Paisley para table tennis star Martin Perry is certain he’ll be crying by the end of the week.
He just hopes they are tears of joy as he chases his dream of becoming a bona fide Paralympian.
The talented player jetted off to Slovenia yesterday to compete in the World Qualification Tournament in Lasko, which represents his last chance of making the Paralympic Games in Tokyo after he missed out on automatic qualification.
Competing in the men’s class 6, he’ll take to the table having not played a tournament in well over a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He’s determined to shake off his table rust and seal a debut Paralympic appearance in Tokyo that he admits would mean the world to him.
“If I do get across the line and I can call myself a Paralympian then that is everything,” Perry told Express Sport.
“I’ve been so fortunate with the amount of support I’ve had on and off the table from people I’ve known all my life and from people I’ve never met and may never meet, and it would be such an honour to repay that by getting to the Paralympics.
“I need to go and perform so there is pressure, but it is really exciting.
“I’ll be crying come Saturday because, win or lose, it’s going to mean so much to me. Hopefully it’s happy tears!
“I’m super excited to be competing again because that is what we all love to do, regardless of whether it gets you to a Paralympic Games or not.
“We haven’t competed for nearly a year and a half, so you’re a bit unsure about where your level is at because your best gauge is competition.
“But we’ve had such great preparation and I feel I’m a much better player than I was 12 months ago.
“Hopefully I can just go out and perform and do the best I can.
“I feel that if I play the way I have in the build-up then I’ve got a great shot at doing that.”
Perry, 27, is used to lifting gold medals, having picked up several wins around Europe before Covid-19 put a stop to much of the sporting world.
This time around it’s a dream qualification that’s on the line, with the high stakes tournament starting on Thursday and ending on Saturday.
This is the first time that a Para table tennis qualification tournament has been held for a Paralympic Games, and with only one place available per class, Perry knows he simply has to perform this week to make his dream come true.
Perry said: “When you go into a regular competition, although you always want to win you can have a target.
“You look at the strength of the field and say, ‘well I’m aiming for a semi-final and a medal’ or ‘I really fancy my chances and think I can win’.
“That is irrelevant to this tournament. The winner will get to go the Paralympic Games so that simplifies everything.
“I’m really excited to see what this competition is going to hold because it is completely different to any other competition.
“It’s not a major championship, but it means as much, if not more, because it gets you to the Paralympics.”
