Felicity Pickard and Grace Williams Take Gold at the Para Table Tennis World Championships.

This year at the Para Table Tennis World Championships in Granada, Spain, we have seen some incredible performances from competitors around the World. This was no exception for Great Britain.

After battling off France in the semi-final on Monday, England’s Felicity Pickard and Grace Williams won gold in the women’s class 14 doubles against Germany yesterday.

The pair played against Germany’s Stephanie Grebe and Juliane Wolf who previously won against South Korea. Although the German pair started the match off leading with 9-7, it wasn’t long before Pickard and Williams soared ahead and won the first set with a phenomenal score of 11-9. However, they did even better in the second set with a score of 11-4. This score secured them the gold medal against their tough competition.

This success was just what Pickard needed having missed out on qualifying for the Paralympics last summer. She told the BBC, “From where I was just before Tokyo to now is indescribable and I think I can be very proud of myself,” she added, “Not just with how far I've come as an athlete but as a person as well and the way I'm able to communicate and conduct myself within the team. I can be incredibly proud of that.”

This is definitely something that can be noticed. As a singles bronze medallist in Slovenia, it is nice to see Pickard excel again.

The pair had only been playing together for a year so to do so well so quickly was incredible. Williams, who is 19 years old, has only been playing table tennis for five years, so to do so well so early on shows the potential she has as she continues through her career. In fact, she was given a wildcard which allowed her to compete in this years Championships. This wildcard has paved the way for more success to come. She told Table Tennis England, “The fact that I’m here and I’ve got a gold medal is just surreal and I can’t believe it.”

Shaun Marples, who is the coach and BPTT’S Pathway manager also said, “Being part of their journey since coming on to the programme and progressing into the Performance programme and for them to be able to deliver a mature performance like that on the biggest stage really shows you what great characters they both are,” and he added that they both have “key qualities” as table tennis players.

Even though they have just had an amazing win, both Williams and Pickard will have to wait until they can relax and celebrate. Williams plays against Aneth Araya from Costa Rica on Thursday so will be preparing for that.