The Mark Bates Ltd Under-21 National Championships resulted in victory for Isaac Kingham and Tianer Yu who claimed the respective Under-21 men’s and women’s singles titles at the David Ross Sports Village at the University of Nottingham.
The doubles’ events provided an excellent afternoon of table tennis with three experienced pairings all claiming the titles. Max Radiven & Rachael Iles in the mixed, Ella Pashley & Sienna Jetha in the women’s and Joe Hunter & James Hamblett in the men’s.
Men’s Singles
The group stages went ahead with few surprises, with the highest ranked players all progressing from their group. The first notable story of the day was Francesco Bonato who advanced from group five along with Kacper Piwowar after the absence of Toby Ellis. Joseph Marlor also made it through to the knockout stages after defeating Leo Nguyen 3-1 with the final two ends going to 12-10.
In the round of 16, both Piwowar brothers both lost out 3-1. Zac Greenhough saw off Kacper, while Jakub ended his competition at the hands of James Hamblett. Isaac Kingham also advanced at the hands of Joseph Marlor.
In the quarter finals, defending champion Larry Trumpauskas went to battle with Abraham Sellado but missed his chance at going back-to-back as Sellado put on an excellent display to win 3-1. On the other tables, Kingham beat Greenhough 3-0, Joe Hunter saw off Max Radiven 3-1, and Rohan Dani swept James Hamblett 3-0.
Sellado continued his mission to lock down his place in the final after a good contest with Dani, while Kingham overcame top seed Joe Hunter 3-0, but the scoreline doesn’t tell the story. The opening end finished 23-21, with the remaining matches going 11-8, 11-7 in Kingham’s favour.
The final went back and fourth and provided a strong spectacle for those in attendance. Sellado took the opener 11-9, before Kingham responded with back-to-back 11-9 sets to take the lead. Sellado go his own back in the fourth 11-8 to set up the only fifth set decider of the men’s singles knockout phase. The strong willed Kingham pressed on and ultimately won out 11-6 to claim his maiden solo national title.
“I have no words to be honest. I’ve never won a [singles] National title before and I’ve been training for a moment like this” an emotional Kingham said straight off the court.
“I lived with Abraham for two years, he was my roommate, he’s like a little brother to me so we’ve played many times obviously, we’ve trained together every day in Grantham, so it’s always close with Abraham. I just tried to stay clear, focused, positive no matter what happened, and it worked in the end”.
Women’s Singles
In the Under-21 Women’s Singles, seven groups competed for places in a first knockout round, prior to the quarter finals. It was a routine affair with the top seed in each group progressing to the next stage, while all the second highest ranked players in each group all advanced with the exception of Group 2, and Group 4. Saskia Key and Hannah Saunders put in the hard yards early doors to secure their places in the knockout phases.
In Round 1, the top two seeds, Tianer Yu and Sophie Earley, were given a bye directly into the quarters, but the remaining participants battled it out. Rachael Iles and Eva Eccles played out a classic that that ended in Iles favour 3-2. While Catherine Lv came from two sets down to Mabel Shute to secure her spot in the quarters.
In the final eight, Tianer Yu, Sienna Jetha and Sophie Earley all advanced, but another classic took place between Ella Pashley and Anna Green. Having led 2-0, Pashley let Green back into the game to send the match to a decider. This in turn went all the way as Pashley saved six match points before taking the win 19-17 in the fifth.
The semi finals felt almost run at a canter after such a gripping semi final which had the whole hall tuning in, but in the end Tianer Yu earned her place in the final with a 3-0 win over England teammate Pashley, and Sophie Earley saw off Jetha 3-1.
In a repeat of the of the Senior National Championships semi-finals, Yu and Earley competed for gold in a largely one sided contest. Yu claimed the opening two sets 11-3, 11-6, before the match really ramped up. The final score ended 16-14 to Tianer Yu in the third to secure her second Under-21 Women’s Singles National Title.
Tianer Yu said after the match, “I played Sophie in the Senior National semi-finals. It wasn’t an easy match, so I came in and expected it to be hard, and it was hard, especially in the third set when it went to deuce. A tough match, but I’m happy to win it in the end”.
Mixed Doubles
In the mixed doubles, the competition began at the round of 16 stage, with top seeds, Joe Hunter & Sophie Earley narrowly dodging a scare to tenth seeds Kacper Piwowar & Brooke Morris. Having trailed 2-1, Hunter & Earley turned it around to progress. Elsewhere, Gabriel Schogger & Eva Eccles, the sixth seeded pair, also made it through in five in similar circumstances after twelfth seeds Rayan Ansari & Mia Lakhani led after three ends 2-1. The deciding set was ultimately a bit of an anti-climax as Schogger & Eccles swept Ansari & Lakhani 11-0.
