Poww-er play! Nationals double for Naphong

Naphong Boonyaprapa claimed double gold on a pulsating day of action at the PG Mutual U10-U13 National Championships.

The Nottingham player, known as ‘Poww’, won both the Under-13 Singles and Doubles – the latter alongside Connor Green.

Amy Marriott claimed the Under-13 Girls’ Singles title after being silver medallist twice in the past at this event. She beat Scarlett Anders in the final, but Anders bounced back to take Under-13 Girls’ Doubles gold alongside Lauren Loosemore.

Oliver Maric-Murray played an incredible 16 matches on the day, being defeated by Boonyaprapa in the Under-13 final but winning the Under-11 gold, as well as reaching the doubles semi-finals.

And Maliha Baig was the Under-11 Girls’ Singles champion, the first title decided on the day at WV Active Wolverhampton.

All photos by Michael Loveder – click here to see more on our Flickr page

Click here to see all the results from the day

Under-13 Boys

Naphong Boonyaprapa with the singles trophy

Naphong Boonyaprapa, the top seed, ‘upgraded’ his under-12 title from last year to under-13 gold this year by defeating surprise package Ollie Maric-Murray in the final.

It was 3-0 but, after the first game, was a tight encounter which Boonyaprapa won 11-4, 13-11, 16-14 against the eighth seed.

Maric-Murray came through a tough semi-final against fourth seed Felix Thomis 3-2 (9-11, 11-5, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9). By contrast, Boonyaprapa was imperious in defeating third seed Ben Piggott 3-0 (11-2, 11-6, 11-8).

Boonyaprapa would not have expected to meet second seed Bertie Kelly in the quarter-finals, but Kelly had finished second in his group – the Nottingham athlete fell behind but recovered to record an emphatic 3-1 win (8-11, 11-4, 11-3, 11-2).

Kelly had earlier kept his hopes of a medal alive by coming from 2-0 down to defeat Toby Ellis in the last 16, taking it 3-2 (9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-3).

There were some other scores of note in the last 16 – Thomis edging past Jake Grayson 3-1 (11-13, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9), Maric-Murray seeing off Harry Derecki 3-2 (11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 2-11, 11-3) and James Hamblett winning a prolonged and crucial second set as he beat Marco Plate 3-1 (7-11, 17-15, 11-7, 11-7).

Derecki earlier beat Tom Powlesland 3-2 (11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7) in the first round.

Group stage

Marco Plate caused one of the early upsets as he defeated second seed Bertie Kelly 3-1 (3-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-8) to top Group 2. Both boys defeated Joseph Cooper in the three-player group, but it meant Kelly ended up with a potentially trickier route to the final if he were to live up to seeding.

The fourth-ranked player in Group 10, Tom Powlesland, punched above his weight with victories over the two players above him, Joseph Hunter and Thomas Palmer, both in five.

He first defeated Hunter 3-2 (11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-8) and then, in the final match, saved five match points as he recovered from 10-7 down in the decider to see off Palmer 3-2 (5-11, 11-3, 11-13, 11-4, 14-12) on his own first match point. Jakub Piwowar won the group, as expected, but needed five to defeat Hunter (7-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-8, 11-6).

Also gong through from fourth was Luke Hodgson in Group 9, on a three-way countback behind top seed Jake Grayson, who won all three matches.

The others – in ranking order of Cameron Driver, Eduardo Bolanos and Hodgson, won a match apiece, all in five games, meaning it went down to points and Hodgson came through with the only positive ratio of 110-95. His match against Driver had been particularly dramatic as Hodgson claimed victory by the remarkable scoreline of 3-2 (14-12, 9-11, 11-6, 16-18, 11-5), missing several chances to win it in the fourth.

Third-ranked Sam Lowe came from 2-1 down to defeat the player above him in Group 8, Ben Greve, 3-2 (11-5, 2-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9) and go through behind Oliver Maric-Murray.

In Group 1, third-ranked Adam Dennison beat Shem Lejarde 3-0 (11-9, 11-9, 11-3) to follow top seed Naphong Boonyaprapa through to the knockout rounds.

Toby Crawcour got above second-ranked Lennon Maughan in Group 4, beating him 3-1 8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-1) to go through with Felix Thomis.

Another third-ranked player to advance was Ehsan Jawadi, came through Group 5 thanks to two five-setters. He first defeated the group’s fourth player, Brandon Sangchin, from 2-0 down, eventually winning 3-2 (8-11, 13-15, 11-6, 11-6, 11-6). Then he got above Mikaeel Toosy with a 3-2 (13-11, 11-9, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9) victory in the final match to ensure he went through behind Connor Green.

