BURNLEY’S Fliss Pickard won a bronze medal at the World Para Table Tennis Championships in Slovenia - and revealed she believes she can get even better.

Pickard has really come of age in the tournament and she put in another solid performance in the semi-final of the women’s class six against the World number two and European champion Raisa Chebanika.

The 26-year-old from Burnley levelled the match at 1-1 and saved match points in the fourth set before the hugely experienced Russian, who was Paralympic champion in London 2012, secured the set 14-12 and the match 3-1.

“I thought in parts I played really well,” said Pickard, who represented England at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. “Things I had been working on in training came off.

“Obviously there is lots to work on but that is always the case in table tennis. I’m disappointed now but I think I’ll look back in time and realise I’ve had some good wins and definitely under the pressure I think I’ve performed quite well. I always believe I can win a match. I can be 10-0 down and I’ll still keep fighting for every point because I believe I can win.”

She added: “I’ve got massive motivation now. I’m new to the full time programme and I’m only at 5% of where I want to be and what I believe I’m capable of. I’m not half the player I want to be yet so bring it on. It’s just little tweaks here and there; keep working as hard as I can and I can be the best in the world.”

Meanwhile, Todmorden teenager Megan Shackleton missed out on a medal in the women’s class four.

The 19-year-old demonstrated her huge potential with a 3-0 win in her last 16 match against the World number eight from Thailand, Wijittra Jaion.

Her reward was a quarter-final against world number one from China, Zhou Ying, and despite another good performance she 3-0 loss to the two-time Paralympic and World champion.

“I think I’ve had a really good performance out here,” said Shackleton. “I didn’t have the best start to the season and my match play wasn’t great but I battled through.

“To finish 2018 off on a high with getting to the quarter finals at my first World Championships, I think proves that hard work pays off and being part of the programme full time is going to be really beneficial for the future.

“I take confidence from the fact that I’ve qualified for the Worlds to play the best players and that shows that I am capable of taking medals on the major stage.”