Charlotte Bardsley claims national success
Stourbridge’s Charlotte Bardsley ended the domestic season on a high by taking gold in thrilling fashion at the Junior National Cup.
The Table Tennis England competition sees the top 10 players in the under-18 national rankings play each other in a round-robin format over two days and is one of the toughest events on the national calendar.
Bardsley, 17, was seeded second for the event in Plymouth, and was involved in a three-way tussle for the medals with top seed Denise Payet and third seed Mollie Patterson.
All three girls remained unbeaten through the first six rounds of fixtures, but Bardsley then ended Patterson’s record with a 4-1 victory in the seventh round.
The following round saw Patterson come from 3-1 down to defeat Payet 4-3).
Payet’s 4-2 win over Patterson in the final round meant all three girls finished with eight wins from nine matches and the destination of the medals was decided by countback.
And it was Old Swinford Hospital School student Bardsley who got the verdict, with Payet second and Patterson third.
It was an element of revenge for Bardsley, who had lost to Payet in the final of the Junior National Championships last month.
Her next big event is representing England at the European Youth Championships in Czech Republic, beginning on July 7.
