Will Bayley

London 2012

London 2012 was Will's second Paralympic Games, after he represented ParalympicsGB for the first time in Beijing.

Events:

Class 7 Singles, class 6-8 Team (with Ross Wilson, Aaron McKibbin)
Home Town:

Poole
Lives:

Groombridge, East Sussex
Trains:

EIS Sheffield
Date Of Birth:

1st January 1988
Games Attended:

London 12, Beijing 08

Whilst recovering from cancer aged seven, Will discovered he could play a good game of Table Tennis. Thanks to his Grandma Mary, who bought him his first table, Will continued to progress in the sport. At the age of 12 he joined Byng Hall Table Tennis Club in Tunbridge Wells where he continued to improve before moving on to represent Kent men’s team of non-disabled players.

In October 2011 Will returned from the 2011 European Championships in Split, Croatia where he won a gold medal in the men’s Singles class 7 and a silver medal in the men's Team event class 7, playing with Paul Karabardak. He finished 2011 by being voted the European Players' Player of the Year and was subsequently announced as the world no. 1 in January 2012. He now spends most of his time training at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, where the team is based.

At London 2012, Will made the men's Singles class 7 final where he played German player Jochen Wollmert. He may have lost the match, but his achievement in winning silver marked GB's first men's Singles Table Tennis medal since Neil Robinson took the same colour in Atlanta 1996, and their first of any sort since 2004.

“I’m still young, I still want to improve and I still want to get a gold medal at the Paralympic Games – that’s my dream.”Will Bayley

In the bronze medal match of the men's class 6-8 Team event, Will was back in action alongside team-mates Ross Wilson and Aaron McKibbin. He avenged his loss against Wollmert with a decisive victory and the match concluded within 20 minutes, meaning Will finished the Games with a silver and bronze medal.

In addition to his sporting achievements, Will also went to The Brit School for Performing Arts to embark upon a Theatre Studies course.

Will was born with arthrogryposis, a rare congenital disorder that affected all four of his limbs.

Major Results

2012 London Paralympic Games
Men's Singles, class 7: silver
Men's Team, class 6-8 (with Aaron McKibbin and Ross Wilson): bronze

2008 Beijing Paralympic Games
Men's Singles, class 7: prelims
Men's Team, class 6-8: round of 8

2012 Slovakian Open, Bratislava, Slovakia
Men's Singles, class 7: bronze
Men's Team, class 7 (with Paul Karabardak GBR): silver

2012 Lignano Open, Lignano, Italy
Men's Singles, class 7: silver
Men's Team, class 7 (with Paul Karabardak GBR): silver

2011 European Championships, Split, Croatia
Men’s Singles, class 7: gold
Men’s Team, class 7 (with Paul Karabardak GBR): silver

2010 World Championships, Gwangju, Korea
Men's Singles, class 7: quarter finals
Men's Team, class 6-7: quarter finals
Men's Standing Open: round of 64

2009 European Championships, Genoa, Italy
Men's Standing Open: round of 64
Men's Singles, class 7: 4th
Men’s Team, class 7: quarter final

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