London 2012 Paralympics: Will Bayley and Ross Wilson win GB a bronze medal in table tennis team event
18:59, 07 September 2012
by Alex Hoad at the ExCeL Arena
Will Bayley said the bronze medal he and Ross Wilson won means more to him than his individual silver while Wilson said to medal at all was a ‘brilliant feeling.’
The pair swept aside Germany in convincing fashion 3-0 at the ExCeL Arena on Friday night – winning each of the singles by a 3-0 margin too.
Bayley was able to exact revenge on Jochen Wollmert, who surprisingly beat him in the individual final on Sunday night, while Wilson beat Wollmert and Thorsten Schwinn 11-2, 11-7, 11-5 to start things off.
Bayley, 24, from Tunbridge Wells, said: “This means even more to me than the silver.
“It also means these guys have won a medal at a Paralympic games for when they go to Rio - they’re going to be the best in the world. It’s a privilege to play with these guys.
“I’m going to Rio, but these guys will have overtaken me by then, I’ll just be in the background.”
The Byng Hall TTC member added: “It’s nice to have two medals here. I’m happy with that and to beat Wollmert too is pretty good, as he’s the guy that beat me in the final.
“It also means we’re the most successful team ever – that’s not bad. It’s quite a good team.”
He vowed: “We’re going to be even better in Rio. We’ve got a gold medal in Ross, I’ll hopefully my silver again and (teammate) Aaron (McKibben) can get a bronze.”
Asked what he would do next, Bayley added: “I need to get a life. I haven’t had one for about five years.
“I want to chill out and have a bit of time with some friends, maybe meet some new people. Where are there nice women? Brazil?”
Wilson (pictured), aged just 17, from Minster, Sheppey, said: “I was happy just to be here but to get a medal is amazing. I’ve never experienced anything like it and it’s a brilliant feeling.
“Obviously it’s hard with the pressure, but sometimes you have to take the pressure as a good thing and to try and work with it to get the other person scared.
“We had a good day today, we worked well as a team. When we came out we just said, 'Let's go and do it'.”
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