Pitchford returns to English no.1

01.08.2012

Pitchford returns to English no.1

Pitchford returns to English no.1

Tussle for status as Englands number 1.

Liam Pitchford and Paul Drinkhall have continued their tussle for status as England’s number 1 and, in the middle of the home Olympics, it is the 19-year-old Pitchford who re-takes top spot – by just one point!

Pitchford first ended Drinkhall’s five-year dominance at the top of the rankings in October 2011 and the pair have been trading top spots ever since with the one point gap being the closest they have ever come together.

The youngster from Chesterfield held the number 1 ranking until May, when Drinkhall re-took the lead by just 15 points, which he maintained in the June rankings.

However, at the change of season it is Pitchford who has stolen a march on Drinkhall and will head into the Team GB match with Portugal as the new English number 1.

The pair are joined in the top three by fellow Olympian Andrew Baggaley while Darius Knight maintains his top five place behind Daniel Reed.

The women’s rankings remain unchanged where Joanna Parker leads her Team GB team-mate Kelly Sibley ahead of their important last 16 team match against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

In the junior rankings Sam Walker and Tin-Tin Ho maintain their respective top spots while George Downing rises from fifth to third.

In the cadet rankings, Helshan Weerasinghe and Tin-Tin Ho still lead although Weerasinghe will be replaced by Tom Jarvis at the start of the new season, while Ho’s lead will increase as rival Maria Tsaptsinos moves up as well.

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).

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