SPORTSMAN Andrew Martin, 30, whose day job is at Asda in Wellington, came home with a gold medal when he represented England at the World Parabadminton Championships in South Korea.

He won the medal with his mixed doubles partner Rachel Choong in November and is now aiming to go to the Paralympics in Tokyo in 2020.

Andrew had the pleasure of meeting lots of sporting stars when he returned from South Korea after being invited to the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony.

In early March he travelled to Palma in Mallorca to compete in the Spanish International in all three disciplines. He said: “In the men’s singles I was drawn in a tough group which included the fourth seed from Northern Ireland, a player from Hong Kong who knocked me out of the World Championships in November and a player from Japan. I managed to beat the fourth seed in three sets and the Japanese player in two sets to put me top of the group overnight, but the following day I wasn’t able to make it three wins out of three as I lost to the Hong Kong player in two sets.

“When the group matches had finished, three players in my group had finished on two wins and one defeat and unfortunately I missed out on making it through to the knock-out rounds on sets won and points.

“In the men’s doubles, me and my partner Isaak Dalglish were up against the third seeds from France/Russia, a pair from Thailand/Japan and a pair from Poland. Winning all three group games put us top of the group and qualifying for the quarter-finals where we would play a pair from Brazil. A straightforward two-set victory set up a semi-final against the number one seeds and fellow English pair. It was a hard-fought battle but we unfortunately missed out and settled for a bronze medal in the men’s doubles.

“In the mixed doubles, partnering Rachel Choong – we were number one seeds, defending champions and had become world champions for the third time in November, so we set out on winning the competition again. We safely navigated our way through the group stage with ease and then played a pair from Peru in the semi-final. Winning in straight sets meant we set up a rematch of the 2017 World Championship final against the number two seeds from France/England. Myself and Rachel won the final in straight games and with it retained the title to take home the gold medal.”

Andrew now has a couple of months to put in lots of hard training before the next competition at the Irish International in Dublin in June.

That will be followed by a busy end to the year with competitions in Japan in September, Denmark in October and the European Championships in late October/early November.

He added: “It is vital I go to these competitions as I need the ranking points to boost my rankings, especially as the beginning of next year is the start of the Road to Tokyo qualification period.”

Quest to raise £10,000

PARABADMINTON player Andrew Martin needs to raise at least £10,000 to achieve his goal of competing in the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo – and is appealing to businesses and members of the public for help.

He is already sponsored by Odette’s tea room in Wellington, has received a donation from the audience at a Christmas at the Wellesley concert and has had help from a few local people.

Andrew said: “All my training, equipment and competition costs are self-funding – I receive no funding to help towards any of these costs.

“Any help I can get from local businesses or support from members of the public will go a long way to help me get to competitions and achieve my lifelong dream of qualifying and competing at a Paralympics.”

Anyone who can help Andrew with his fundraising efforts can visit his fundraising page https://www.gofundme.

com/Andrew-Martin or contact him via email [email protected]