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Kim Daybell is ready to come back to his table tennis career
Nov 12, 2021, 4:59:00 AM

Kim Daybell is ready to come back to his table tennis career

Kim Daybell stepped away from table tennis to work on the frontline during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, he is ready to come back after a long time away. It will be an interesting comeback considering that Kim was a top player before taking an extended break.

At 29 years of age, Kim has been a solid player for the entirety of his pro career. He has been one of the best paralympic table tennis stars over the years. Back in March 2019, he started to train for the Tokyo Games because he was also seen as a top-tier player since he was ranked fifth at the time.

Kim has become an inspirational figure because of how he stepped away from the sport to help people combat COVID-19. It was big news because he was a huge figure in the para scene. However, he managed to buck his sporting ambitions even if he was seen as a top contender for the Tokyo Games.

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Kim is motivated to regain his spot in the Para scene

Since Kim took a break, he had to miss out on the Tokyo Games. He was supposed to get an automatic berth in the event but his inactivity led to him losing his spot. Kim was not pleased with what happened since he wanted to come back to the Summer Games for the third time in a row. Now, he has to work hard so he can get a chance at future events and possibly another Summer Games in a few years.

Kim said, ‘Looking back on it now it is easier to see how I felt at the time. When you are dealing with it, it is very intense and difficult, and it was a really hard period after everything else I had gone through. I was very down about it and felt as low as I have ever done in my sporting career. When you have given a lot of yourself to a cause and it hasn’t worked out, and I had to sacrifice on a personal level going to Tokyo, I found that really hard’.

Kim is now focused on the Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games will be held in Birmingham in 2022. It will be interesting to see how it works out for Kim since he wants to keep playing and regain his form from a few years ago. It is hard to shake off the rust but Kim is committed to playing at a high level again.

In 2022, Kim will have the Commonwealth Games which is an event that he loves playing. Back in 2018, he managed to win a silver medal at the event in Australia. It is a short-term target for Kim but he wants to take it one step at a time so he can improve more.

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Words: Cholo Martin

Image: PA


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