It went with seeding in Group 11 as Nathaniel Saunders and Harry Yip went through, but only after Yip turned around a difficult situation against Benjamin Barbarash, the group’s fourth player. He trailed 2-0 but came back to win 3-2 (9-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6). Barbarash did at least have the consolation of being on the right side of a five-game scoreline against Zach Foston (11-5, 9-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-5).

Jenson Moreno needed two five-game victories to take his expected place of second in Group 3, behind Ben Piggott. He defeated both Liam Murphy and Jake Haygarth 11-9 in the fifth.

Under-13 Girls

Amy Marriott

Amy Marriott made it third time lucky as she defeated Scarlett Anders 3-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-4) to take gold.

Having lost to Sophie Chiang in the under-11 and under-12 finals in the past two seasons, the top seed got on to the top step of the podium thanks to her victory over the eighth seed Anders, who won gold at the Inter-Regional Finals earlier this season.

Anders had overcome her doubles partner Lauren Loosemore, the second seed, with a grand comeback in the semi-finals, turning it around from 2-0 down to win 3-2 (8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-7). Marriott shook off a determined Anna Green 3-1 (8-11, 11-4, 11-7, 16-14) in her last-four tie.

Marriott was also pushed by Erin Richards in the quarter-finals, winning it 3-1 (11-7, 12-14, 11-8, 13-11), while Anders had a less tight four-game win over Isabelle Lacorte (11-5, 8-11, 11-4, 11-3).

There were a couple of close matches back in the first round, where third seed Niamh Scarborough departed at the hands of Lacorte, despite appearing to be in control at 2-1 up, going down by a scoreline of 3-2 (11-8, 2-11, 2-11, 11-7, 11-8).

Sasha O’Halloran completed a five-game win over Romy Sawyer 12-10 in the decider, and while second seed Loosemore defeated Ruby Bennett 3-0, it was a close 11-9, 11-6, 17-15.

Group stage

Three top seeds finished second in their groups, including Anya Milne, who lost out in five to second-ranked Romy Sawyer (11-3, 16-14, 10-12, 9-11, 11-6) in Group 5.

Erin Richards defeated Scarlett Anders in four games (9, 5, -8, 5) in Group 8 to take top spot, while Chloe Ambridge headed Anna Green in Group 7 by virtue of a 3-0 victory (9, 6, 8).

Top seed Amy Marriott won Group 1 but it was third-ranked Ruby Bennett who accompanied her into the knockouts thanks to a 3-2 (11-6, 11-6, 10-12, 5-11, 11-7) victory over Abbie Hurley.

The pattern was similar in Group 4, Sasha O’Halloran rising from third to second by defeating Bethany Ellis 3-2 (11-5, 1-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-7). Rebecca Savage was group winner, as per ranking.

In Group 3, second-ranked Katie Bates had to hold off Chloe Irvine to make sure she followed Niamh Scarborough into the knockouts – Bates prevailing 3-2 (11-4, 7-11, 7-11, 11-2, 11-8).

Under-11 Boys

Ollie Maric-Murray

Ollie Maric-Murray’s 16th and final match of the day saw him strike gold as he defeated second seed Jakub Piwowar 3-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-6).

Bronze medals went to Francesco Bonato, who was beaten 3-0 (9, 4, 6) by No 1 seed Maric-Murray and Cameron Driver, who went down to Piwowar 3-1 (11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9).

Every other match in the knockout stages was 3-0, apart from back in the first round, where Bonato saved match points in the fourth game against Eduard Lakatos before coming back to win 3-2 (8-11, 4-11, 11-7, 14-12, 11-7).

Group stage

Two players rose from fourth to second in the groups – Toby Fletcher and Louis Vaughn Drake.

Fletcher dug deep for two five-set wins in Group 3, where he finished behind top seed Lennon Maughan Staves. He first overcame second-ranked player James Millward 3-2 (11-5, 11-9, 7-11, 13-15, 11-4) and then Jack Edwards 3-2 (7-11, 12-10, 13-11, 9-11, 11-8) in the final match.

Vaughn Drake climbed from fourth to second in Group 6, going through behind top seed Joseph Dennison. The key victory for Vaughn Drake, and the only match in the group to go beyond three games, saw him defeat second-ranked Ben Aldridge 3-2 (11-6, 9-11, 7-11, 13-11, 11-3). He then made sure of qualifying by beating Adam Gold.

