Will Bayley, Groombridge

How did you get started?

Twenty-four-year-old Groombridge resident Will was born with anthrogryposis, a congenital disorder that affects all of his limbs. He began playing table tennis aged seven. While recovering from cancer treatment for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, his grandma bought him his first table, and Will was hooked, playing in the garage at home with his brother. He continued to progress in the sport and at the age of 12 he joined the Byng Hall Table Tennis Club before playing in Kent men's able-bodied team of players. Will was selected to represent Paralympics GB in Beijing 2008. He is now ranked world No.1 in his classification. Class 7 is for standing athletes (as opposed to wheelchair athletes) who have a severe impairment of the legs or the playing arm.

 Greatest achievements

2012 Ranked World No.1

2011 Voted European Players' Player of the Year

2011 European Championships individual gold (Class 7)

2011 European Championships team silver (Class 7)

Prospects for 2012

Expectation – and consequently pressure – is high, although the Chinese are always a force to be reckoned with in table tennis. As current world No.1, Bayley will have his eyes focused on individual podium finish in Class 7. He will also lend his considerable skills to the Class 6-8 team, alongside Ross Wilson, Aaron McKibbin and Paul Karabardak.

Men's singles Class 7 preliminaries 30-31 August; knockout stage 1 September; final 2 September 5:15pm.

Men's team event Class 6-8 preliminaries 5-6 September; finals 7 September 5:00pm

http://www.london2012.com/paralympics/table-tennis/schedule-and-results/

Twitter: @willbayleytt