Disability Sport Wales
Chwaraeon Anabledd Cymru

Tactical Finish Finds Head Reaching for Gold

Welsh wheelchair table tennis ace Sara Head rocketed to the final in the class three team event of the Slovenian Open last weekend. Sara played alongside English team mate Jane Campbell to smash France 3-1 in the final of the knock out team competition and boost her ranking points for the Table Tennis World Championships in Koreo 2010.

Gold medallist Sara, aged 29 from Beddau joined fellow Welsh and GB team mates Rob Davies from Brecon, Paul Davies from Birdgend who took a silver medal in the class two team event, Paralympian Paul Karabardak from Swansea who took a silver in the class seven team event and Flintshire Paralympian Scott Robertson.

After a hard season of competition last year, Sara has bounced back into action with a refreshed outlook and attitude towards this year’s competition.

Sara demonstrated this in her tactical performance against a mixed team from Austria and the Netherlands in the quarter finals of the competition where both Jane and Sara combined and beat them three games to two. The British duo then progressed to defeat tough opposition Turkey by whitewash in the semi finals and then went on to face France in the final.

Sara described her feelings after drawing France in the finals,
“When our semi-final game had finished Jane and I went over to watch the game between Italy and France. I admit, I thought I would of preferred us to face Italy, but when the French sealed their place against us in the final, like any other professional all I could think about was winning, picking up a well earned gold medal and gaining a step closer to securing my place in Korea.”

Defeating France by three games to one, Sara and Jane maintained their un-beated record this season and demonstrated how they had gelled together as a winning partnership.
In the Open singles event Sara reached the quarter final where she lost in a respectful battle against Serbian and Paralympic champion, Peric. Sara also competed in the class three singles event and made it to the quarter finals were she was defeated by silver Paralympic medallist Konova from Slovakia.

Overall Sara demonstrated first class tactical ability and will look on Slovenia as a building block towards future events. Keep your eyes peeled for updates on Sara’s progression into the European Championships from 3rd – 14th June 2009.

Reported by Steph Larkin

Please contact Stephanie Larkin at Disability Sport Wales for further details.

Tel: 02920 338344 Email: stephanie.larkin@fdsw.org.uk

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