Victories for England and Ireland
Teams from England, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Scotland and Wales joined the host Ireland for the British Primary Schools’ International Championships staged at the National Basketball Arena, Tallaght, Dublin from 5th/7th April 2013.
The English Schools’ Table Tennis Association fielded a strong boys’ team (Ethan Walsh – Hertfordshire; Tom McIntosh – Nottinghamshire; Amirul Hussain – Greater Manchester; Joseph Saxton – West Yorkshire with NPC Gail Johns) who, following six convincing wins, were crowned Champions regaining the title last won in 2011 from current holders Ireland.
Ireland, however, retained the girls’ team title won in 2012 with comprehensive victories throughout the tournament. England (Shristi Ghosh – Buckinghamshire; Alice Dillon – Lancashire; Katie Holt – Hampshire; Jemma Walker – Buckinghamshire with NPC Teresa Bennett) had won all their matches before playing a hard fought 9-1 defeat against the hosts – this score not reflecting the closeness of many of the individual matches. This gave them second place.
In the individual competitions all four England boys qualified from their groups for the knockout stage of their event. Ethan Walsh and Tom McIntosh had to be content with bronze medals. The Irish No.1 Owen Cathcart was a worthy champion winning all his matches in three straight games throughout the event. Ireland again triumphed in the girls’ individual championships with Kate Whelan a formidable winner. Englands Alice Dillon reached the last eight of the main knockout with team mate Katie Holt winning the consolation event.
Most of the England players will be taking part in the Butterfly Schools’ Individual Championships to be held at The Dome, Doncaster on Saturday 20th April 2013
A full list of results can be found on the Irish Table Tennis Association website: www.irishtabletennis.com