Brighton and Hove schoolgirl Bly Twomey became Great Britain’s youngest Paralympic table tennis medallist by winning doubles bronze alongside Fliss Pickard.
A resounding 3-0 quarter-final victory over Norwegian pair Nora Korneliussen and Jenny Helene Slettum guaranteed the 14-year-old Brighton Table Tennis Club player a podium place in the WD14 classification event.
Defeat to Chinese pair Wenjuan Huang and Yucheng Jin in the evening session prevented Twomey and 30-year-old Pickard, who both have cerebral palsy, progressing to the gold medal match.
Bly, a pupil at Cardinal Newman Catholic School, in Hove, said: “It felt amazing, the atmosphere and everyone supporting me.
“Just to play with Fliss is a massive achievement for me and I’m just really proud to be her doubles partner.
“I’m really proud to get a medal at my first Paralympic Games and it means a lot as I’m only 14.”
Earlier, Paralympics GB started their wheelchair rugby title defence with a statement 58-55 victory over world number ones Australia in front of a capacity crowd in Paris.
Great Britain made history at Tokyo 2020 by memorably clinching the nation’s first gold in the mixed-gender sport.
Returning champions Aaron Phipps and vice-captain Stuart Robinson claimed 25 and 23 tries respectively to help give their side lift off in Group B ahead of meetings with Denmark and hosts France.
GB led at the end of each quarter at Champ-de-Mars Arena, with captain Gavin Walker, Jonathan Coggan and Games debutants Kieran Flynn and Jack Smith also on the scoresheet.
Results since the landmark triumph in Japan have been mixed during a transitional period made more difficult by rival countries intensifying the competition for major titles.
Britain were twice runners-up to France at the European Championships in that time, in addition to a disappointing seventh-placed finish at the 2022 World Championship.
“The first game of any tournament is going to set the tone for it,” said Robinson.
“We’ve had a bit of an up and down time since Tokyo and people probably think they can take advantage of us maybe not being as strong as we thought we were.
“We knew we could exploit Australia and get the little marginal gains so it’s a great statement for the rest of the tournament.”
Elsewhere, Gregg Warburton claimed 24 points as Britain’s men’s wheelchair basketball team began with a 76-55 success over Germany in Group A.
The women’s basketball team later defeated Spain 69-34 in their Group A opener. Jade Atkin top scored with 19 points.
MASSIVE, MASSIVE Congratulations!! To Bly and Fliss.
(I don’t personally know Fliss)
However,
As a regular attendee and volunteer at the Fitzherbert Hub. Who see’s Bly there on a regular basis (the table tennis club is also part of this setup) I’m ever so pleased that she was a contender for a Bronze. At this level of competition a Bronze is still a huge achievement to be proud of and I would imagine the welcome that Bly will receive on her return will be astounding and rapturous.
Bearing in mind Bly’s age there will be further para olympics so the world is her oyster.
Thank you Bly. You are a shining star of inspiration.
Fantastic so well done !!!
Very well done bly and fliss please can I see your medal at the Fitz sometime bly ? From Michael x
I’ve always found the Brighton Table Tennis Club as a bit of inspiration. Well done, what an amazing achievement!