Francesco Bonato upset the top seed in Group 5, Joseph Cooper, in four (11-9, 3-11, 11-8, 13-11) to top the group, with Cooper ending in second.

Larry Trumpauskas came through in his expected second spot in Group 4, though only after a three-way countback with top seed Cameron Driver and fourth player Aarav Shah.

Shah defeated Trumpauskas in the closest match, triumphing 3-2 (8-11, 8-11, 16-14, 18-16, 11-9), but Driver’s 3-0 win over Shah, coupled with Trumpauskas winning in four over Driver, meant the top two went through.

The battle to finish behind top seed Oliver Maric-Murray in Group 1 went to deuce in the decider as third-ranked Sam Gabriel came from 10-8 down to overcome the player above him, Louis Cheung Turner, 3-2 (11-7, 12-10, 7-11, 6-11, 12-10).

Jakub Piwowar and Eduard Lakatos took their expected top two spots in Group 2.

Under-11 Girls

Maliha Baig

Maliha Baig justified her top seeding with a straightforward 3-0 (11-6, 11-3, 11-3) success over Bethany Ellis – last year’s Under-10 champion – in the final.

The top two seeds arrived in the final with comfortable 3-0 semi-final successes – Baig overcoming Sienna Jetha 3, 6, 2 and Ellis beating fourth seed Connie Dumelow 6, 8, 6.

Ellis had earlier needed four in the quarter-finals, beating Emily Koester 3-1 (11-4, 11-5, 7-11, 11-5), while Baig’s quarter-final victim was Kate Watkinson, who she beat 3-0 (11-4, 11-9, 11-5).

Jetha had surprisingly topped her group and then beat Bella Tonev 6, 3, 3 in the quarters, and Dumelow booked her semi-final place by defeating Jessica Morris 2, 5, 7.

Group stage

The shock of the first stage came in Group 3, where the top-ranked player Caron Charles was eliminated following defeats by both Jessica Morris and Sienna Jetha – the latter’s 3-1 (6-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-6) win over Morris saw her top the group.

Maliha Baig dominated Group 1, dropping only 16 points in her two matches, but third-ranked Emily Koester defeated second-ranked Orlaith Burgess 3-0 (11-3, 11-2, 11-7) to go through with Baig.

No surprises in the other two groups as the top two emerged, in order, to qualify for the knockouts.

Under-13 Boys’ Doubles

Naphong Boonyaprapa & Connor Green

Naphong Boonyaprapa & Connor Green powered to the title without dropping a set, culminating in a 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 14-12) victory over Ben Piggott & Jake Grayson in the final.

The earlier rounds saw them defeat Todd Stanmore & Joel Osaghae (7, 5, 7) in the last 16, Toby Crawcour & Benjamin Barbarash (3, 1, 5) in the quarter-finals and Ollie Maric-Murray & Jakub Piwowar (10, 3, 5) in the semis.

Piggott & Grayson had also shown good form throughout, though they did need four in the semi-finals, advancing 3-1 (11-9, 12-10, 10-12, 11-7) against Bertie Kelly & Felix Thomis.

Among the notable earlier matches, Crawcour & Barbarash set up their clash against the eventual champions with a superb win over James Hamblett & Harry Yip, edging home 3-2 (11-8, 10-12, 8-11, 13-11, 12-10).

Under-13 Girls’ Doubles

Lauren Loosemore & Scarlett Anders with runners-up Anna Green & Niamh Scarborough and Table Tennis England Chairman Sandra Deaton

Lauren Loosemore & Scarlett Anders eventually shook off Niamh Scarborough & Anna Green to win the final title of the day 3-2 (11-6, 5-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8).

Both semi-finals had been decided in four as the gold medallists defeated Rebecca Savage & Anya Milne (11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 11-4) and Scarborough & Green overcame Amy Marriott & Isabelle Lacorte (11-5, 12-10, 5-11, 11-7).

Marriott & Lacorte earlier won a thriller against Romy Sawyer & Chloe Ambridge in the quarters, prevailing 3-2 (10-12, 8-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-6).

At the same stage, Savage & Milne beat Maliha Baig & Isobel McGerty 3-2 (11-9, 9-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7).

The first round saw Abbie Hurley & Sasha O’Halloran get the better of Katie Bates & Saskia Key in a see-saw encounter which the victors took 3-2 (11-7, 10-12, 11-7, 10-12, 11-5).

Author: via Table Tennis England
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