Para table tennis star Martin Perry is determined to put his Tokyo heartbreak behind him and put himself firmly on the road to Paris redemption.
The Paisley hotshot was “incredibly disappointed” to narrowly miss out on a spot at the Paralympic Games after failing to claim a space through the World Qualification tournament in Slovenia back in June.
That failure left the 27-year-old in tears, but with the World Championships coming up next year before the Paris Paralympic Games in 2024, Perry has plenty to play for over the next few years as he looks to make amends for that missed opportunity in Japan.
And he’s hoping to make a quick return to winning ways when he competes at the ITTF Costa Brava Spanish Para Open this weekend.
Perry told Express Sport: “I played the World Qualification Tournament a few months ago and I was incredibly disappointed not to win the event and qualify for Tokyo.
“But I can’t change that now.
“This is going to be the first tournament with world ranking points for me since March 2020.
“Obviously I’d love to win another singles medal, but for me this week is just about finding where I’m at and what I need to improve on in a match play situation.
“I’m really looking forward to it.
“It’s great to be playing for world ranking points again and hopefully I can start climbing that world ranking list.
“If you look around the hall now that everyone is back in training we’re not short of inspiration.
“My teammates won seven Paralympic medals in Tokyo and of course that inspires me and motivates me to join their ranks.
“That starts this weekend in Spain on the path to Paris and hopefully I can come home with some good results.”
Perry is pleased his schedule has returned to something resembling his normal routine, having enjoyed a training camp in Italy to prepare for this weekend’s Spanish Para Open in Platja d’Aro.
While the Paisley talent insists everything has gone to plan in the build-up to the event, he admits he won’t know exactly what level his game is at until he starts to properly compete for crucial world ranking points once again.
Perry said: “Training has been going well.
“I had the privilege of going to Italy to train for a week, which was really good getting back to something like normality, going abroad for a training camp in order to prepare for a tournament.
“I’ve been training well in Sheffield too, but you just don’t know where your level is at until you compete.
“So I’m going into Spain with no real aims other than to do my best and see where that leaves me.
“It is so difficult to gauge where you are at when you haven’t competed for so long.”
