Archway’s Anna wins a European table tennis bronze medal

Anna (14) who recently moved to Peterborough from Wales and joined the British League club was competing for the first time since lockdown and played beautifully.

The competition featured the best under 15 (cadet) players in Europe and Anna’s splendid performance confirmed that she is right up with the best.

She won all her round robin matches and finished with a very creditable 7-2 win-loss record, only missing out on second place on games difference.

Things could have been even better had there not been a mix up with her coach’s pre-travel compulsory Covid-19 test which denied Anna tactical advice and experience.

Knowing when to call ‘time out’ can be critical and the difference between a win or a loss.

Anna’s only two losses were against the German winner, Annett Kaufman (12-10, 7-11, 9-11, 7-11) and silver medallist from France Charlotte Lutz (4-11, 11-5, 9-11, 5-11).

Anna finished the competition very strongly to come back from 0-2 down to beat fifth placed Helena Sommerova of the Czech Republic (9-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-1).

Anna was 12 when she became the youngest ever athlete to represent Wales at senior level in the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

She will now return to practice at the Archway Academy before her next engagements in Finland and Portugal.

Anna can still play at under 15 level next year when she will be aiming for European gold.

She will also be pushing for inclusion in GB Olympic squads.

Her father Larry Hursey said: “Anna did well to win the bronze under the circumstances and learnt a lot from the experience. Hopefully her game will develop further to enable her to aim for gold next year.”