MEGAN Shackleton may be the ‘baby’ of the team but she certainly has an old head on young shoulders when it comes to having that steely determination to succeed.

The talented teen from Todmorden is fast showing she is one of the best table tennis players around after winning double gold at the Cote d’Azur International in Hyères les Palmiers.

The Todmorden High School pupil was named female wheelchair player of the tournament to further enhance her reputation.

The 15-year-old’s success follows her gold medal at the IWAS World Junior Games where she also won bronze in the team event alongside Lucie Bouron.

Shackleton, who also swam at international level, is the youngster member of the GB Performance Squad - but to her that is not an issue.

“Being the youngest in the team doesn't bother me at all,” said Shackleton who only joined the GB Pathway squad in 2013. “Some people like to make an issue out of it but to me age is just a number.”

It is that approach to the sport that sees Shackleton a genuine contender for Rio in 2016 - a remarkable feat considering she has barely be playing the sport while London 2012 Paralympics was on.

“I had swum competitively from the age of five and played tennis,” she said, “So I’ve always enjoyed sport. I first started playing table tennis at the age of 12 after I attended a Playground to Podium event in Leeds, where I met my coach Shaun Alvey and he persuaded me to come along to his club Albert Premier TTC regularly and I soon fell in love with the sport.”

It was during the hype of London 2012 that really inspired her to chase her dream and now Rio could very much be a reality.

“That it was I am working towards now,” she said. “I would love to represent Great Britain in the next Paralympic Games but I know I will have to continue to work hard to achieve that goal.”

With the season now over, Shackleton’s next aim is to take part in the European Championships next year.

However, she can look back on 2014 with extreme satisfaction.

For Shackleton finished the season in the best form possible, winning double gold in the singles and team event.

She showed a maturity beyond her years to win her first international gold medal in the women’s 4/5 singles, recovering from the disappointment of losing a match point in the fourth set to defeat the Russian Aleksandra Vasileva in the final 3-2, “I didn’t feel a lot of pressure,” said Shackleton, “because I had already exceeded what I had done at the last tournament. I just wanted to play my best and that is what I did. I think the semi-final being so close helped me in the final because I battled through it and that gave me confidence, knowing I’ve got the determination to fight back even when it is very close. When I blew the match point in the fourth set I was still determined that I could do it and although I wanted to get it finished quicker than I did I’m happy I finished on a high and not having lost. It’s amazing to get my first gold and it means a lot to me with all the training that I do.”

But there was more as the following day, Shackleton and Israeli partner Caroline Tabib won the women’s class 4-5 team event.

Worryingly for her rivals, Shackleton believes she can only get better.

“Knowing that I’ve won two gold medals is going to give me a lot of confidence,” she said. “I’ve played consistently through the tournament and hopefully I can continue to do that next season. There’s still a lot of room for improvement.”