Welshman Paul Karabardak flew the flag for Great Britain on the second day of play, Saturday 9th July, at the ITTF Copa Tango 2022 in Buenos Aires.
Competing in men’s singles class 6, the 36-year-old recorded a semi-final success against Brazil’s Felipe Oliveira (11-4, 11-7, 11-5), before overcoming Chile’s Mattias Pino Lorca (11-7, 10-12, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6) to claim the title.
“I’m really pleased. I thought I played well throughout the competition. I had some really tricky opponents, so I had to be solid, and I did that really well. Pino Lorca is a fantastic player, my arm locked up in the third game and I was in a lot of pain, with that in mind I could not be happier to win as it’s always really difficult to win gold.” Paul Karabardak
Gold for Paul Karabardak, there was also a medal for British team colleague, England’s Simon Heaps, the winner the previous week of men’s singles class 1-5 at the Stag European Veteran Championships in Rimini.
Present in men’s singles class 6, he finished in runners up spot. After overcoming Brazil’s Lucas Arabian (7-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-7), he was beaten at the final hurdle by the host nation’s Elias Romero, the top seed (8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 15-13).
“I’m really pleased with how I performed. My confidence on the table is sky high at the moment and I know I can get better. Results are one thing, but performance improvement is the thing I will be working hard on. Overall, I’m very happy and continue my rise up the world rankings with points gained by beating two players higher in the ranking list.”
In the ensuing men’s doubles, Simon Heaps partners Frenchman Yorik Adjal (class 8), Paul Karabardak joins forces with Scotland’s Martin Perry (class 14).
