One of Britain's gold medal prospects for the 2012 London Paralympics is hoping to put a 'frustrating' 2010 behind him to concentrate on qualifying for the games.

Earlier this year table tennis star David Wetherill from Torpoint, was ranked second in the world before breaking his playing arm while walking home one evening.

Now after a five-month period out of the game he has seen his ranking slip to number 26 and has his work cut out to qualify for the London games.

David said: 'It was really annoying, I felt I was on the verge of getting to number one. This has set me back a couple of years.'

David, who turned 21 this month, will have to work his way back into the top 12 disabled table tennis players in the world next season in order to qualify for the London Paralympics.

'I'll be looking to get into the top 12, considering I was second before I broke my arm I should be able to,' he said.

'If you'd asked me last year if I would qualify for the Paralympics I would have said "yes, no problem". It's just put a little question mark over it and knocked my confidence a bit.'

The injury kept David out for almost the entire table tennis season. He returned in time for the World Championships in Korea but lost both his group stage matches after having only four weeks of training in preparation.

David, who returned home to Torpoint for Christmas, is currently studying biological chemistry at the University of Sheffield. He is taking a year out from his studies next year to concentrate on qualifying for the Paralympics.