The London 2012 silver medallist overtakes Ukraine’s Maksym Nikolenko, who he beat to win the world title in Beijing last September.

Bayley trains full-time with the GB Team at the English Institute of Sport (EIS) in Sheffield and is currently preparing for October’s European Championships in the Danish town of Vejle, where he is hoping to regain the title he won in 2011.

He also has one eye on the Rio 2016 Paralympics as he looks to go one better than he did on home soil three years ago. 

“It’s been two years since I’ve been world number one so it’s nice to be there again although my main focus is winning medals at major championships,” said Bayley, from Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent.

“But being world number one definitely gives me more belief and will push me on even more for Rio next year.”

Bayley became the first ever Paralympian to be inducted into the EIS Hall of Champions in April.

In doing so, he joined able-bodied athletes such as reigning Commonwealth squash champion Nick Matthew and London 2012 Olympic gold medal-winning heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill.

The 27-year-old took up table tennis after his grandmother bought him his first table while he was recovering from cancer after being diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at the age of seven.

Bayley, who was also diagnosed at birth with arthrogryposis, a rare congenital disorder that affects all four of his limbs, went on to compete in his first Paralympic Games at Beijing 2008.


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April 2015:Table tennis star Bayley becomes first Paralympian inducted into English Institute of Sport Hall of Champions
February 2015: British and Brazilian table tennis teams pool resources to boost Paralympic preparations
December 2014: Table tennis star takes Disability Award at inaugural Pride of Sports Awards
September 2014: Bayley beats world number one to lift Para-table tennis World Championships title