18th July 2007 By Richard Pettit
European Youth Table Tennis Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia Just two years after lifting the prestigious cadet title, England’s young 2012 contenders achieved European Gold for the second time. With the average age of just 17 the talented young English squad became Junior (U18) European Youth Champions by defeating the Czech Republic in emphatic style, 3-0 in the final. Paul Drinkhall, again proved too hot to handle for his European counterparts as the reigning junior European Top 12 holder strolled though the final three phases with a 100% record. Darius Knight and Danny Reed also played some irresistible table tennis proving their pedigree against Europe’s best.
This is the first time England has collected the European Youth title at Junior level, another excellent achievement for the ground breaking young squad which further enhances their reputation as number one junior team in European table tennis. Much of the credit must go to the exceptional support and talent of the ETTA Performance staff in particular Jia Yi Liu, National Coach, who has been a fundamental factor to the growing success of elite English table tennis.
Steen Hansen, England Performance Manager, said “It’s a remarkable achievement. Paul was exceptionally strong, Darius played the best I have seen for a long time, and Danny showed again that he is developing into a great, great player. Winning the European Youths was one of our season’s goals and it always nice to see the best team win, I am delighted that we have once again proved this to be the case.” Results Final ENGLAND beat CZECH REPUBLIC 3 - 0 DRINKHALL P. (ENG) beat TREGLER T. (CZE) 11/3, 13/11, 11/7, 7/11, 11/5
KNIGHT D. (ENG) beat OBESLO M. (CZE) 11/7, 11/,6 11/4
REED D. (ENG) beat CRHA J. (CZE) 8/11, 11/4, 11/8, 11/8 Semi-Final ENG ENGLAND beat RUSSIA 3 - 1 DRINKHALL P. (ENG) beat PAYKOV M. (RUS) 11/9, 11/8, 7/11, 11/7
KNIGHT D. (ENG) beat UTOCHKIN A. (RUS) 10/12, 13/11, 11/4, 6/11, 11/8
REED D. (ENG) lost to SHIBAEV A. (RUS) 13/15, 9/11, 7/11
DRINKHALL P. (ENG) beat UTOCHKIN A. (RUS) 11/8, 7/11, 11/1, 11/9 Quarter-Final ENGLAND beat FRANCE 3 - 1 DRINKHALL, P. (ENG) beat BAUBET V. (FRA) 11/8, 11/5, 8/11, 11/7
KNIGHT, D. (ENG) lost to SALIFOU A. (FRA) 11/7, 9/11, 9/11, 8/11
REED, D. (ENG) beat LE GUEN V. (FRA) 11/5, 9/11, 6/11, 11/8, 12/10
DRINKHALL, P. (ENG) beat SALIFOU A. (FRA) 7/11, 11/9, 11/9, 7/11, 11/7 Photo by Henk Hommes (L – R) Danny Reed, Darius Knight, Jia Yi Liu, David Meads, Paul Drinkhall
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