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Former GB wheelchair rugby captain Chris Ryan continues his new profession in desk tennis as a part of a 12-strong British squad for subsequent week’s US Open, which takes place in Fort Price, Texas from July 3-5.
The 31-year-old from Welwyn Backyard Metropolis, who swapped the rugby ball for a desk tennis bat after main his crew to a historic Paralympic gold medal in Tokyo, is hoping to construct on his efficiency within the Greek Para Open in April when he achieved his first worldwide win and his first medal, a bronze within the males’s class 2 singles.
“I’ve solely performed two worldwide tournaments and hardly any home competitions so getting thrust into these tournaments is nice however I’m nonetheless within the unknown,” stated Ryan (pictured above proper). “I simply wish to come off the desk and really feel that I’ve performed effectively.
“I believe I’m getting higher at realising after I’m enjoying effectively and never simply trying on the rating; whether or not I’m doing the issues that the coaches listed below are asking me to work on – staying targeted, being optimistic, maintaining balls on the desk.
“I’m simply making an attempt to come back away from each sport considering that if I lose it wasn’t as a result of I performed badly, it’s as a result of they’re at a better degree than me for the time being.
“I’d like to win one other match subsequent week towards a ranked participant and that may imply I’d have a world rating. Clearly, I’d like to win each sport however I’m additionally conscious that’s most likely not going to occur at this stage, however I’ve been coaching arduous and I’ll give it all the things I’ve.”
Ryan might be joined by world champion Will Bayley, who might be bidding to win his sixth consecutive match in males’s class 7, Commonwealth champion Jack Hunter-Spivey (males’s class 5), former world and Commonwealth champion Ross Wilson (males’s class 8) and world doubles champion Grace Williams (ladies’s class 8) who’re all trying to enhance their possibilities of qualification for Paris 2024, in addition to seven members of the Pathway squad and self-funded Simon Heaps.
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