Will Bayley's hopes of winning gold at this week's Montenegro Para Table Tennis Championships in Podgorica have been dashed after his flight was cancelled.

Bayley, from Tunbridge Wells, was due to fly out to Podgorica from Gatwick with Wizz Air at 10am on Tuesday, with 11 members of the British Para Table Tennis performance squad having travelled to the airport from Sheffield and Cardiff.

However, with the airline industry suffering disruptions across the UK, they were informed by email at 6am on Tuesday that their flight was cancelled.

The five other members of the 16-strong squad made it to Podgorica for the event, which starts on Thursday and ends on Saturday, after their flight from Manchester went ahead.

“The only alternative flight we were offered was the next day to Belgrade,” said British Para Table Tennis performance director Gorazd Vecko.

"But we would not have been able to fly from there to Podgorica so we had to make the decision not to go.

"I think we can expect to get a full refund on our flights but altogether, with travel, hotel accommodation and parking this will cost our programme between £3,000-£4,000.

"The only alternative flight we were offered was the next day to Belgrade..."

"It will also have an impact for some of the athletes who needed to compete in Montenegro to gain the tournament credits for the World Championships later this year.

"They may now have to compete in Thailand or Argentina which will obviously involve long and expensive flights. It is very frustrating but totally out of our control.”

Bayley had won gold at the Slovenia Open two weeks ago and was looking forward to another gold-medal bid.

“Slovenia was really important because it was the first tournament of the year for me and it is always nice to win,” he said.

“I’ve got that momentum now for the season and hopefully I can keep getting results and keep improving.

"I know I’m playing well and while I’ve still got the opportunity to win gold medals it is important that I take them.

"I want to win another Paralympics and I want to win tournaments leading up to Paris because winning becomes a habit, so I just want to try and get into the habit of winning tournaments.”