ASKAM Village School pupil Emily Bolton enjoyed great success when she was selected to represent England in the Primary School International Table Tennis Championships in Blackburn.

Bolton played eight matches and won seven, results which were particularly impressive as she was playing against the number one and two players from each country.

Her seven victories helped England emerge as overall winners of the tournament.

England’s first opponents were a strong Wales team, with Bolton’s first match against Welsh number one Beth Roberts.

In a nip-and-tuck encounter, Bolton finally came out on top of a five-end thriller 3-11, 11-5, 11-7, 9-11, 11-3.

Her next opponent, Lauren Cundy, proved less of a challenge as she dispatched the Welsh number two 11-3, 11-8, 11-7.

Bolton teamed up with England number one, Tin Tin Ho to comfortably take the doubles 11-7, 11-7, 11-5. The final match score was a 5-5 draw, with Bolton and Ho winning all their games.

Next up for England were Guernsey, with Bolton beating their number one, Chloe Le Tissier 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6. Next came Naomi Priest, who Bolton defeated 11-3, 11-3, 11-4.

Again, Bolton and Ho teamed up to good effect, taking the doubles 11-0, 11-3, 11-9. The final match score was 10-0 to England.

Scotland were England’s next opponents and Bolton’s first match saw her overcome Lucy Elliott, the Scottish number one, 11-3, 14-12, 11.5.

Next came Donna Gillon and again, Bolton won three-straight, 11-5, 11-8, 11-8.

In the doubles, Bolton and Ho continued won comfortably 11-9, 11-3, 11-2. The final match score was England 10 Scotland 0.

England’s final opponents were Ireland.

Although Bolton is in her last year at primary school, her first opponent, Emma Ludlow, was 16 months older than her. She lost 7-11, 10-12, 5-11.

She was soon back on track though, with a hard-fought encounter against Irish number two Meadrh Slattery, that saw her win 6-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5, 13-11.

Once again Bolton and Ho combined to great effect to comfortably win the doubles 11-9,

11-1, 11-9. The final match score was 7-3 to England.

This was enough to give England overall victory and they were presented with their gold medals by the mayor of Blackburn.

The following day, Bolton competed in the individual competition.

She won three out of her four group games, beating Hanneke Wiersma, from Scotland, 11-6, 11-1, 11-7, Rachel Vivian, from Guernsey, 11-3, 11-2, 11-1 and Sarah Cooney, from Ireland, 8-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-4, but lost her last match against Laura Edward, from Wales, 11-2, 11-4, 9-11, 2-11, 7-11.

At the quarter-final stage, Bolton was drawn against the only girl to have beaten her in the team event – Emma Ludlow.

By now, the Askam schoolgirl was getting the measure of her opponent, but couldn’t quite defeat her, losing 4-11, 6-11, 12-10, 9-11.

Bolton’s teacher and coach Stephen Cairns said: “Everyone at Askam Village School is very proud of Emily and believes that with her level of dedication and undoubted natural talent, she has an exciting International career ahead of her.”

Article courtesy of the North West Evening Mail.