£1m increase for disability table tennis funding for Rio cycle

UK Sport has awarded BTTAD (British Table Tennis Association for People with Disabilities), the National Governing Body for Disability Table Tennis, an increase of over £1m for the Rio 2016 cycle (April 2013 –March 2017).

This follows the highly successful Paralympic Games in London where Team GB’s table tennis squad won four medals (one silver and three bronze) compared with none in Beijing.

The award reflects the medal prospects for 2016. The total funding awarded is £2,731,670 and includes core programme, sports specific bid and athlete personal awards. This compares with £1,699,400 for the previous cycle.

Peter Taylor, Chairman of BTTAD, said: “I’m delighted with the award which showed the immense progress achieved since the creation of the revised programme in 2009. The vision of UK Sport in identifying disability table tennis as a sport with great medal potential has been justified but the journey will continue as we prepare for Rio and beyond.“

Gorazd Vecko, Performance Manager of BTTAD, was equally pleased: “I believe this means we can build on the hard work over the past four years. My thanks go to the players, staff and volunteers for their collective support “

Mike Smith
Secretary BTTAD