Billy Shilton

Started: He took up the sport at age 12. (britishparatabletennis.com, 08 Mar 2020) Reason: He began playing table tennis after watching his father play in a local league tournament. "I was playing football but physically it was quite demanding with my disability and I wasn't playing at a level that I wanted to. My dad was playing table tennis at the time and he took me along to one of his matches. I had a 10-minute practice with him and I've never looked back. It's difficult to explain why I love it so much but there are so many different aspects to it. There are so many positions and different spins and it is so fast. I don't know what it is exactly, I find it really interesting but I can't put my finger on a specific reason. I just love it." (britishparatabletennis.com, 08 Mar 2020, 06 Aug 2020) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (stroudtimes.com, 09 Sep 2021) Additional Info: RIO EXPERIENCE Although he did not compete at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, he travelled to the 2016 Games through Paralympics GB's Paralympic Inspiration Programme. "It was so different to anything I had experienced before. I don't think you can just go to a Paralympics and pretend it is just like any other tournament. I think you have to take in the magnitude of it and use it to your advantage. There are so many aspects to it - being around other athletes from different sports and not just being around the table tennis players. It is a massive event and the crowd noise could be quite intimidating if you have not seen something like that before so it was really positive for me to go and experience that." (britishparatabletennis.com, 06 Aug 2020) COMPETITIVE EDGE He says a reason for his competitiveness is that he grew up with two younger brothers. "I think I have always been competitive. Whatever I'm doing it has to be a competition, it can be anything. If I go for a walk I've got to be the first one back to the car. I don't know what it is but growing up with two brothers definitely helped." (britishparatabletennis.com, 06 Aug 2020)