Canada’s leading Para table tennis athletes will gather in Brampton for the 2026 Canadian Para Championships, bringing together a strong field from across the country following an exceptionally busy summer of international competition and training.
This year’s championships will feature 25 Para athletes, including 12 wheelchair players and 13 standing players, representing British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec.
Competition will be held in both singles and doubles at BATTS Athletics in Brampton. Funding provided in part by the Government of Ontario
The 2025 champions, Thulir Hector in the standing category and Muhammad Mudassar in wheelchair competition, will return to defend their national titles.
The Canadian Championships are part of a broader six-day program running October 2–6, which also includes national classification, Table Tennis for All, Spirit of Champions, the Deaf Athletes Challenge and a post-championship training camp. 2026 Canadian Para Championship…
Isherwood’s international breakthrough
For Peter Isherwood, the road to Brampton has included one of the strongest periods of his international career.
Currently ranked 17th in the world, with a career-best ranking of No. 16, Isherwood has spent the past three years building international experience and pursuing ranking points.
“Last three years I have been busy chasing experience and points for ranking,” Isherwood said. “After initial frustration, this year I started to win against top-20 players and get on the podium at two prestigious ITTF events – Challenger and Elite in Spokane. It is a huge relief and great satisfaction.”
At the ITTF World Para Challenger Spokane, Isherwood reached the final of the men’s Class 1–2 singles event and earned silver. Days later, he added a bronze medal at the ITTF World Para Elite Spokane. Para Stats
His preparation has gone well beyond the ITTF circuit.
“My ITTF tournaments, unsanctioned competition in Sweden, as well as the camp in Novi Sad, Serbia, helped a lot,” Isherwood said. “My eyes are on the 2027 Parapan American Games and the qualification pathway for Los Angeles 2028.”
From Spokane to Sheffield
Other Canadian athletes have also accumulated valuable international experience during the summer.
Mohsin Watto, Muhammad Mudassar and Asad Murtaza trained in Spokane, USA, in August before travelling to the United Kingdom in September.
They were joined in the UK by standing athlete Thulir Hector for the 2026 Gorazd Vecko Para International Table Tennis Training Camp in Sheffield.
Organized by British Para Table Tennis and ITTF Sports Development, the ten-day program ran from September 1–10. It included an initial training block from September 1–4, the BPTT/TTW Gorazd Vecko Open tournament on September 5–6, followed by another training block from September 7–10. 2026 Gorazd Vecko Para Internat…
Participation was limited to a maximum of 20 invited athletes, covering wheelchair classes 1–5, standing classes 6–10 and Class 11. Selection considerations included world ranking, age, regional distribution, activity and results in the ITTF Para series. 2026 Gorazd Vecko Para Internat…
The camp also provided the Canadian group with access to the British Para Table Tennis coaching environment, including Head Coach Andrew Rushton and national coaches Matjaz Sercer, Ross Wilson, Stephen Jenkins, David McBeath and Igor Zavadyski. 2026 Gorazd Vecko Para Internat…
During their time in the United Kingdom, the Canadians also participated in a Parasport Festival organized by Disability Sport Wales.
Hector won first place in the standing competition, while Watto finished third in the wheelchair event.
Preparation continues in Brampton
The athletes’ preparation will continue right up to the Canadian Championships.
One week before the event, Watto, Mudassar and Murtaza will take part in an Ontario-organized training camp at BATTS Athletics, giving them an opportunity to prepare in the same venue that will host the national championships.
Immediately following the competition, Table Tennis Canada will organize a further two-day national training camp, bringing them together with nine additional Canadian Para athletes.
The sequence creates an unusually concentrated period of development: international competition and camps in August and September, provincial preparation immediately before the championships, national competition, and a national training camp immediately afterward.
Coaches developing alongside athletes
The summer has also created important development opportunities for Canadian coaches.
Abhinay Vaddi served as a Canadian coach during the Spokane training camp and supported Peter Isherwood during his run to the Challenger final.
The Sheffield camp also marked Mohsin Watto’s first assignment as a coach, where he had the opportunity to work alongside internationally recognized Para table tennis coach Gorazd Vecko.
“It was a great experience for all of us,” Watto said. “We met many coaches from all around the world and had an opportunity to learn from each other. I have also completed my NCCP Introduction to Competition this summer in Ontario.”
Watto’s development as a coach adds another dimension to the growth of Canadian Para table tennis, with experienced athletes beginning to transfer their knowledge while continuing their own competitive careers.
National titles — and a longer pathway
The 2026 Canadian Para Championships will provide an opportunity to compete for national titles, but for many athletes the event is also one part of a much longer pathway.
For Isherwood, the focus is increasingly on the 2027 Parapan American Games and Los Angeles 2028.
For Watto, Mudassar, Murtaza and Hector, the championships follow months of international camps, competition and training.
And for Canada’s developing coaches, the summer has provided another opportunity to gain international experience alongside the athletes they support.
The Canadian Championships will bring all of those pathways together in Brampton.
The event will also be attended by Natalie Pierre, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Sport, representing the Government of Ontario. Pierre currently also serves as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services