.

“Our target is four to six medals and we are on track to achieve that. For the first time we have two athletes who are World number one in their class - Rob Davies in men’s class 1 and Will Bayley in men’s class 7 - and we have three other players in the top five in the World.

“The players are working hard and have also been training abroad which will bring them to a higher level but we should not forget that other countries are also working hard and it will be a massive challenge for us. We are doing everything we can to ensure our players are ready in September and we hope the results will be there.”

Today’s announcement brings the number of selected athletes to a total of 22, across the sports of sailing, judo and table tennis.