Medals Galore – Craig wins another medal for GB .
Craig Allen, recently won silver in the Under-23s Para Open(Class 9)in Barcelona, Spain .
Craig and his opponent both went into their final match knowing that whoever won would take home the silver medal for their country. As it stood going into the match they were completely neck and neck having won and lost exactly the same number of sets.
Psychologically his opponent should have been in the better position having beaten Craig 3-0 at the Under 23s Italian Para Open in February. However, Craig knew he could not think about that and had to put that result out of his head.
Craig said ‘My performance is continually improving and I knew that if I played well I could win the match’. This time it went to 11-11 in the fifth set and despite the pressure Craig was the victor winning 14-12.
However, Craig still was not done and beat the gold medallist 3-1 in their return match in the Senior Open.
When speaking about his achievement Craig said ‘I am really pleased to add this to my gold medal from the Under 23s Romanian Para Open in March and I will be training hard over the summer to improve my skills further’.
After returning to the UK Craig competed in the Draycott Para Table Tennis Championships on Sunday 25th June. Craig won two gold medals: Class 9 and the Band A Open only losing one set during the entire tournament.
West Midlands Coach of the Year and Colebridge TTC coaching officer Ed Lynn says “Craig has developed many areas of his game over recent months. I have known Craig for many years now, although recently a step up with one to one support from both myself and Colin Wilson, Corby Smash it has enabled a significant improvement to take place, both on and off the table. Craig is also a member of Grantham Table Tennis Academy where is he coached by Gavin Evans. The significant areas that I have worked on, include; his intensity, the ability to fight, and many other areas which are specifically targeted at strategy, and tactical awareness. He has been a pleasure to work with, and I believe his real journey is only just starting. We have lots of work to do, and lots to improve upon, so considering he is already winning, and competing well against quality players from abroad, I’d say we are in a very healthy position”.
Craig is still looking for a sponsor and if anyone owns or knows of a business that would like to sponsor him please contact Margaret Allen on 07891 510387