A podium pace was the end reward for Great Britain’s much travelled Martin Perry; on the concluding day of play, Thursday 21st July, at the ITTF Thailand Para Open in Pattaya, partnering Kuwait’s Mohammad Alrashidi, silver was the outcome.

At the semi-final stage they beat the combination comprising Italy’s Raimondo Alecci and Spain’s Alberto Seoane (11-7, 11-6, 8-11, 4-11, 11-9), prior to experiencing defeat at the hands of top seeds, Chile’s Cristian Dettoni and Matias Pino Lorca (11-3, 11-6, 11-9).

Earlier in the proceedings Martin Perry had beaten the host nation’s Phitsadan Oiuyen (11-3, 11-3, 11-1) and Cristian Dettoni (12-10, 11-5, 8-11, 6-11, 11-8), before losing to Alberto Seoane (11-8, 7-11, 11-3, 11-4).

Second place in the group meant a quarter-place; defeat at the hands of Matias Pino Lorca (11-7, 11-7, 10-12, 8-11, 11-6) signalled the end of the road.

The result means that Martin Perry has not gained the points needed to qualify for the World Para Championships later this year

“I’ve never beaten Dettoni before, so I was really happy to beat him at a factor 40 tournament when there is a lot of pressure as everyone is trying to qualify for the World Championships.

I was disappointed to lose 3-1 to Seoane because I felt tactically I played quite well; it was just poor execution at times which was frustrating.

Against Pino Lorca it is always 50:50 and we always have good matches. I got off to a slow start, but I knew I was in the match, and I got it back to a fifth game. We both knew the winner of our match was going to all but guarantee a spot in the World Championships and credit to him, he played well.

It wasn’t the performance I wanted in terms of trying to get to the World Championships, but it is what it is and I will need a wild card now.

Credit to my partner Mohammad in the doubles, he played fantastically well in the semi-final. We felt in control in the fifth game and it was great to have the support of the Kuwait team because it gave the match a lot of atmosphere.

Chile played really well in the final and were tactically spot on. I’m proud to have another medal at a factor 40 and after three weeks on the road I’m looking forward to spending a bit of time with my family and then getting back into training and seeing how things pan out for the rest of the year.” Martin Perry