Rotherham-based ace takes Paralympic gold

The London-born table-tennis ace was overcome by emotion after beating Brazil’s Israel Pereira Stroh in the Class 7 final as Team GB continued it’s run of medal successes in Rio.

Bayley, who lost in the table tennis final in 2012 and has since been reclassified up a class, danced on the table after his victory despite his disability, a congenital disability that affects his arms and legs.

Bayley, who received a yellow card for mounting the table, hugged an umpire after his dramatic victory before embracing his Slovenian coach Gorazd Vecko and then celebrating with stand-up comedian Johnny Vegas, who is covering the Paralympics for TV.

He said: “Words don’t do it justice. I don’t know if it has sunk in yet.

“It’s like a game of chess, I couldn’t get emotional until the end but I’ve done it. I never thought it was possible for me. Great Britain were laughed at in table tennis but now we’ve shown the world what we can do.

“I was written off before I came here, I wasn’t even supposed to get out of my group, I’ve been reclassified up – this is impossible. I’ve achieved the impossible.”

And of his table-jumping exploits, he added: “I have never jumped on the table before. It was the adrenaline that helped me jump!”

Will trains at the Insitute of Sport and lives in Rotherham.