The latest round of the National Series saw 16 divisions in action across three age groups as top-ranked boys and girls battled to finish top of their league or earn promotion.
There was a thrilling fight in the Under-19 Boys’ top division, as four players finished with identical records and needed countback to separate them.
The Under-15 Girls’ Division One also saw a tie, between three players, and there was plenty of high-quality action and close results elsewhere.
Selected matches in the Under-19s and Under-15s are now available to watch on demand on TTE.TV. Remember, access to TTE.TV comes free with any kind of Table Tennis England membership.
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Click here for full results from the National Series.
U19 Girls
Ella Pashley had a perfect day with six wins out of six to head Division One, although she was twice taken to a decider as the Under-19s faced of at St Neots TTC.
The first was by Rachael Iles, in a match of fluctuating dominance as Pashley secured a 3-2 (7-11, 11-2, 11-9, 5-11, 11-9) victory.
The second saw Pashley respond in the decider after Sienna Jetha came back from 2-0 down to level the match. It ended 11-6, 11-5, 9-11, 8-11, 11-3 to Pashley.
Iles was involved in two further five-game matches, including her clash with Jetha which went the way of Jetha by a 5-11, 17-15, 11-8, 5-11, 11-6 scoreline as Jetha clinched second spot.
Earlier, Iles withstood a comeback from Parmis Ahsani before prevailing 3-2 (11-4, 11-7, 9-11, 5-11, 11-6). Ahsani was also on the wrong end of a 3-2 (7-11, 11-5, 3-11, 11-5, 11-8) defeat by Mia Lakhani.
In Division Two, Millie Noble and Eva Eccles had identical records of four wins and one defeat to finish in the promotion spots and it was Noble who was in first place thanks to her 3-1 (11-3, 4-11, 11-9, 12-10) win when the two met.
Noble’s defeat was at the hands of Luna Archard, who won their clash 3-1 (11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8).
Both players also had five-set wins over both Julia Tokova and Alyssa Nguyen, while Archard was beaten in the fifth by both Nguyen and Tokova.
U19 Boys
No player won more than three matches out of five and it took a four-way countback to separate the top four in the top flight – Rohan Dani coming out ahead of Larry Trumpauskas, Kacper Piwowar and Max Radiven.
What was perhaps more remarkable was that the first four rounds of matches featured only one game which went to a decider – Radiven’s 3-2 (8-11, 11-4, 11-9, 4-11, 11-4) win over Dani.
The final round made up for the lack of fifth-set clashes as all three matches needed the full distance. Trumpauskas came from 2-0 down to beat Radiven, Nathaniel Saunders recovered a 2-1 deficit against Dani and Piwowar overcame Daniel Jones after seeing his initial 2-0 lead wiped out.
Jakub Piwowar was promoted from Division Two with a perfect record of five wins – one better than Isaac Kingham, whom he beat 3-1 (11-6, 9-11, 11-4, 11-4).
In Division Three, Hugo Nguyen and Wajid Wafiq filled the top two places with identical records, Nguyen getting the countback verdict as he beat Wafiq in three games – though he had earlier lost to Fraser Massey in four.
Wafiq sneaked past Joseph Fortnum-Adams 3-2 (8-11, 11-3, 12-14, 15-13, 11-3) – his opponent won in five against Max Gonpot.
U15 Girls
There was a three-way tie at the top of Division One, with Hannah Saunders getting the verdict ahead of Catherine Lv and Soraya Rahmani-Walentynska as the Under-15s convened at Nottingham TTC.
Rahmani-Walentynska upset Saunders 3-2 (11-8, 7-11, 12-10, 9-11, 12-10) in the first meeting between the top three, but she then lost 3-1 (3-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9) to Lv.
Saunders then defeated Lv 3-1 (13-11, 14-12, 9-11, 11-7) to edge the countback in her favour.
Lv also had a tight tussle with Evie Knaapen before prevailing 3-2 (8-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 12-10), while Zoe Gonpot was a five-game winner over Sienna Svoboda.
In Division Two, Chloe Kniep won all six matches, dropping only two games all day, to top the table and earn promotion, along with second-placed Maahi Malde.
In the only two matches to go the distance, Penny Muil defeated Harriet Goodwin 11-9 in the decider, but lost out 3-2 (13-11, 10-12, 11-13, 11-6, 11-7) to Niylah Fernandez.
U15 Boys
Pablo Ramirez Rioja headed the top division with four wins to finish ahead of Harrison Hill. The match between them was the only five-setter in the division as Ramirez Rioja came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 (10-12, 7-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-6).
Division Two needed countback to separate Sinan Surensoy and Oscar Nikolli – the former winning their match in four games to take top spot despite earlier being defeated in three by Theo Kniep.
Nikolli also had trouble with Kniep but came through 3-2 (11-4, 5-11, 13-15, 15-13, 11-7), and Nikolli also needed five to see off Ryan Holland by a 5-11, 11-9, 11-2, 15-17, 11-9 scoreline.
Noah Byrne-Smith won all five matches to top Division Three and was joined in the promotion places by Hassan Damji.
Byrne-Smith did have to work hard though, requiring five games against Bharath Prasanna Kumar and Parsia Ahsani.
Rowan Kumar was unbeaten in Division Four to finish ahead of Chun Yin Ng. Kumar came out on top in no fewer than three deciding games, against Finley Aitken, Callum Heath and against Ng – who also needed five to beat both Aitken and Ibrahim Hussain.
Division Five was topped by Jayden Chau, who had four wins and one defeat. Also finishing in the top two promotion places was Aarav Pahwa, ahead of Yacoub Rahmani-Walentynska by virtue of their head-to-head record – a 3-1 win for Pahwa. Chau’s defeat was in five to William Richards.
U13 Girls
The Under-13s were hosted by Joola Plymouth TTC and Assil Sarri and Maisha Patel tied at the top of Division One with four wins and one defeat apiece – Sarri’s 3-2 (10-12, 11-7, 12-14, 11-8, 11-3) win over Patel earned her the top spot.
Sarri’s defeat came against fellow London Academy player Serene Rahmani-Walentynska, who came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 (7-11, 5-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-8).
Patel had earlier defeated Rahmani-Walentynska 3-2 (9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 10-12, 11-8), while Sarri also needed five to overcome Alexia-Bianca Ciobanica.
In Division Two, Ffion Evans was top, winning five and losing one – 3-2 (13-11, 11-9, 9-11, 7-11, 11-8) to Aeyva Fayaz.
The second promotion place came down to a three-way tie between Sakinah Damji, Evie Turner-Samuels and Fayaz.
Damji, who lost to Isabelle Bradly as well as Evans, beat Turner-Samuels 3-0 (12-10, 11-9, 11-5) and Fayaz 3-2 (5-11, 11-7, 11-7, 5-11, 11-6) in the ‘mini league’ between the three tied players to earn second place. Turner-Samuels beat Fayaz in three to seal third.
U13 Boys
Zaid Aldilimi’s six straight wins saw him claim top spot ahead of Aaron Wong – and he only dropped one game all day, falling behind to Lusio Wen but coming back to win 3-1 (7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 12-10).
Only one match required a fifth game – Mustafa Ibrahim beating Wen 3-2 (10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 6-11, 11-4).
Samvit Balaji and Zacharia Sarri filled the top two promotion places in Division Two, having both won five and lost one.
Balaji was defeated 3-2 (4-11, 11-4, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7) by Nayan Pattni but recovered to defeat Sarri 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-9).
Sarri had to dig deep to stave off a fine comeback by Joshua Freeman, winning 3-2 (11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 12-14, 12-10).
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