In the quarter finals, all top four seeds remain, but two would fall at this hurdle. Second seeds Jakub Piwowar & Ella Pashley fell to fifth seeds Max Radiven & Rachael Iles. Third seeds Abraham Sellado & Sienna Jetha. Piwowar & Pashley took the opener, but lost the next three to allow Radiven & Iles to advance through to the final four. Third seeds Abraham Sellado & Sienna Jetha also missed out on the semis as Schogger & Eccles continued their run. This battle was decided in five, with the last set finishing 12-10 in favour of Schogger & Eccles. On the other tables, Hunter & Earley progressed against Zac Greenhough and Alyssa Nguyen, while defending champions Isaac Kingham & Mabel Shute sent Adam Dennison & Saskia Key out. Both scorelines ended 3-0.
The semi-finals played out as two very different stories. On one side we had Hunter & Earley smash their feet into the final with a dominant 3-0 win to prevent a repeat gold for Kingham & Shute. On the other side, there was a very tight fixture between Radiven & Iles and Schogger & Eccles. After exchanging the opening sets 11-8, Radiven & Iles showed their resolve by saving an all important game point in the third to eventually triumph 12-10, before going on to secure their spot in the final after another hard fought 11-8 win.
The final couldn’t have been much closer. After sharing the sets in the opening four ends, Radiven & Iles and Hunter & Earley headed to a decider. With the score at 10-8 in Hunter & Earley’s favour, Radiven & Iles went all in at table to win four consecutive points, and ultimately take the title, with a 12-10 fifth set shoot out.
Men’s Doubles
In the men’s doubles, the top three seeds all advanced with a bye to the quarter finals, with ten other pairs going fighting it out for the remaining places in the final eight. The most eye catching fixture of Round 1 saw Hugo & Leo Nguyen defeat Joseph Dennison & Joseph Marlor in five. After exchanging the opening two ends, the third went the way of Dennison & Marlor, before the Joola Plymouth TTC twins rallied together to claim the remaining two sets 11-7, 11-4.
The quarter finals saw an epic contest played out between seventh seeded pair Kacper Piwowar & Gabriel Schogger and second seeds Joe Hunter & James Hamblett. It went all the way to the bitter end, with Hunter and Hamblett just getting over the line with a hair’s breadth of breathing room as the fifth end finished 14-12. Also in their half of the draw, defending champions Max Radiven & Rohan Dani exchanged sets throughout with their opponents Krish Chotai & Adam Dennison. But it was Radiven & Dani who took the decider to advance to the final four. Isaac Kingham & Abraham Sellado also progressed with a 3-0 victory, as did top seeds Larry Trumpauskas & Jakub Piwowar after their own 3-0 over Hugo & Leo Nguyen.
In the semis, Isaac Kingham & Abraham Sellado looked in fine form as they sailed into the final after a 3-0 win over Trumpauskas & Piwowar, while Hunter & Hamblett overcame a tricky test against Radiven & Dani to continue the trend of knocking our reigning doubles’ champions in the final four. Their match ended 3-1.
On paper, the final score may look one sided, but it was anything but. Hunter & Hamblett took the opening set 14-12, before falling into their rhythm to claim the second 11-8. Despite some positive play, Kingham & Sellado couldn’t quite cross the line in the third, which ended 13-11 to Hunter & Hamblett to hand them the men’s doubles title.
Women’s Doubles
Starting at the quarter finals, both the top two seeds advanced into the final four pairings. Top seeds Sophie Early & Anna Green saw off Luna Archard & Jonabel Taguibao, while Sienna Jetha & Ella Pashley defeated Saskia Keys and Maliha Baig. Both matches ended in straight sets. The other two quarters, were closer in contest, Alyssa Nguyen & Catherine Lv overcoming a first set loss, to win 3-1 against Mia Lakhani & Anna Piercey. And Hannah Saunders & Angelina Harea gave a big scare to third seeds Mabel Shute & Rachael Iles. Shute and Iles had to overcome a 2-0 deficit to claw their way back into the tie, but ultimately came out of the match 3-2.
At the final four stage, Earley & Green laid the pressure on Shute & Iles as the top seeds ended up with a 3-1 victory. But eyes were Nguyen and Lv as they were playing like they were on a mission against Jetha and Pashley. After exchanging the opening four sets, including the opener which ended 14-12, it just wasn’t enough for the underdog pairing as Pashley & Jetha showed their experience to come out of the decider with an 11-4 scoreline to set up a meeting with Sophie Earley & Anna Green.
With the top two seeds meeting in the final, neither pair looked like playing the part of the underdogs. Pashley & Jetha took the opening two sets before a response from the top seeds Earley & Green saw them take one back. But Ella and Sienna pressed on to get the job done in four sets as they claimed the fourth end with a strong 11-8 finish.