Starting today, the Paralympic World Qualification Tournament is underway. 228 athletes from 52 countries have gathered in the Slovenian city of Laško. By Saturday, 21 will have earned tickets to Tokyo, 10 women and 11 men representing 11 classifications of disability. (Women's classes 1 and 2 are combined, for whatever reason.) Dr. Kim Daybell (pictured), a British Paralympic veteran competing in men's singles class 10, has been on the front lines for the the entirety of the pandemic. By choosing to offer his medical skills to help those most in need, his table tennis training has necessarily been deprioritized in the triage. "I’m not where I want to be right now so close to a big tournament; I’d like to have more hours of training under my belt, but you can’t change the situation," Dr. Daybell reported. "I’m just pleased to be in a position where I can be there and play after the year that I’ve had; just to be there physically fit and with a chance of doing well is enough for me so I’m looking forward to it." Thus far, good karma has made up for Daybell's lack of training. The good doctor put on a clinic in his qualifying group with 3-0 wins over Bunpot Sillapakong of Thailand and Gustav Wiesenhofer of Austria. He now enters the knockout stage, fighting for the lone men's singles class 10 Paralympic qualification. "It would mean the world to me to go to Tokyo and would offer some closure after what has been a really difficult year," confided Daybell, "to have something positive at the end of it." Dr. Daybell's services in an era of crisis are nothing short of heroic. Competitive sport, however, recognizes only physics, not karma; thus, the physician must now play the role of physicist.

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