by The East Lancashire table tennis champion has a golden chance of securing a place in the Paralympic Games in Paris, he just needs to win a tournament in Thailand first.
20-year-old Theo Bishop, from Rawtenstall, is embarking on a career in the sport that happened by chance.
At 14 months old he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, walked on his toes and started Ballad Primary School using a wheeled frame for mobility.
At the age of nine, his family and friends raised £45,000 so he could undergo life-changing surgery in America.
Theo said: “I had my operation in 2012, before the summer, and I had the holidays to recover.
“Then, when I returned to school in September, I was still recovering so I couldn’t play sports.”
That’s when Rossendale School Sports Partnership table tennis coach Graham Young was asked to run a session at the school.
As there was no ‘right’ table, he pushed two dining tables together and used an expandable net over the middle.
Theo added: “Graham was working with a different year group, but I was given the chance to try the sport as I couldn’t do anything too physical because of the operation.”
Graham, who remains a coach, said: “When I first met Theo, I had never worked with a disabled person.
“At that time, he could only stand there and hit the ball back over the net, but after he went to the Hyndburn Center and then to Kay Street Table Tennis Club in Rawtenstall.
“I took him to Preston to see the Wales-Scotland international schoolboy competition and he wanted to be as good as those players.
“When I was his coach, sometimes I was treating him like a talented person and I wanted him to move around the table and he would fall over but he always got himself up, got back up, he always showed determination and enthusiasm.”
In primary school, Theo would often challenge his teaching assistant, Jeff Stanton.
He said: “At first, I would get a beating; but the more I lost, the more I wanted to beat him.
“I have always loved any sport and will always try. Personally, when I’m playing a game, it’s just me against them.
“I like the feeling of competition, I like the nerves, I like the pressure.”
He left the Balladen able to walk without assistance, and passed the 11+ test to attend Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School.
His table tennis skills saw him selected for the England Development Squad, on his 14th birthday, and he played in his first international tournament aged 15.
A year later, he secured a place at Grantham College Table Tennis Academy and moved out of Rossendale leaving behind his mother Mandy, father Stuart and older siblings Jamie-Leigh and Thomas.
For the past two years, Theo has been a member of the Pathway squad of the British Para table tennis team and now lives in Sheffield at Team GB’s training centre, where he spends around 22 hours a week playing table tennis.
He competes in Para-Class 7, for competitors who are severely impaired in two limbs.
Theo said: “The plan was to focus on the Paralympics in Los Angeles in four years’ time, but last September I was selected for the Europeans in Sheffield and I had a really good competition.
“Unfortunately, my family had to watch my games on a screen in Turkey with a pre-arranged holiday, but my grandmother Ann got to see me play live.”
He came close to beating Michal Deigsler in his first match after saving two match points but lost narrowly in the end.
He then defeated Luka Trtnik to win his group in the Class 7 Men’s Singles, but lost in the quarter-finals.
Last July in the US Open in Texas, Theo and his doubles partner Will Bayley won the gold medal.
In the Kazakhstan Open in March this year, Theo won his first international singles medal, a silver medal.
His chosen sport has taken him around the world including Brazil, Croatia, Slovenia, Monte Negro and in May he will be traveling to Thailand to compete in the World Qualifier.
If he wins his class, he will secure the final place in the GB squad at the Paralympics in August.
Theo added: “It’s one of the strongest categories, but I think it’s all right about the competition.
“Two of the people I met in Kazakhstan are also in the group and I have as good a chance as anyone to win it.”
He is always looking for sponsors, as the professional bat costs £250, which needs to be repaired every month with parts costing £100.
To support Theo, contact 07910 745551.
A further 11 athletes from the British Para table tennis team are hoping to improve their world rankings at this week’s ITTF Polish Para Open in Wladyslawowo, the last tournament in the qualification period for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.
One member of the British squad for the Polish ITTF Para Open is Fliss Pickard, 29, from Burnley.
Gorazd Vecko, BPTT Performance Director, said: “This is a difficult time for the athletes who are on the edge of qualification and who are looking for good results in Poland that will ensure direct qualification for Paris when the new world rankings are published in April.
“The qualification system was even stricter this time and, in some classes, even the top five in the world ranking will not guarantee qualification so this will be a very important competition for the team with many talented athletes from around the world at fight for their place too. in Paris.”
For those athletes who do not directly qualify on their world ranking, they will have a final chance to qualify at the Paralympic World Qualifying Competition in Thailand from 23-25 May.
