Shackleton Wins Paralympic Singles Opener
Megan Shackleton’s Paralympic singles campaign got off to a winning start as she secured a commanding 3-0 victory against Ghaliah Alanazi from Saudi Arabia, the silver medallist in the Al Watani Para Open earlier this year. Shackleton dominated the first two sets, winning 11-4 and 11-5, before having to dig deep in the third set to eventually prevail 11-9 and give the ParalympicsGB team a perfect start to the singles events.
“I was looking forward to getting out there again after my doubles,” said Shackleton. “This is my first event ever playing straight knockout so I was a little bit nervous going into it, but I was really proud of how I managed to commit to my game and start as I mean to go on. There were some tricky moments in the last set, but I held my nerve and I think that will help me going into the quarterfinal.”
Shackleton will now face the number one seed and former World and Paralympic champion Borislava Peric-Rankovic of Serbia in the quarterfinal on Wednesday. The two met in the Slovenia Open in May, where Shackleton came close to her first win against the legendary Serbian, holding a match point in the fourth set before eventually losing 11-8 in the fifth.
“That gives me good confidence going into the match,” Shackleton said. “I showed in Slovenia that I’m right up there with her and I think on the day I demonstrated that I could have maybe taken that match. Hopefully in a few days’ time that is the case. She’s a great player, and I’m well aware that I’m going to have to bring a really good game to the table, but I’m excited. It’s my first quarterfinal at a Paralympic Games, and I’m feeling in good shape.”
Elsewhere, World champion Will Bayley will begin his quest for a second men’s class 7 Paralympic title on Tuesday against Stephane Messi, the former Paralympic champion from France, in the last 16. Additionally, several other ParalympicsGB players, including Paul Karabardak, Martin Perry, Billy Shilton, and Aaron McKibbin, will be in action in the coming days.
Table tennis fans can look forward to an exciting and highly competitive day of action as the Paralympic singles events continue to unfold.
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