A magnificent seven Furness table tennis players took on the best the country had to offer at the English Schools Individual Championships in Doncaster.

The largest one-day individual table tennis event in England saw Dowdales pupil Emily Bolton excel in the under-13s event.

Ranked number five nationally in her age group, but playing against opponents from the next age range up, Emily began with wins against Kent’s Yumeng Li and Leicestshire’s Vanessa Wilson.

Her final group game saw her against Maria Tsapitsinos, from Berkshire, who is ranked one place higher nationally.

As expected, it was a very close match which went to a fifth game, which Emily just lost.

The Askam youngster still progressed to the knockout stages, but this early defeat made her route more difficult.

In her first knockout match, opponent Lea Dickinson, from Nottingham – ranked one place below Emily – came to the table in great form and was soon 2-0 ahead.

Emily took the third end and in the fourth found her best attacking form to bring what had seemed an unlikely win in the fifth.

This put her into the quarter-finals, where she met Sussex’s Emma Torkington, seeded two and ranked 15 places above Emily at cadet level.

The Dowdales pupil played good attacking points but her opponent produced quick counter-hits and ran out an 11-8, 11-9, 11-8 winner.

The results bode well for Emily next year, when she will be one of the more senior players in this age category.

One of the surprise performances of the day came from a present Askam player.

Katie Sedgwick had not even made it into the Askam Village School side for the team event before Christmas, but was now at the national finals after several months of dedicated practice resulting in her improvement.

In her opening match she went down 3-1 against Cambridgeshire’s Abbie Stacey.

Next up was the impressive Tin Tin Ho, already ranked in the top 10 at under-18s level while still at primary school. Katie played well and won several points with shots past her illustrious opponent.

With two matches played, Katie settled down and began enjoying the event, playing some of her best table tennis. With consistent returning, she defeated Northants player Ellie Soloman 3-0 and finished with a flourish against Kay Wong, from Shropshire, also 3-0.

Katie has another year at this age group and, having won more games than she lost at this year’s event, shows much promise.

A second member of the Sedgwick family, Katie’s older sister Eleanor, represented Cumbria in the under-16s girls and was one of several county players having their first taste of a major event.

She played extremely well and had a very good match against number six national junior Yolanda King, of Sussex.

This should inspire the Dowdales pupil to continue playing and aim for a return with her sister next year.

Another young player who has made good progress this year is Ben O’Flynn.

This was also his first experience of a big tournament and he discovered that once he was in the rallies he was a match for any of his group opponents, winning some impressive top spin points.

He won several ends and his closest match came against William Pearson, from Staffordshire. The St Columba’s youngster won the first game but narrowly lost the second. He was losing 10-8 in the next but fought back and took the game. He then had a chance of victory when the fourth went to deuce, losing 12-10. The decider was also close but went to his opponent, 11-8.

It was a similar story for under-13s county champion Anton Vacca, of St Bernard’s.

He was an organiser’s nightmare as he was involved in some of the longest tussles in his group.

He played well against the England number three cadet Helshan Weerasinghe, from Kent. Three of his other matches went to deciding sets and his clever mix of tight consistent push play and sharp counter hits upset all his opponents.

He deserved to come away with a win, but will definitely have gained vital experience at this level.

In the under-16s boys, Furness Academy pupil Ryan Smith is probably the most improved player over the past 12 months in the area. He began confidently, defeating Joel Myers, from Cornwall, and followed up with a closely-fought match against Matthew Mccormick, from Cheshire.

He was only a few points away against highly-ranked Jjunior opponent Liam McTiernan, from Berkshire.

The final Cumbria player to take the table was Matthew Bruce, of Barrow Sixth Form, in the under-19s.

His event included four of the top 10 juniors nationally, so progress beyond the group was always going to be difficult.

There was another Barrow connection in the event, with Michael Griffiths representing Devon.

His grandparents live on Walney and his aunt, who was there supporting, is Karen Griffiths, head of PE at St Bernard’s.

Bruce could be happy with his win against Alan Caffery, of Warwickshire, and some close encounters in his other four matches.

All seven Furness players were a credit to Cumbria and showed why they are county champions.

They gained those honours at an event which saw 46 competitors from across Cumbria going head-to-head at Kirkby Stephen Grammar School.

Ryan Smith and Matthew Bruce met in the under-19s final, which produced some fast spin attack rallies.

It was Furness Academy pupil Ryan who dominated, taking the title with a straight games win.

He would also take the under-16s crown with a victory over James Turner, of Millom, in the final.

In the under-13s boys, all four of the St Bernard’s national finalists team were playing, together with Matthew Coverdale and Jack Walker, from Dowdales.

Anton Vacca and Brendan Trainer made the final, the former winning 11-4, 11-7, 11-4 to take the title.

