Tapper has been named in the National High Performance squad Tier 1 for 2015, having won a bronze medal in the women's team event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, held in Glasgow.

By competing in Glasgow, Tapper became the first Paralympic athlete to secure a place on an Australian able-bodied team.

The 24-year-old, who has Erb's Palsy, has also achieved success on the Paralympic side of the sport, claiming a bronze medal at the World Para-Table Tennis Championships last year, which were held in Beijing.

Tapper has additionally won the Hungarian and Italian Opens, but finished outside the medals at the London 2012 Paralympics, ending up in fourth place.

Melissa Tapper won a medal for Australia at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games ©Getty Images



The squad was selected in accordance to the National Selection Criteria and were ratified by the TTA board.

Tapper is joined in the Tier 1 squad by Jian Fang Lay, Miao Miao, Sally Zhang, Chris Yan, Kane Townsend, David Powell, Heming Hu and William Henzell.

Australia came away from the 2014 Commonwealth Games with two medals in table tennis, with Jian Fang Lay and Miao Miao joining forces to win silver in the women's doubles, to add to the bronze in the women's team event.

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