Will Bayley heads to Europeans playing his best ever

“I think I’m better now than I was in London actually. The season that I had before London wasn’t so good, and I think I was feeling very tense in that season before London. I didn’t play badly in London, but I didn’t feel like I finished well because I think it hampered me because I was under a lot of pressure.”

Host nation hero Will Bayley easily became the most recognisable table tennis player at the London 2012 Paralympics.

Beamed across televisions worldwide, wearing his emotions on his sleeve, Bayley settled for a hard-fought silver medal in the men’s Class 7 singles competition.

But that’s now a distant memory – a set of matches that took place more than a year ago.

The 25-year-old British star has matured quickly in time for his next major international challenge, the ITTF Para-Table Tennis European Championships, which take place from 27 September – 4 October in Lignano, Italy.

“A lot has changed since London,” Bayley told Paralympic.org. “A lot of people recognise me in table tennis and the team gets a lot more respect now as a world-class team.”

“But I think I’m better now than I was in London actually. The season that I had before London wasn’t so good, and I think I was feeling very tense in that season before London. I didn’t play badly in London, but I didn’t feel like I finished well because I think it hampered me because I was under a lot of pressure.”

“I think now I’ve played better since, as I’ve felt more relaxed in tournaments, which is good.”

Bayley is currently ranked No. 2 in the world in his class by the smallest of margins, sitting at 1,635 points, just four behind Ukraine’s Maxym Nikolenko.

In 2013, he has already won singles gold at the Italian Open in March and the Slovenian Open in May, in addition to winning singles bronze at the Slovakian Open in May.

He’s challenged Nikolenko twice already this season, with each man winning once.

“He’s a world-class player,” Bayley said of Nikolenko. “Someone who I think trains very hard many hours a day. He’s the greatest competitor, that’s for sure.”

“I show a lot of emotion, but he doesn’t. We’re not the same characters, but it’s good to get different characters in the game playing against each other.”

Germany’s Paralympic champion Jochen Wollmert and Ukraine’s Paralympic bronze medallist Mykhaylo Popov will also be competing in Lignano. They are fifth and third, respectively, on this season’s world rankings list.

But it remains Bayley who is garnering the most attention off the table, including an appearance at Great Britain’s National Paralympic Day on 7 September at London’s Olympic Park.

“I think the most surprising thing for me is the attention I get from people I don’t know,” Bayley said.

“People writing to me on Twitter saying ‘Good luck.’ That’s quite shocking when you come from just being a table tennis player and never getting any recognition. And then in London you’re suddenly one of the biggest names in sport for about two weeks. It’s quite a big thing, and it’s quite a shock to the system.”

But where does the inspirer get his own inspiration from?

“My mum’s my inspiration because she’s got the same disability as me, and she’s a bit of a fighter,” Bayley said. “She’s very stubborn and very good at what she does, and she’s very determined, so I think I get a lot my inspiration from her.”

“She’s also never really grumbled or moaned about anything, so I think that’s had a good influence on me.”

He’ll be thinking about his mum when he lines up at the table in Lignano – a moment fans will be able to catch the first glimpse of his improvements as the next Paralympic cycle unfolds.

“This is a really big tournament because it shows where we are on the road to Rio,” Bayley said. “My main goal is to really do well, and to peak in Rio, and this will be a good stepping stone to see where I am.”