Kim Daybell’s achievements included silver medals at the Commonwealth Games and European Championships. PHOTO: ITTF

TWO-TIME Paralympian and NHS hero Kim Daybell is putting down his ping pong paddle after announcing his retirement from table tennis this week to focus on his medical career.

Daybell put his preparations for the Tokyo Paralympic Games on hold to help in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic while working as a junior doctor at the Whittington Hospital in Archway.

And now the 30-year-old is ready to “commit to medicine” once more and step away from a sport that has been a part of his life for more than two decades.

“It was a really difficult decision and I took a long time to think about it,” said Daybell. “There have been a lot of ups and downs over the last few years and lots of points where I was thinking of calling it a day, but in the end I wanted to let some time pass so I could make a rational decision about why I wanted to step away from the sport.

“I’ve spent the last 10 years travelling and playing the sport I love with people I care about, so I couldn’t ask for a lot more and it feels like the right time to move on.

“At some point I needed to commit to medicine – it is a tough career which will require a lot of time and dedication, but I feel ready for that new challenge now.”

Daybell, who was born with Poland’s syndrome, a rare condition characterised by underdevelopment or absence of the chest muscle on one side of the body, won nearly 50 international gongs during his career, including silver medals at the Commonwealth Games and the European Championships in 2018.

He also represented Great Britain at three World Championships and two Paralympic Games – London 2012 and Rio 2016.

Daybell’s dream of competing in his third Paralympic Games in 2021 were dashed, however, when he missed out on qualification for Tokyo, and was then denied a wildcard entry for the showpiece.

Further heartache was to follow when his hopes of finishing his career at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham this summer were dashed when his application for a wildcard was again unsuccessful.

Despite the disappointments, Daybell has no regrets about skipping practice and putting his duty as a doctor before his career as an athlete.

“I’m glad that I did what I did,” he said. “I made the choice I made and I’m proud of that. It was a very tough and difficult time but sometimes you do have to put your own aspirations and your own welfare on the back-burner and do things for other people, and that is just what needed to happen.

“I do think it is a shame, because I feel I never quite made it back from Covid in terms of table tennis – it did put a stop to it and I struggled to get back to that top level in the world.

“Although I did feel let down by international Para table tennis, I can’t say that if it had never happened I’d be sitting here now having played Tokyo and the Commonwealth Games and I’d be retiring with no regrets.

“So I don’t regret the decision but I’m happy that it is the end of a really difficult couple of years.”