Foundation Coach Arrives in Hong Kong for World Table Tennis Championships

The 25-year-old from Sale is set to compete in the class 11 singles category for athletes with learning disabilities and will be competing against world class opponents in hope of reaching the podium.

Adam, who is currently the top British male in his class, began playing table tennis at Altrincham Table Tennis Club four years ago, through the Foundation’s Premier League 4 Sport programme, a national initiative which aims to engage young people in Olympic sports.  He has completed his Level 1 coaching qualification and the Foundation is supporting him through Level 2.  Adam has also trained with the Paralympic Team GB squad and is relishing the experience that the World Championships will offer:

“I’m really delighted to be part of the team, it’s such a great opportunity to compete outside of Europe,” he said.  “Inas events like this are really important; without them there wouldn’t be any international class 11 competition.  I just can’t wait to get out there now.”

Inas is the International Federation for sport for para-athletes with an intellectual disability. Tracey McCillen, Chief Executive at the UK Sports Assocation (UKSA) said, "UKSA has worked in close partnership with Mencap Sport and English Table Tennis Association (ETTA) in a unique collaboration to enable these talented athletes to participate in the World Championships.

"These Championships are incredibly important for players with learning disabilities. Adam has worked extremely hard and deserves to reach the very highest level of sporting excellence.”

Adam will be playing against some of the world's best table tennis players from Estonia, France, Hong Kong, Russia, South Africa, Turkey and the Ukraine.

The Inas World Championships are being held on the 11th-19th December. This international Championship could be the first of many for the British athletes as they set their sights on selection for the 2015 Inas Global Games in Ecuador and 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio.

Find out more about Premier League 4 Sport.