Lowri Hurd and Rob Davies have won singles gold medals for Great Britain at the ITTF World Para Future Region de Murcia in Spain, with Hurd taking the women’s class 9 title and Davies winning the men’s class 1 event. The victories, reported by Table Tennis England on 7 October, gave the British squad two titles at the tournament, while Davies followed his gold medal in France last month with another title.
Hurd’s success came shortly after her selection for the British Para Table Tennis Team’s Performance squad. The 18-year-old had to negotiate three round-robin opponents to take the women’s class 9 title, recovering from a difficult position in her opening match before finishing with a straight-games victory over Spain’s Maria Migueles.
Davies, the Welsh European champion, progressed from his group as winner before coming through a demanding semi-final against France’s Alan Papirer. He then beat Hungary’s Adam Urlauber 3-0 in the final to secure gold.
Hurd turns tight opening matches into gold
Table Tennis England reported that Hurd began against Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic, listed as world No 7 in the report. Hurd edged the first game 13-11, but Lucic moved 2-1 ahead after winning the third 16-14 despite Hurd having set points. Hurd responded by taking the fourth game 11-7 and clinched the decider 12-10 on her fourth match point.
Her second match was also closely contested. Hurd won the opening game 12-10 against Spain’s Victoria Sorribes Barba, lost the second by the same score, and then took control with an 11-3 third game. She completed a 3-1 victory by winning the fourth 12-10.
That left Hurd able to confirm gold against Migueles, whom Table Tennis England described as the silver medallist at the World Para Future Ostrava in July. Hurd won 3-0, completing a tournament in which she had won each of her three matches.
Hurd said she was pleased with how she handled the decisive stages, particularly after an opening contest in which she had needed to take her chances. She also said she had been physically tired and unwell during the second match, but had followed the tactics and game plan discussed with British Para Table Tennis coach Ross Wilson.
Beyond the medal itself, Hurd identified her composure and body language as key gains. She said that she had struggled mentally at recent tournaments and had made staying calm a main aim in Murcia. Her return to winter training now follows a result that she said reflected the benefit of her initial weeks training after moving to Sheffield.
Davies wins again before World Championships build-up
Davies opened his men’s class 1 campaign with a 3-0 win over Cyprus player Antreas Aravis. He then defeated American Michael Godfrey 3-1 after losing the second game, a result which secured top spot in his group and a semi-final place.
The semi-final demanded the deepest recovery of Davies’ tournament. Papirer, listed as world No 12, twice went ahead, but Davies levelled on both occasions and took the deciding game 11-7 for a 3-2 win. That set up a final with Urlauber, the Hungarian listed as world No 13.
Table Tennis England said Davies had previously won their four meetings without dropping a game, though the final initially remained tight. Davies recovered from 7-3 down to claim the first game 11-9, then completed a 3-0 victory to take gold.
Davies said the Papirer match had been tougher than he had hoped and that he had needed to fight for every point while adjusting to the conditions in Murcia. He reported feeling more relaxed in the final and more in control mentally. His gold in Spain follows a gold medal in France last month, giving him two recent titles.
The sequence offers Davies a positive competitive platform before the World Championships in Thailand. He said the two titles gave him confidence, while also noting that the squad had another three or four weeks of training before travelling. The evidence does not make the medals a prediction for the World Championships, but it does show that Davies enters the final preparation period with recent winning results.
Great Britain also collected three bronze medals in Murcia. Jack Hunter-Spivey finished third in men’s class 4-5, Paul Karabardak took bronze in men’s class 6, and Pathway athlete Max Flint earned bronze in men’s class 10. Those results brought the British team’s reported medal total at the event to five: two golds and three bronzes.