England’s Cadet and Junior table tennis players are heading to Ostrava, Czech Republic this weekend with the hope of securing some priceless medals from the European Youth Championships (12-21st July 2013).
Table tennis medals are a precious commodity for the English players in recent years but the squad heading East this week have plenty of reasons to be optimistic of securing success in the heart of Europe.
Last year 13-year-old Tin-Tin Ho from Paddington secured a bronze medal in the Cadet Girls Singles from Schwechat, Austria and this year the young starlet is looking to go one better.
The 14-year-old is now an established member of the senior England side and has recently added a Commonwealth Championships silver medal in the team event to an already burgeoning collection including National titles from Under 11 to Under 21 level and International tournament victories from both Portugal and France.
She is not the only one to have impressed in the last 12 months as a much-improved Sam Walker (Worksop), has not only added the National Under 21 title to his collection but also marked a senior England debut with two medals from the Commonwealth Championships.
To cap off a fine season the 18-year-old could qualify for the 2013 World Junior Championships after an impressive season which has also seen him register his first international open win in Malta. During that tournament, his teammate and English cadet no. 1, Tom Jarvis, made his first international final as he looks to impress on his maiden EYC appearance in Ostrava.
The full squad list and quotes can be found below while pictures can be downloaded from the ETTA’s Virtual Press Office.
Tin-Tin Ho, 14 from Paddington: “I’m trying my best not to put much pressure on myself and try not to think too much about the result. I have tried not to think about ‘leading the team’, just trying my best to do well, although at times I have felt some pressure.”
“I have worked on trying to find my feeling first at the beginning of the match, not trying to rush and hit the ball really hard, so hopefully I won’t miss as many unforced errors.”
“Sometimes it’s easier because I know how they play, what they like and what they don’t like, however, they also know how I play and my strengths and weaknesses.”
Sam Walker, 18 from Worksop: “I was gutted in that match really because it was against a player from Portugal, Diogo Chen, who was, at that time ranked above me and I was 3-1 up and had a good chance of winning it.”
“Unfortunately in the last set I lost deuce in the seventh and I was gutted because he got a bit of luck in the end. Hopefully this year I can improve on that and go for the medals.”
“I think the first tournament this season, which was the Serbian Open, was the first international tournament that I had got to the final of. It was the first time I had won a singles medal in an international open and it really gave me the confidence to go on.”
“I played one Junior World Championships before when I was actually still a cadet, I went there as part of the team as a reserve. Gavin Evans was injured so I got a call-up and that was a great experience for me.”
“Since then I’ve not been able to qualify for one so I’ve always been wanting to go to another. It’ll be a good opportunity for me to do well and I hope that I will qualify for it. It will round off both a good season and a good junior career.”
Tom Jarvis, 13 from Skegness: “I am very excited to be representing my country in such a major table tennis tournament. I am hopeful that I will play my absolute best.”
“Playing international table tennis for the first time was quite an eye opener in terms of the standard of the international players. It made me realize that I have a lot of hard work to do and I have been training even harder.”
“I have played in several international tournaments this season and this has prepared me well for the EYC. I am aware of the level of the European players and I have gained some ranking points from some good unexpected wins,”
“The main difference playing abroad is that the players are all of a very high standard. The tournaments are very intensive - usually lasting three to four days and the playing conditions in the sports halls are excellent.”
“Next year I hope to win some medals in international tournaments and in the long term I want to represent England at the Olympic Games.”
56th European Youth Championships (12-21st July 2013) Ostrava, Czech Republic
Full England Squad:
Junior Boys Team: Sam Walker, George Downing, Helshan Weerasinghe and Igor Morais
Junior Girls Team: Tin-Tin Ho, Maria Tsaptsinos, Lois Peake and Emily Bolton (Tin-Tin and Emily will play in the cadet individual events)
Cadet Girls Team: Letitia McMullan and Denise Payet
Cadet Boys Team: Tom Jarvis, Luke Savill and Marcus Giles.
Coaches: Nick Jarvis, Jia Yi Liu, Alan Cooke, Stephen Gertsen and Craig Bryant
Editors Notes
English Table Tennis Association
ETTA is the lead nation for the British Table Tennis Federation which consists of the four home nations and is formed for selection of the Great British squad for Olympic Games. Table tennis has over 300 million participants worldwide, making it one of the world’s highest participation sports. Some 2.4 million people play table tennis within the UK (British Market Research Bureau).
Virtual Press Office
The ETTA Virtual Press Office is an online resource for members of the press to access assets and information to aid the journalistic process.
Additional Information
Please contact the ETTA Communications team for any further requirements:
Russell Moore - Web Content & Performance Officer russell.moore@etta.co.uk
Adam Collins - Design & Communications Officer adam.collins@etta.co.uk
Paul Cornell - PR & Marketing Officer paul.cornell@etta.co.uk
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