Lincolnshire pupils qualify for World Table Tennis Championships

The under 16 girls' squad, featuring Ella Pashley, Lowri Hurd and Emily Price won the ‘Mick Betts Memorial Cup’, winning against the defending champions, London Academy in their first match of the day, which included both Ella and Lowri beating the number 2 in England. They followed this up with wins over Toot Hill School, Nottingham and St Georges Catholic School, Westminster to clinch the title. This is the third time that Charles Read Academy has won the girls National Schools team title, previously winning in 2018 and 2019.

The under 16 boys squad won the Leach-Carrington Cup, with players Isaac Kingham, Abraham Sellado, Ryan Holland and Tudor Eftinca all winning vital games against Devonport High School Plymouth, The Kings School, Peterborough and in their final game of the day, London Academy. This is the first time that the boy's team have won the National Schools title and shows just how strong a squad of players we now have based at the academy.

In the singles event, Isaac and Ella represented Lincolnshire and Charles Read Academy in the U16 event, whilst Ryan was playing in the U13 event. Isaac and Ella were both in great form against some highly ranked players and were pushed in several games before making it through to the final and claiming the titles. Ryan put in some good performances and made it to the last 16 of the singles before losing to the number 3 seed.

For Ella, Lowri, Emily, Ryan and Tudor, these wins were their first English National Championships titles and a real confidence boost for them and a testament to all their hard work, commitment and dedication to being the very best they can be.

Natalie Green, Head of Table Tennis for DRET and CRA said:

'All the players, played exceptionally well during this event, there were some very tough games and they dealt with the pressure extremely well. I am delighted for them as individuals, as well as for Charles Read Academy and the David Ross Education Trust, who have invested a great deal of time and effort into producing a fantastic Table Tennis programme.

Charlie King, Head of School at Charles Read Academy remarked:

"All the staff and students at CRA are so proud of our table tennis scholars for their achievements both on and off the court. They show on a daily basis resilience and courage, two of our CRA values, and are excellent role models in our CRA community!

Mark Neild, Deputy CEO and Director of Secondary DRET said:

“I’m so proud to be congratulating our students again for winning more national sporting titles and international entries. We are pleased to be able to offer our students such a breadth of sporting opportunities at our schools, very well done to all.”

If you are interested in joining the Table Tennis Performance Centre hosted at Charles Read Academy, in Corby Glen please enquire at [email protected].