Table Tennis England has been awarded extra funding of £138,600 by Sport England to grow and expand its network of Talent Development Centres.

The money comes from Sport England’s reward and incentive fund in recognition of the excellent work completed by the Talent Development Centre network.

The additional funding will enable Table Tennis England to add two new TDCs to the existing list of seven. An application process will be announced in the new year for centres and organisations interested in becoming a TDC.

Table Tennis England will also be appointing a Talent Pathway Manager to oversee the network.

The grant has been added to the 2013-17 funding cycle award to Table Tennis England by Sport England.

Simon Mills, Head of Coaching & Performance at Table Tennis England, said: “This is a great opportunity for us to continue to expand our network of Talent Development Centre and to provide greater support and integration to the new and existing centres in the rest of this funding cycle.

“It also is a vote of confidence from Sport England in the progress we are making in our talent and performance pathway and I am very excited to be able to recruit an additional team member to provide more support to our clubs, coaches and athletes.”

The four original TDCs in Harlow, Nottingham, Ormesby (Middlesbrough) and Plymouth were joined in 2015 by centres in Bristol and two in London run by Greenhouse Sports and Urban Table Tennis.