European glory again for Davies as he makes it four on the spin

Paralympic table tennis champion Rob Davies secured his fourth successive European Championship title with a four-set victory over Hungary’s Endre Major in Helsingborg.

Davies, who beat Sylvio Keller earlier in the day to advance into the final, clinched a 15-13 triumph in the final set to win 3-1 and extend his run of Class One ITTF European Championships and claim a qualification spot for GB at next summer’s Paralympics in the process.

Despite Davies’ 5-2 lead in the third set, Major fought back defiantly to take the match to a fourth, but the 35-year-old held strong.

“It was a good match; I was expecting it to be a fight and the first two ends went a bit too smoothly almost,” he said.

“When he came back again in the fourth, I was just trying to get back on top - I still had the belief I could do it, but you don’t really want to be in that situation.

“I knew I might have to dig deep and that is what I had to do in the end and I’m glad I came through it.”

Britain’s David Wetherill also took bronze in the Class Six event, losing to Romania’s Bobi Simion, who eased home to an 11-9, 11-7, 11-5 victory.

And with Wetherill only being cleared to take part in the competition just days before, owing to heart surgery, he was candid about the reasons for his defeat.

“I’m just really tried to be honest,” he said.

“I was trying to battle, and I felt alright, but I know in the back of my mind I haven’t got the solid grounding.”