ETTA Press Office

English National Table Tennis Championships

U21’s

Derbyshire's Liam Pitchford eclipsed any ambitions England No 1 Paul Drinkhall may have had of clinching his third under 21 singles title in a row with a sparkling display on the opening day at the English National Championships in Sheffield.  

Drinkhall was forced to defend desperately against Pitchford’s wide angle forehands which were simply too consistent for an out of sorts Drinkhall who was yellow carded in the third game for throwing his bat into the net in frustration. It was the second time that Pitchford had beaten Drinkhall at these championships. Last year he beat Drinkhall in the semi-final of the men's singles in the senior event.

Hannah Hicks clinched her first under 21 title with a superb controlled game against Emily Bates, the England No 1. In the end Hicks defence proved too strong and she ran out a deserved winner in a five game thriller.

Senior Singles

Paul Drinkhall, one of the sports main hopes for a medal at the Olympics next year, claimed his third singles title when he beat the No 3 seed Danny Reed in five pulsating games.  

Drinkhall's recent trip to China clearly paid off as he produced winning shot after winning shot to win the title.

Warwickshire's Kelly Sibley retained the women's singles title she last won three years ago, beating defender Joanna Parker in just under an hour. Sibley's attacking style finally winning the day in a six game thriller.

Doubles

With some outstanding table tennis Danny Reid and Chris Doran pulled off the biggest surprise of the weekend when they beat No 1 seeds and firm favourites Liam Pitchford and Paul Drinkhall to take the men's doubles title.

Kelly Sibley and Joanna Parker won their third doubles title with a fairly one-way win over Chloe Whyte and Jessica Dawson.  The match lasted just 15 minutes with the titleholders never looking as if they would lose their grip on the title.

Veterans

Trumpauskas and Bartram were the stars of the veteran’s field taking one title each, with Trumpauskas coming out on top in the singles, whilst Bartram paired with Trott got his revenge in the doubles.

The women’s event was played as a round robin with Collier going undefeated to take the title.

Results:

U21 Men
Final: L Pitchford bt P Drinkhall
13-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-6

U21 Women
Final: H Hicks bt E Bates
9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 7-11, 12-10

Men's Singles
Final: P.Drinkhall bt D Reed
11-7, 5-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9

Women's Singles
Final:  K.Sibley bt J Parker
11-7, 10-12, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-8

Men's Doubles
Final:  D Reed /C Doran bt  P Drinkhall/L Pitchford 
11-7, 14-12, 7-11, 10-12, 11-9

Women's Doubles
Final:  K Sibley/J Parker bt C Whyte/J Dawson
11-7, 11-7, 11-5

Mixed Doubles
Final: P Drinkhall/J Parker bt D Knight/K Sibley
10-12, 11-13, 11-9, 11-7, 11-6 

Veteran Men
Final: L Trumpauskas bt C Bartram
11.8, 5.11, 12.10, 11.9.

Veteran Women
Round Robin: 1^st S Collier, 2^nd S Clements

Veteran Men's Doubles
C Bartram/A Trott bt. L Trumpauskas/ C Carthy
11-0, 7-11, 11-8, 11-6 

 

Tags: #chloewhyte / #chrisdoran / #dannyreed / #dariusknight / #jessicadawson / #joannaparker / #kellysibley / #liampitchford / #nationalchampionships / #pauldrinkhall