by Alex Hoad at the ExCeL Arena

Tunbridge Wells table tennis ace Will Bayley revealed energy drinks helped him to prepare for the 9am match which saw him through to the Class 7 semi-finals at ExCeL this morning.

The 24-year-old was visibly pumped up during his clash with China's Kelin Liao to whom he has lost in the past.

However he produced a convincing display, full of passion, to seal an 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 win.

Bayley revealed he got up at 5.50am to prepare for the 9am clash and revealed: "I had a few energy drinks before hand to help."

He added: "It is actually quite hard to play at this sort of time. We were up at 5.50am.

"I had a good night's sleep last night, which I wasn’t really expecting because I was playing a Chinese guy and it’s never nice."

the Byng Hall Club member explained: "He’s beaten me before. I was a bit worried about playing him, I’m not going to lie, so to get that one out of the way is really important because he was dangerous."

Bayley is due back in action at 7pm in the semi-final of the competition.

He said: "I just want to take every match as it comes and take it step by step."

Bayley's intense performance, which included bellows of delight and cries of anguish, culminating in him falling to the floor in celebration after wrapping up victory, brought the vocal crowd to its feet.

He said: "It’s been incredible. The support makes a massive difference."