Emily Bolton (right) presented with trophy at the Butterfly Schools Individual Championships
Following on from her recent England representation, Emily has gone on to win the invitational Under 11 girls National Trials at Grantham Meres Leisure centre. After winning a tough 4 set semi-final against Jayden Budworth, Emily beat Kristelle Brook in the final.
This wasn’t Emily’s only success last month as she was also in action at the 36th National Individual Championships held at the Doncaster Dome. On the day Emily impressively reached the semi-finals finishing an overall joint third behind Tin Tin Ho (Middlesex Met) and Nicole Bird (Northamptonshire).
Congratulations Emily and keep up the hard work!
Ross Ahern
The 11-year-old Cumbria County Schools Championships under-11s title after taking the tournament by storm at Kirkby Stephen Grammar School and is a great prospect.
Ross progressed through the group stages and eventually overcame his opponent 3-0 in the final to lift the crown.
The Holy Family RC primary school pupil also progressed to the quarter-finals of the under-13s tournament where he was eventually beaten by older opposition.
This success comes at a time when Ross is pushing ever-upward in the sport, with the help of regular coaching sessions at Parkview Table Tennis Centre, often under the tutelage of former England coach Dennis Neale.
“He’s been playing for three years now,” said dad Steve.
“A mate asked him if he wanted to go along to training one night. One of the coaches thought he had potential and we’ve taken it from there.”
Ross Ahern being coached by former England coach and Barrow player Dennis Neale
Ross himself puts his initial enjoyment down to that first coach who came to teach him at school – Duncan Crawford.
“I really enjoy it and it was good when I started because Duncan is a very good coach,” he said.
“I like serving and hitting the ball, but I think I need to improve my backhand.
“I’ll be playing against older players next year so it will be harder.”
Following on from Ross’s success at the county event, he will represent Cumbria at the English Schools Championships in Doncaster this weekend.
Winning the tournament did not faze Ross and he left the celebrating to his parents. “He just had a laid back attitude towards winning,” said dad Steve.
“He doesn’t tend to get over excited, he leaves that to me and his mother!
“I texted all my mates and rang family members, I think I was more excited than Ross.”
Ross will continue playing the sport when he starts at St Bernard’s in September and the school already has a good pedigree within the sport.
The Dalton youngster was also invited to join the North of England under-11s set-up, following his recent success.
Ross Ahern playing a forehand drive
He trains at the table tennis centre at Parkview School where he receives top coaching from the likes of former England player and coach Neale.
As the sport looks to develop in the county, coaches have begun investing time in school sides and generating a buzz about the game as they look to encourage more youngsters to take up table tennis.
The sport has a strong following across the country and it is hoped the sport will progress in Furness.
“You don’t realise how much interest their is in the sport until you go to the national events,” added Steve.
“It’s more the southern counties that are keen on the sport but with all the distractions it’s not as popular around here.”
As Ross will be starting senior school next year he will not be able to defend his title and he will be making the step up in age groups to the under-13s and the under-16s.
The step up in age will be a new task for the youngster, but his dad is confident he will have a bright future in the game.
“It’ll obviously be a bit harder for him with the age difference,” he added.
“It just depends if he can play well on the day. We’re really proud of him.”
Article courtesy of the North West Evening Mail.
Emily Bolton (front, second right) presented with Primary School International Table Tennis Championships trophy
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.
