Individual and team silver for Pickard in Poland
Pickard had progressed to the knockout stages as the winner of her group after a 3-0 win against Darya Paluyan from Belarus, and a battling victory against Gabriela Constantin, fighting back from 2-0 down to beat the Romanian 3-2.
A 3-0 win against Emelie Endre from Sweden in the quarter-finals set up a semi-final against Katarzyna Marszal the World number five from Poland.
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Hide AdPickard had won their last four meetings, including a 3-0 win in the World Championships last year.
But the Polish player is always a tough competitor and levelled at 1-1 and 2-2 before Pickard ran away with the deciding set 11-2.
In the final she faced the top seed and World number two Raisa Chebanika.
And the Russian former Paralympic champion and reigning European champion was a 3-1 winner to take the gold.
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Hide Ad“I’m pleased to get another medal,” said Pickard, “but the biggest improvement I made from Slovenia was my approach and application towards matches.
“I didn’t feel my level was great but it’s nice to win matches in these situations.
“I felt I had chances in the final – just little things to work on not only when I get back into the training hall but also in the team event here.”
And in the team event, Pickard took silver in the women’s class 6 with her Norwegian partner Merethe Tveiten.
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Hide AdPickard and Tveiten began with a 2-0 win against Iraq, with Pickard defeating Najlam Al Dayyeni 3-1 after winning the doubles with Tveiten 3-0.
The British/Norwegian partnership survived a spirited fight back from the Swedish pair of Emelie Endre and Caisa Stadler before winning the doubles 3-2, and Pickard secured the tie with a 3-0 win against Endre.
Their final round-robin match against the World number two from Russia Raisa Chebanika and the Romanian Gabriela Constantin proved to be the one that decided the gold medal.
The Russian/Romanian partnership won the doubles 3-1, but Pickard levelled the tie with a gutsy win against Constantin 16-14 in the fifth, before Chebanika secured the gold for her team with a 3-0 win against Tveiten.
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Hide Ad“I’m very pleased to come away with another silver medal,” said Pickard.
“My match today against Constantin is definitely the toughest battle I have ever had.
“This tournament has shown me that when my mind-set is right I can be one of the best players in the world.
“Now I have some time to go away, work hard and come back stronger.
“But the key is to focus on myself and control what I do.”