Team GB name Sam Walker as third table tennis player heading to Rio 2016
BySportsbeat
Published 02/06/2016 at 11:27 GMT
Team GB will send three table tennis players to Rio 2016 after Sam Walker was today named as the third athlete heading to the Olympic Games this summer.
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
The 21-year-old from Worksop will compete in the team event alongside Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford, who were both selected for the singles competition last month.
The trio won bronze at the Team World Championships in Kuala Lumpur earlier this year in a breakthrough for British table tennis at a global level.
Drinkhall, 26, and the 22-year-old Pitchford, both qualified through their world ranking while Walker is included thanks to England’s position as the 14th best nation in the world.
Great Britain’s number three will be making his Olympic debut in Rio after winning men’s team silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
"It’s a dream come true," said the Germany-based player.
"It’s been one of my dreams since I started playing to represent Team GB at the Olympic Games and to get it so early in my career is incredible. I’m looking forward to it.
"The Worlds gave us confidence and belief – we did believe we could get those sort of results but doing it was a different story.
"It showed us and everyone else that Great Britain are a team to be feared and are ready to challenge for medals in big competitions."
Tom Jarvis has been named as a reserve in the team event and Walker’s addition brings the total number of athletes selected so far for Team GB to 66, from seven sports.
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