The Team GB number one men’s singles player is looking forward to focusing on improving his skills on the court after a difficult time on and off-court.

The Tokyo Olympic Games has been postponed until July 2021. English men’s singles player Toby Penty is one of the players who are likely to qualify for the Games, and the postponement is not necessarily a bad thing for Penty, who has been going through a lot of things outside the court the past year.

- Having more preparation for me personally is a good thing. I have not had much focus on trying to improve my game due to the qualification period and the battle I was having with myself internally with my alopecia. Everything seemed to be about the short term. Now this gives me a chance over a longer period to get back to improving towards the Olympics which I’m excited about, Penty explained.

- The last year was a year of consistency struggles during a difficult period. There were some good performances around the start of the Olympic qualifying period and some okay ones towards the end of 2019, but I would say it probably has not been spectacular by any stretch.

The funding cut
After the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016 British badminton took a massive funding cut. Sometimes it can be difficult to understand the impact of a funding cut, but four years later Toby Penty admits that it affected him a lot – but not only in a bad way.

- It had a big effect on me and the singles programme, as it was mostly lost due to the funding cuts.

- The hardest hitting effect was definitely financially, but the other effects I must say were mostly positive for me. I took more ownership of my career and got a great group of people around me who have backed me ever since. It is all hindsight but if the funding cut had not of happened and funding stayed the same as it was, I may well for one reason or another not be playing right now, Penty stated.

Toby Penty, who will turn 28 in August, has been fighting difficulties off-court more than once, but every time he has returned and proved that he has the level to play against the absolute top European players.

- I get to and have lived out my dream of playing badminton to a high level and higher than at first I ever dreamed possible for me. I have had a career that has had a bit of everything, wins, losses, ups, downs, injuries, mental battles, on funding, off funding so I really have experienced the full athlete package which makes me feel ready for whatever comes after my career is done, Penty said.

Eyes on Super 300
But before calling it a day, Penty dreams of winning more titles, trophies and medals.

- I would love to win a Super 300 title and get a European medal plus get myself to be competing consistently at the top world tour level tournaments. Anything else after that means I’m living the dream out that little bit more.

In 2019, Penty finished runner-up in the Spanish International. The last time he won a tournament was at the Belgian International in 2018.