IPC Athlete of Month Award for October headed by table tennis players and shooters

By Gary Anderson

November 5 - Table table players Robert Davies of Britain and China's Pan Feng Feng, along with shooters Natascha Hiltrop of Germany and Sweden's Jonas Jacobsson, are among the six athletes nominated for the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athlete of the Month award for October, it was announced today.

They are joined by South Korean ice sledge hockey player Seung-Hwan Jung and Thailand's boccia athlete Witsanu Huadpradit for the award which recognises the outstanding performances over the last month.

It proved a very special month for Welshman Davies as he emerged as one of the stars of the tournament at the European Para-Table Tennis Championships in Lignano.

The 29-year-old began the tournament ranked as the number five player in the world in the class one category but victory over teammate Paul Davies in the individual final, followed by team gold playing alongside Paul, saw Rob come away from Lignano with two European golds and as the world's top ranked player.

Germany's Natacha Hiltrop announced her arrival on the world shooting stage with gold at the European Championships in Alicante

It was a similar story for Feng Feng at the Asian Para-Table Tennis Championships in Beijing as the double Paralympic champion took singles and team golds in the men's class three category.

At the IPC Shooting European Championships in Alicante, 17-time Paralympic champion Jacobsson achieved another milestone in his remarkable career by not only claiming another European title but also breaking a 13-year-old world record by scoring 1,172 in the men's SH1 R7 men's 50 metre rifle three positions qualification rounds.

In the SH1 mixed 10m air rifle prone event, 21-year-old Hiltrop produced a superb performance to upset the odds and claim gold ahead of France's Paralympic champion Cedric Fevre and, favourite for the event, Britain's Matt Skelhon.

South Korea's Seung-Hwan Jung was an instrumental part of his country's performance at the Sochi 2014 Ice Sledge Hockey Qualification Tournament in Turin which saw them book their place at the Winter Paralympics in comprehensive fashion by defeating hosts Italy in the final.

Jung picked up the Best Forward of the Tournament award following his eight goals and four assists.

Witsanu Huadpradit of Thailand caused an upset at last month's Asia Oceania Boccia Championships in Sydney

Hudapradit caused one of the big surprises at the recent Asia Oceania Boccia Championships held at the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre as he took top spot in the BC1 class, beating teammate, world number one and Paralympic champion Pattaya Tadtong in the process.