Charlotte Bardsley comes away with bronze medal
Table tennis ace Charlotte Bardsley took on the best young players in England at the Cadet Masters – and came away with a bronze medal.
The 12-year-old, from Stourbridge, was seeded fifth for the event, which brings together the top 12 players in the Table Tennis England Cadet rankings to play against each other on a round-robin basis over the best of five sets.
She had a brilliant first day and was one of four girls who won all six matches.
The Heathfield School student lost to top seed Denise Payet early on the second day and was also beaten by No 2 seed and eventual champion Kate Cheer.
But going into her final match against sixth seed Isabelle Joubeily, Bardsley knew she could still win bronze. Joubeily herself needed a win to claim a medal.
It was a thrilling five-set match, but Bardsley prevailed 3-2 (6-11, 11-4, 11-5, 8-11, 11-4) to take the bronze. Payet won the silver behind Cheer.
Bardsley said: "It's really amazing. I wanted to try to get higher than where I started and I was really pleased to get into the top three.
"Every match is really tough and you've got to give 100 per cent even if you lose.
"I wasn't thinking about getting the bronze while I was playing my last match in case it put me off."
