When Will Bayley won silver at a home London 2012 Paralympic Games, he was just one of many Paralympians who saw their life begin to change both in and out of sport.
Four years later, his prophecy came true when silver became gold in Rio. Three years after that, Bayley would become even more of a household name when competing in BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.
But there’s a chance that a contribution that didn’t receive any outward attention could be one of his biggest: the discovery and subsequent emergence of Bly Twomey.
“Will’s a massive inspiration towards me and the way I play. He was the one that coached me at the start, now I play doubles (with him) and we won a gold medal here in Slovenia. I wouldn’t be where I am without him.”
A friendship – and a now table tennis alliance – forged in Brighton has changed the landscape of British table tennis in the space of just over two years. Because while Team GB are renowned for an array of stars both in and out of our sport, Bly Twomey is a very, very special addition to the squad.
The rise of Bly in the past two years has been nothing sort of incredible. From competing at a first international tournament in 2023 to a first Games – and medal – at Paris 2024. Speaking after another golden tournament in Lasko in which Twomey added individual and mixed double victories to the ever-growing collection, it’s been business as usual for the British teenage sensation.
“This week has been incredible. I beat the world number two in my class (Kubra Korkut), which was unexpected because she beat me in Paris. So just to win in this competition makes me know that I’ve got better and improved my game.”
But even when the subject of Paris arises, there’s no despair, only joy. While Twomey lost out in the semi-final against Korkut after seeing a 2-0 lead overturned, just being there was an unheralded success. In an international career that stood at just over one year at the time of qualification, Twomey was not on the radar. “When I first went to the British setup, they said it would probably be LA and so they didn’t really expect Paris because it was so close in time.”
LA ’28 was a realistic goal. After all, Bly was just 14 at the time that Paris rolled around. But if she was largely unknown on the circuit before first stepping into the South Paris Arena, within days the world would know this enthusiastic schoolgirl/elite sportsperson from Brighton. The youngest player at the Games would become Britain’s youngest ever medallist in the sport after collecting not just individual bronze but doubles too alongside Felicity Pickard.
We told you she was special.
Those two weeks under the Parisian sunshine changed things for many athletes. But for Bly, it was 14 days that opened her eyes to even more possibilities from a sport that she is still progressing into. “It was surreal. I didn’t have expectations; Will said I’d get a gold but he always has high hopes! My mum just said go out there and do what you most enjoy. And after Paris I had able-bodied nationals, events, I just kept going. I travel the world with an amazing family playing table tennis…I couldn’t ask for anything more really. But I’m still at school as well…”
And that’s where things get even more unbelievable. Even while winning a brace of titles in the ITTF Para Challenger series in Lasko, and completing successive doubles victories in the ITTF Para Elite series in Lasko, Twomey had to get a balance right for life at the table tennis table and at the exams table. “School have been really supportive – I get loads of time off and do homework in my downtime. Here I was doing homework too. But school are really supportive, and I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Even when winning Paralympic medals, there was likely a part of her aware that her friends and classmates had returned after the summer break. It’s testament to both Bly and her school, the Cardinal Newman Catholic School, that both elite level table tennis and exams have been able to bounce off each other so well.
Because whether it’s facing off against the very best in Class 7 or finding the answer to algebraic equations, the determination is the same. And having first got involved in table tennis in 2021, that determination more often than not leads to major results – and quickly.
For now though, and with the summer holidays ahead, Twomey’s focus is solely on the table. And it could well be a summer ahead in training with the man who first got her into this sport. “When I see her playing there are so many things that remind me of me” Bayley told British Para Table Tennis after their Lasko success. “It is special to see her do so well – she works so hard. Hopefully it is the start of a long career in doubles – she can keep me out of retirement.”
At 15, Bly has already completed the exams on how to shine on the international stage. And with a teacher like Bayley beside her, you’d back her to pass any test coming her way.
