It has been a year of achievement for Great Britain athletes on the international stage as the hard work put in at the Elite Training Center in Sheffield has enabled medal-winning performances across all age groups.
We’ve picked some of the biggest moments and asked Performance Development Director Gavin Evans to explain why they were so important.
Here you will find our top five in no particular order.
Tom Jarvis reaches World Cup last 16
When Tom Jarvis led 3-0 over number 10 seed and former European champion Dang Qiu of Germany in the last 64 in Doha, a major disappointment was in store. At 3-3, hope seemed to be gone, but Tom brilliantly took a step forward to complete a pulsating victory – the biggest of his career – in just under 62 minutes.
Jarvis, ranked 148, then defeated world number 95 Ovidiu Ionescu with an imperious 4-0 victory, before his run ended at the hands of No. 5 seed Liang Jingkun of China, but not before Jarvis had stretched his illustrious opponent to a 4-2 scoreline.
Gavin says: “Tom’s performance in Doha was special, he was a reserve athlete for the event and eventually defeated the world number 10 to reach the last 16. Tom has subsequently continued to jump, climbing the world rankings to number 61 and medaling in several WTT Feeder events. I believe this event was the catalyst for Tom’s continued progress.”
WTT Feeder Manchester – British champions galore
On a historic day for British table tennis, Liam Pitchford and Anna Hursey won the singles titles and Paul Drinkhall and Sam Walker took gold in the men’s doubles at WTT Feeder Manchester.
The doubles was the first to win, beating Spain’s Rafael De Las Heras and Diego Lillo 3-1 (10-12, 11-6, 11-9, 12-10) in the final at the National Cycling Centre.
Wales’ Hursey won her fourth successive tournament – and her first senior tournament – when she defeated Spain’s Elvira Rad 3-0 in the women’s singles final.
And Pitchford brought down the curtain on an incredible day with an emphatic victory over Poland’s Samuel Kulczycki in the men’s singles final – his first WTT title.
A sell-out crowd was enchanted – and silver for Connor Green and Sophie Earley in the Mixed Doubles reinforced the feeling that this was the biggest day of the stretch in recent memory. Pitchford & Hursey also won mixed bronze.
Gavin said: “The Feeder in Manchester was a great honor for our athletes to play in front of a home crowd and win five medals! It was fantastic to see Liam Pitchford win his first WTT Feeder title in emphatic style. It really helped us believe as a country that we are on the right track.”
Connor Green on the stage of the Europe Youth Top 10
Connor Green defeated eventual champion and second seed en route to a stunning bronze medal in the Youth Top 10 in Tours, France.
Green won six of his nine matches and carried his form into the WTT Star Contender London later that same month, with an eye-catching victory over Feng Yi-Hsin, the world number 55 from Chinese Taipei, in the first round.
Gavin said: “This was a testament to Connor’s continued hard work and stoic mentality. In many ways it was a late bloomer in the junior game. However, winning bronze in the European Top 10 Under 19 was an extraordinary moment and the first European Under 19 singles medal for many years. This boosted Connor’s confidence, leading to his win against the world number 55 in the London Star Contender.”
Anna Hursey conquers Europe and the world
Quite a brilliant year for the teenage athlete from Wales and Great Britain, as she won a stack of titles, including four WTT youth and senior tournaments in a row, finishing at WTT Feeder Manchester. She also finished the year in the top 50 in the world.
But she impressed on even bigger stages, starting with winning both the singles and doubles – alongside Germany’s Mia Griesel – at the European Under-21 Championship. She then added gold in the under-19 girls’ singles at the European Youth Championships.
And if that wasn’t impressive enough, she also claimed three medals – one of each color – at the World Youth Championships in November, including gold in the girls’ doubles with Griesel. The silver went to the Romanian Iulian Chirita in the Mixed and the bronze was in the singles.
Gavin says: “Anna’s year has been a year of dreams in many ways. Three-time European Youth Medalist, two-time Under-21 Gold Medalist and three-time World Youth Medalist. Anna has risen to No. 45 in the Senior World Rankings and cemented herself as a global young superstar. Anna played in the bottom tier of WTT events at Villa Real WTT Youth Contender last year and played in the WTT Champions the same year. This shows that it path is there for those who dare to capitalize on it.”
English women qualify for the Europeans and then beat Italy
A youthful England side completed a brilliant 100% campaign at the European team qualifying event in January to book a place in the finals in Croatia.
Tin-Tin Ho completed an undefeated event and led the team to five wins out of five, completed when Tianer Yu won the decisive match against Slovenia to seal qualification.
The final in October saw Yu come of age with a brilliant double against two top 100 players as English women dispatched ninth seeds Italy to advance to the knockout stages of the European Championships in Croatia, where they were defeated by second seeds Germany.
Gavin said: “Congratulations to the women for a great performance, with Tin-Tin leading from the front with an unbeaten qualifying campaign and then Tia taking second place against Italy, while Jasmin Wong and Ella Pashley made key contributions both on and off the table. This is a young team and I hope they take confidence from this and continue to flourish.”
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