Ian Kent

{{Infobox sportsperson

| name = Ian Kent

| nickname =

| image = Ian Kent.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption =

| nationality =

| sport = Para table tennis

| disability = Dystonia

| disability_class = C8

| event =

| club =

| coach =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1961|7|4|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Welling, United Kingdom

| residence = Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia, Canada

| retired =

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = 180cm

| weight = 91kg

| pb =

| country = {{CAN}}

| medaltemplates =

{{Medal|Country|{{CAN}}}}

}}

Ian Kent (born July 4, 1961) is a Canadian para table tennis player. He is a double singles champion in the Para Pan-American Para Table Tennis Championships and has won seven medals in Parapan American Games.{{Cite web|url=http://stats.ipttc.org/en/profiles/2262?resource_id=2262&with_medals=1|title=IPTTC Profile - Ian Kent|date=24 March 2019|website=International Para Table Tennis Federation}}

Biography

Kent was born in Welling in London then he moved to Canada with his parents as a young child, his mother is a former British track and field athlete. He holds a bachelor of science degree in mathematics and psychology from Saint Mary's University.{{Cite web|url=http://games.paralympic.ca/team-canada/ian-kent|title=Team Canada - Ian Kent|date=24 March 2019|website=Paralympics Canada}}

He has three sons, Isaac, Tyler and Matthew and two of them are one of Nova Scotia's top ranked table tennis players while Ian is still top ranked.

In 1999, Kent was aged 38, was diagnosed with dystonia and was bedridden for two years.

Sporting career

Kent first started playing competitively in 2004 when he played in the EuroChamp Table Tennis Tournament in Emmen, Netherlands. He only started winning medals in 2005 at the Para Pan-American Championships in Mar del Plata where he won a silver medal in the singles tournament and a bronze medal in the teams tournament with Martin Pelletier.

He has competed in the 2008 Summer Paralympics and also 2018 Commonwealth Games but did not advance to the final rounds in both tournaments.{{Cite web|url=https://results.gc2018.com/en/table-tennis/athlete-profile-n6029756-ian-kent.htm|title=Table Tennis Athlete Profile - Ian Kent|date=24 March 2019|website=Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games}}