BILLY Shilton finally got his hands on Sainsbury’s School Games gold after winning silver in each of the previous three years.
The 16-year-old from Stonehouse, who trains full-time in Sheffield with the GB para team, beat Tam Eastwood of Wales 3-0 (11-7, 13-11, 14-12) to take the standing disability singles title in Manchester.
It completed an unbeaten tournament for Shilton, in both the team and individual events – the only athlete to achieve that feat.
He said: “I’ve got silver three years in a row so to get gold is brilliant. I had extra motivation and I also think I’ve improved since I’ve been training full time in Sheffield.
“It’s good to win every single match, it keeps my good form going for other competitions.”
Shilton had beaten Scotland’s Conor McAdam in his semi-final, having some tough moments before triumphing 3-1 (11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6).
In the disability team event, despite Shilton’s unblemished record, South West could finish only fifth out of eight UK regions.
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