Paralympian #230 Matthew Britz believes his style of play which he describes as “balanced chaos” helped the Para table tennis ace deliver some of the best results of his career at a pair of South American events.
Matt secured victories against players ranked fifth, 12th and 19th in the world and reached the top eight in the Men’s Singles Class 7 at both the ITTF World Para Futures event in Santiago and the World Para Challenger event in São Paulo last month – a clear indication of his exciting progression.
Adopting a different mindset going into these international events, US-based Matt, who hails from New Plymouth, explains: “I found I was taking a lot of advice from many coaches (besides primary coach John Tuki he has also been receiving coaching advice from an Australian and Slovenian coach) and the month before the South American tournaments I took the view that I am going to play how I want to play in terms of style and tactics.”
Having previously been shy of engaging in long rallies with the top ranked players and preferring to attack on the “third ball” he decided to take on a fresh approach.
“I feel I’m capable of playing any type of shot, good fundamentals, so I can play both defensively or I can attack. A few people described it as balanced chaos, so I had more of an attacking style, but I could also chop or block if I needed to. I felt extremely confident during all the games (in South America). I was more fearless.”
At the ITTF World Para Futures event in Santiago, Matt navigated a route through to the quarter finals with an impressive group stage victory against World No.19 Sam Gustafsson of Sweden.
Meanwhile, in Sao Paulo, the Kiwi fought back from two games down in his group stage encounter with World No.12 Michal Deigsler to win 3-2 before defeating World No.5 Paulo Salmin of Brazil 3-1 in his round of 16 clash,
While delighted to topple Salmin in his home country, Matt took particular pride in staying calm under pressure to defeat Deigsler of Poland.
“I feel that we are players of equal status skills-wise, but what definitely gave me the win was my mental game,” he explains. “Coming from 2-0 down to claim a comeback win showed my mental strength.”
Meanwhile, Matt, who has risen to World No.14 thanks to his exploits in South America, also took confidence from being in control of his 3-1 defeat of Salmin.
Adopting a more mature mental approach to his game which includes regular “self-talk” he believes rather than just turning up to tournaments hoping to do well he now thoroughly believes in his ability to perform.
“I’ve improved my mental approach, which has given me the belief I can compete with and that I’m capable of beating the best of the best,” he explains.
Victorious at the ITTF World Para Futures event in Sydney in February he believes he is gaining great experience for his international outings which he hopes will bear fruit later this year at the ITTF World Para Table Tennis Championships in Thailand on the road to LA28.
Currently living in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he trains and also lives with several members of the US Para table tennis squad is also proving a successful arrangement. Still guided by his New Zealand-based coach John Tuki, with whom he connects at least once a week, he benefits from training with other leading Para table tennis players and he plans to continue training there in the countdown to the next major international competition the ITTF World Para Elite event in Spokane, Washington, USA in August.
He plans to spend October based in Aotearoa New Zealand where he will compete at the NZ Para Open Championships in Manurewa before flying out to the World Para Table Tennis Championships in Pattaya, where he has set some big goals.
“The World Championships next to the Paralympic Games is another great chance to compete at the highest level,” he explains. “I’m very focused on this event and the fact I understand my competition a bit more and I also have that level of calmness, I’m excited at what is ahead. Competition-wise I want to podium. I’m very much at that level where I can achieve that.”
Cover image: ITTF via Table Tennis New Zealand.
