Will Bayley

William John Bayley MBE (born 17 January 1988) is a British professional Paralympic table tennis player, ranked world number 1. He is the 2016 Summer Paralympics Games gold medallist and the 2014 World Champion.

For the West Wing character, see Will Bailey.

Will Bayley
MBE
Bayley at the Rio Paralympics in 2016
Personal information
Full nameWilliam John Bayley
Nationality United Kingdom
 England
Born (1988-01-17) 17 January 1988
Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England
Medal record
Men's para table tennis
Representing  Great Britain
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place2016 RioIndividual – Class 7
Silver medal – second place2012 LondonIndividual – Class 7
Silver medal – second place2020 TokyoIndividual – Class 7
Silver medal – second place2020 TokyoTeam – Class 6-7

From September 2019 Bayley participated in the seventeenth series of Strictly Come Dancing, paired with professional dancer Janette Manrara.

Personal life

Bayley was born on 17 January 1988 in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.[1] He was born with arthrogryposis which affects all four of his limbs.[2]

At the age of seven he was diagnosed with cancer. During his recovery he began playing table tennis after his grandmother bought him his first table.[1][3][4]

Career

At the age of 12 he joined the Byng Hall Table Tennis Club in Tunbridge Wells, and went on to represent Kent's able bodied men's team.[4] From the age of 17 he has lived and trained full-time at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.[5]

He represented Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China, where he was knocked out of the table tennis C7 singles in the preliminary round after defeats against Germany's Jochen Wollmert and Ukraine's Mykhaylo Popov and a single victory against Shumel Shur of Israel.[6] He also competed in the C6-8 team event along with Paul Karabardak and David Wetherill; they were eliminated at the quarterfinal stage.[4] In 2009, he won gold medals at the Czech and German opens, in 2010 he took golds in Lignano and Brazil.[2]

Bayley won a gold medal in the singles at the 2011 European Championships in Split, Croatia. He also won a silver medal in the men's Team event class 7, playing alongside Karabardak. At the end of 2011 he was voted the European Players' Player of the Year and in January 2012 he achieved the world number one ranking.[4]

Bayley won a silver medal in the London 2012 Summer Paralympics after losing to Germany's Jochen Wollmert in the class 7 final.[7]

At the Rio 2016 Summer Paralympics, Bayley won his first Paralympic gold medal after beating home-favourite Brazilian Israel Pereira Stroh. He received a yellow card for jumping up onto the table in celebration.[8]

Bayley again won silver at the delayed Tokyo 2020 games, his third successive Paralympic medal.[9] He went on to win silver in the team event, where he had a rematch in the final against Yan Shuo, who he lost his olympic title to a week earlier.

Bayley was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to table tennis.[10]

Strictly Come Dancing

From September 2019 Bayley participated in the seventeenth series of Strictly Come Dancing, paired with professional dancer Janette Manrara.[11]

The couple's Contemporary dance, to Lukas Graham's song "7 Years", was dedicated to the patients and staff at Great Ormond Street Hospital, where Bayley had been treated for cancer, aged seven. Michael Hogan of The Daily Telegraph said the pair "... didn't leave a dry eye in the house after their beautiful, barefoot contemporary dance."[12]

Due to a knee injury, sustained from a studio rehearsal, Bayley was unable to perform in week 6 (Halloween Week). Under the rules of the competition, he was given a "bye" to the following week, however, it was later confirmed that he had withdrawn from the competition. He said, "I'm gutted my Strictly journey has had to come to an end. I've loved being part of the show."[13]

^A Alfonso Ribeiro filled in for Tonioli

References
  1. "Will Bayley - Paralympics GB". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 20 October 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  2. Chowdhury, Saj (21 August 2012). "Paralympics 2012: Bayley targets number one spot". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  3. "Will Bayley Q&A". Channel 4. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  4. "Will Bayley". British Paralympic Association. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  5. "Paralympian Will Bayley hoping to make Tunbridge Wells proud at London 2012". Kent and Sussex Courier. 11 July 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  6. "Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games Table Tennis Men's Singles 7". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  7. "London 2012 Paralympics: Will Bayley wins table tennis silver". BBC Sport. 2 September 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  8. "London 2012 Paralympics: Will Bayley wins table tennis silver". Rio2016.com. Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. 12 September 2016. Archived from the original on 22 September 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  9. "Table tennis results and schedule, 29th August". olympics.com. 29 August 2021. Archived from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  10. "No. 61803". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2016. p. N15.
  11. "BBC One - Strictly Come Dancing - Will Bayley MBE". BBC.
  12. Hogan, Michael (19 October 2019). "Strictly Come Dancing 2019, week 5 live: Saffron Barker foxtrots to top of the scoreboard, jiving David James rock bottom" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  13. "Will Bayley leaves Strictly after leg injury". 30 October 2019 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
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