Billy Shilton

Table Tennis

Region

Stonehouse (Gloucestershire)
Date of Birth

08/10/1998
Classification

Men’s class 8 singles and men’s class 8 team

Having been diagnosed at the age of five with** **Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT), a group of inherited conditions that damage nerves outside the brain and spine and also affects his father and grandfather, Billy started playing table tennis at the age of 12 after watching his dad Michael play in a local league tournament.

He was spotted by the GB Para squad at the UK School Games in 2012 and made a major impact at the European Championships in 2015 at the age of 16, taking bronze in the men’s class 7 singles and silver with Will Bayley in the men’s class 7 team event. Following this he was reclassified as a class 8 and missed out on qualification for the Paralympic Games in 2016 although he went to Rio as part of the Paralympics Inspiration Programme.

He has continued to improve, achieving wins against top 10 opponents and winning team medals at the European Championships in 2017 and 2019 with Ross Wilson and Aaron McKibbin. He lost narrowly in the semi-finals at the World Qualification Tournament in June but was awarded a wild card to compete in Tokyo.

At Tokyo 2020 he secured his first Paralympic medal a bronze after he and team-mates Aaron McKibbin and Ross Wilson defeated Hungary in their quarter-final before losing to China in the semi-finals.

Career Highlights

Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games

Men’s team (Class 8): Bronze

2020: Polish Open – silver, men’s singles (class 8)

2019: European Championships, Sweden – silver, men’s teams (class 8)

Czech Open – gold, men’s singles (class 8)

Bangkok Open, Thailand – silver, men’s singles (class 8)

Polish Open – silver, men’s singles (class 8); gold, men’s teams (class 8)

2017: European Championships, Lasko, Slovenia – bronze, men’s teams (class 8)

2016: Romania Junior Open - gold, men’s singles (class 8)

2015: Belgian Open - gold, men’s singles (class 8)

European Championships, Vejle, Denmark - bronze, men’s singles (class 7); silver, men’s teams (class 7)

Slovenia Open - gold, men’s teams (class 7)

2014: Slovenia Open - gold, men’s teams (class 7)

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