There were a group of young players in contention for the boys under-11s title, with four Year 4 players among the best on show.

It was one of these young players who caused the biggest upset in the group stages, as Max Webster, from Storth School, upstaged older brother Elliot in three straight games to finish top of his group.

The second group had a top-three finish of St Columba’s players.

Finlay Edwards finished third, with James Lashmar taking second spot – the only player to take a game against Ben O’Flynn – who topped the group.

Max and Ben made the final. It was the Walney youngster who began in confident style, keeping the points going with top spin shots from both wings as he looked to find the opening for winning hits.

He took the title, completing a clean sweep in the boys events for Barrow players, in straight games.

The girls under-11s was one of the closest events for several years.

Although all the matches played were won in straight games, three of the four players managed to win against each other.

Caitlyn Walker, of Dane Ghyll, beat Katie Sedgwick, of Askam, before Katie beat fellow Askam player Tara Tappenden.

In the last match of the group, Tara defeated Caitlyn.

This meant that the organisers needed a calculator to total up the points won and lost.

With each player having played about 100 points it came down to a one-point difference in favour of Katie, making her the girls under-11s champion.

In the final event, Emily Bolton took the under-13s girls title when she beat young Dane Ghyll player Caitlyn Walker.

FULL CUMBRIA SCHOOLS ROLL OF HONOUR

Boys Under-19s Champion: Ryan Smith (Furness Academy). Runner-up: Matthew Bruce (Barrow Sixth Form).

Boys Under-16s Champion: Ryan Smith (Furness Academy). Runner-up: James Turner (Millom School).

Boys Under-16s Champion: Anton Vacca (St Bernard’s). Runner-up: Brendan Trainor (St Bernard’s)

Boys Under-11s Champion: Ben O’Flynn (St Columba’s). Runner-up: Max Webster (Storth School)

Girls Under-13s Champion: Emily Bolton (Dowdales). Runner-up: Caitlyn Walker (Dane Ghyll)

Girls Under-11s Champion: Katie Sedgwick (Askam). Runner-up: Caitlyn Walker (Dane Ghyll).

Paddle-Powered Dalton table tennis teen Scott Crawford has completed a family hat-trick by being selected to play for his country.

The talented 18-year-old has been picked in the England Schools Under-18s team for the Schools International 2010 tournament in Ireland.

He will take on players from teams from across the UK in the event, held at the Irish National Arena, in Limerick, between June 25 and 27.

The selection means Scott becomes the third of the Crawford siblings to be selected to represent England at table tennis, with elder brother Jonathan playing for them at under-16s level and sister Helen at under-14s.

Proud dad Duncan, himself a coach at the Barrow Table Tennis Centre and manager of the Barrow team – including Scott – that recently won promotion to the British League Premier Division, said it was a great feat for his youngest son to be selected.

“We are as proud as punch,” he said. “I’m sure when people who know Scott from the table tennis centre in Barrow, find out, they will be proud as well. All three of them have played for England now – I’ve got the hat-trick now and I can down tools!

“Scott really deserves this. He’s the youngest of the three and he is fighting all the time to keep up with numbers one and two. He thinks number one and two get a better deal all the time – and they don’t – and he has fought all the time.

“I’m sure he will overtake Jonathan. He hasn’t at the moment, Jonathan is in the top 50 in the country, but Scott Crawford will carry on improving and getting better.”

To progress his game, former Dowdales pupil Scott Crawford lives with brother Jonathan in Bristol, where he is studying for his A-Levels at the Bristol Academy of Sport at Filton College. The college is a renowned hotbed for table tennis talent, with those admitted having to be in the top 30 in their age group.

He trains twice a day at the college, as well as working in the gym, and Scott has benefited from playing alongside Croatian number two Jakov Krivić – also a part of the promotion-winning Barrow team – who has been brought in as a practice partner.

“He’s practising with him and Jakov has brought Scott’s game on by a mile,” added dad Duncan.

As well as playing for Barrow, Scott also turns out for Filton in the Bristol League and was part of their side which has won the English Schools title for the last two years.

His recent performances have seen him beat England senior number 12 player Will Maybanks – a professional in Hungary – and take a game off Great Britain number one Gavin Rumgay at the Wolverhampton Grand Prix, who went on to win the tournament overall.

These achievements have seen him ranked 89th in the senior rankings, while he is 15th in the under-18s – a standing which would be higher had he played more under-18s tournaments rather than senior competitions. Straight after the tournament in Ireland, Scott will head to Croatia with the rest of the Barrow team – hopefully including new recruit Rumgay – to train with Krivic in preparation for their outings in the British Premier League.

Duncan added: “If he gets in the top 20 players, he will probably look at a semi-professional career with a team abroad on a small salary.”

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.