Wandsworth's table tennis star Aaron McKibbin may have beaten some of the best players in the world, but he still concentrating on improving to reach the Rio 2016 Paralympics.
McKibbin was part of the GB Para table tennis team picked up three medals in the team events on the final day of the PTT China Open in Beijing last week.
The 24-year-old's performances in the far east also brought specific praise from the GB coach Greg Baker.
Competing with team partners Kim Daybell and Billy Shilton, McKibbin added men's class 8-10 bronze to the individual gold he won in men’s class 8 singles.
The trio progressed from their group with wins over combined teams from Brazil/Portugal and Poland/Japan, and understandably found a very experienced Chinese team too strong in the semi-finals in a 3-0 defeat.
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“I came here with a job to do and I feel that I was successful in achieving that,” McKibbin said.
“I’m very happy to have performed to a good level under these circumstances and I’ve shown that I can beat the best players in the world. It’s now time to kick on in training for next year.”
GB head coach Baker said: “Overall this competition has been a huge success for us. We came here with a mission and I can honestly say we exceeded what we set out to do.
"We had athletes competing and gaining valuable experience against Chinese athletes and others who won matches under the pressure of qualification for Rio.
"The athletes who competed here are now in a strong position to qualify for Rio and also, to have a singles winner here in Aaron McKibbin shows that we are in a strong position and ready to push on for next year.”
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