Dave Wetherill of Great Britain was the big surprise of opening day of the Paralympic Table Tennis, defeating Rainer Schmidt of Germany in Men's Single Class 6 at Peking University Gymnasium.

The 18 year-old from Plymouth maintained his focus throughout his Paralympic debut to beat the Athens 2004 Men's Singles Class 6 bronze medalist.

"I think it came down to who was better on the day; whoever kept their emotions in check was going to win," Wetherill said. "After all, we are playing in China, this is the home of Table Tennis."

This is Wetherill's second full year of Paralympic Table Tennis but he's no stranger to success. In 2007 he won gold in international tournaments in Italy and the United States.

(En.paralympic.beijing2008.cn September 7, 2008)