English poet William Ernest Henley wrote "Invictus" in 1875 after losing his left leg to complications from tuberculosis. He was 26, convalescing in Edinburgh, when he wrote what would become his most famous poem, an oft-quoted ode to stoicism which helped Great Britain keep calm and carry on through two World Wars. Martin Perry of Paisley, Scotland is now 26. A world-ranked para table tennis player, Perry was born without hands or a left leg. With a prosthesis holding a racket on his right arm, he has cracked the top 20 in the men's class 6 para table tennis world rankings. Perry trains in Sheffield, England, a nearly a five hour train ride from Paisley. The travel for training and tournaments around the world is a small price to pay for Perry, who is determined to make it to the Paralympics. With a world ranking of #19, Perry is not automatically qualified for Tokyo Paralympics. Therefore, he set a goal to train as hard as possible for the Paralympic qualification tournament, even launching a crowdsourcing page to finance his globetrotting quest. "As it stands I can’t go to Tokyo and I need to win the world qualification tournament next year in order to go to the Games," says Perry, "but I totally believe that the team behind me can help me to get there." Then the COVID-19 pandemic shut the world down, restricting Perry to his home with his wife Siobhan. "At the start of lockdown I thought this is a bit rubbish and I think that is natural because we were thrown into an odd situation pretty much overnight," recalls Perry. "Then I became very grateful that for the first time since I’d got married I could have quality time with Siobhan." While this has been something of a blessing in disguise for the newlyweds, Martin remains focused on getting to Tokyo. Toward that end, he has done everything he can to stay sharp during the involuntary hiatus. "We’re all desperate to get back to training but the measures that the team has put in place to try and cope with that like the shadow play sessions, regular phone calls and strength and conditioning programs we do from home are really helping," reports Perry. To qualify for the quadrennial games would be a win not only for Perry, but for all of his friends, family, fans and financiers. "It has made me so thankful that everyone has dug deep and made sure that I am able to chase my dream literally around the world playing table tennis," says Perry. "Hopefully, I can put in some good performances and repay the people who have supported me my entire career." As Martin Perry sets his course for the greatest challenge of his sporting career, the words of William Ernest Henley set the tone, written nearly a century and a half ago on his native soil: It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.

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