Table Tennis England (TTE) U10-U13 Championships 2016

Table Tennis England (TTE) U10-U13 Championships 2016

On the weekend of the 25^th June, Rhys Davies took part in the National Table Tennis Championships held at UCLAN, Preston. Rhys began on the Saturday competing with the Under 13s, he delivered three very mature performances to win all three matches enabling him to progress onto the knockout phases, dropping only one set. Unfortunately, he lost his next match in a five set battle and was knocked out of the Under 13’s tournament. However, this meant that Rhys was able to get some rest before the U12’s tournament on the Sunday, where he was seeded 3^rd.

 Rhys dominated his group, winning all three matches and due to his seeding secured him a place in the last 16, with the advantage of watching his prospective opponents. Rhys’s last 16 match was against the 12^th seed, a player from Yorkshire, with the game being streamed live by TTE.  Rhys stepped up putting on a spectacular performance against a difficult opponent to win 3-0.

The quarter final was against the 5^th seed, a player from Cambridgeshire, who had beaten Rhys in their last encounter. Rhys again dominated his opponent in the first two sets, before unexpectedly dropping the third. However, Rhys showed utter determination, bouncing back to win the fourth set 11-2 and secure a place in the semi-final.

The semi-final was again streamed live by TTE and Rhys was up against the red hot favourite of the competition, and silver medal holder in the Under 13’s category, Jamie Liu. Jamie took the first state 11-5 before Rhys bounced back taking the second sent 11-7 with an array of attacking shots. The third set was crucial and was tied at 9-9, before Jamie took the next two points to claim the set, before finishing off the 4^th set and taking the game. Rhys put on a fantastic fight pushing all the way, reaping the rewards with an impressive bronze medal finish.

Next step for Rhys is the England Training Camp in August, whose Head Coach was at the competition.  He provided Rhys with feedback and suggestions for improvements.