Will Bayley, the men's class 7 world champion and world No 1, has a bye to the quarter-finals of the World Para Championships, which start in Pattaya, Thailand, on Friday. He will play either China's Yan Shuo, a two-time Paralympic champion, or the Netherlands' Yannick Paredis, the European champion. All the events are straight knockouts.
Bly Twomey, the women's class 7 European champion, plays Costa Rica's Kristel Morales Madriz in the last 16. Wales's Rob Davies, the class 1 European champion, has a bye to the quarter-finals, where he meets Japan's Riito Shikai or South Korea's Kim Hakjin. Jack Hunter-Spivey faces Serbia's Mitar Palikuca, a Paris 2024 bronze medallist, in the class 4-5 last 32, and Billy Shilton plays Poland's Piotr Grudzien, the world No 4, in the class 8 last 16. Fliss Pickard opens in women's class 6 against France's Morgen Caillaud, and Grace Williams starts against Mingyu Zu of the US, the world No 2, in class 8.
The doubles come first. Shilton and Pickard both defend world titles with new partners: Shilton and Martin Perry play Ian Seidenfeld and Samuel Altshuler of the US in the men's class 14 quarter-finals, and Pickard and Twomey meet China's Wang Rui and Jiang Shan in the women's class 14 last 16. Bayley and Twomey, the European mixed class 14 champions, have a bye and play Ukraine's Maksym Nikolenko and Maryna Lytovchenko first.
The 12-strong British squad was named last month. The championships run until 19 November.
