On a historic day for British table tennis, Liam Pitchford and Anna Hursey won singles titles and Paul Drinkhall & Sam Walker took Men’s Doubles gold at WTT Feeder Manchester.

The doubles pair were the first to win, defeating Rafael De Las Heras & Diego Lillo of Spain 3-1 (10-12, 11-6, 11-9, 12-10) in the final in front of a sell-out crowd at the National Cycling Centre.

GB Pathway player Hursey of Wales won her fourth successive tournament – and her first senior one – as she defeated Spain’s Elvira Rad 3-0 in the Women’s Singles final.

And Pitchford brought the curtain down on an incredible day with an emphatic win over Samuel Kulczycki of Poland in the Men’s Singles final – his first WTT title.

Earlier, Connor Green & Sophie Earley lost the Mixed Doubles final.

Watch the matches involving British players on demand on the Table Tennis England YouTube channel.

Photos by Michael Loveder, Table Tennis England Official Photographer

Women’s Singles

Anna Hursey won her first senior WTT title and her fourth tournament on the spin after winning three successive Under-19 titles on the WTT Youth circuit.

Her form held up beautifully as she conceded only one game all tournament – in the semi-finals – and she will now break into the world’s top 100.

The final itself was not a breeze, with Hursey behind in the early stages and again in the third game, when the score was 7-4 in Rad’s favour. But Hursey’s belief is rock-solid and she reeled off the next seven points to claim the title.

Anna Hursey got into the final with a superb 3-1 win over Japan’s Kaho Akae. Sixth seed versus seventh seed, and 101 vs 123 in the world rankings, promised a close match, but higher-ranked Hursey seized the initiative and opened up a 2-0 lead, never trailing in either game.

Akae hit back to take the third and then led the fourth 8-3 and looked set to take it to a decider. But Hursey clicked into a higher gear and reels off eight successive points, either side of Akae’s timeout at 8-9, to go through to this afternoon’s final.

Rad (WR 334), who came through the qualifying rounds, upset Sofia-Xuan Zhang (WR 148) in the all-Spanish semi-final.

Men’s Singles

Liam Pitchford finally got his hands on a WTT/ITTF title as he defeated Samuel Kulczycki of Poland in the final 3-0 (11-6, 11-3, 11-8).

Pitchford played like a man on a mission, playing the match at his pace an unveiling a battery of weapons which the young pole (WR 154) could not counter.

From 5-5 in the first, when Pitchford hit the front, there was only going to be one winner, and his only minor moment of concern was when Kulczycki led the third 5-1. When that became 5-4, the Pole took his timeout, but it made no difference and Pitchford sunk to his knees at the end as he finally got his title after final defeats at the 2020 Qatar Open and 2023 Contender Muscat.

Second seed Pitchford chiselled out a momentous victory over Csaba Andras to reach the final, coming back from 2-0 down in a tension-packed match.

Hungary’s Andras (WR 166) had beaten Paul Drinkhall in his run to the semi-final and started fast, opening up a 6-1 lead on his way to taking the first 11-8. It was also 6-1 in the second, and this time Andreas went on to win it 11-6 to open a two-game advantage.

But Pitchford, drawing on the support of the crowd, was never behind in the third, which he won 11-9 – a scoreline he repeated in the fourth.

When he trailed 3-0 in the decider, coach John Murphy called the timeout and it seemed to galvanise Pitchford as he worked his way back, taking the lead at 6-5 and never relinquishing it as three successive points from 8-8 gave him the win – and the emotion of the moment saw him flat on his back on court before he warmly congratulated his opponent on a great match.

Kulczycki recovered from losing the first game to defeat qualifier Daniel Berzosa (WR 309) of Spain 3-1 (9-11, 12-10, 12-10, 11-6) in his semi-final.

Men’s Doubles

Paul Drinkhall & Sam Walker won a historic first WTT doubles title for England, claiming men’s doubles gold at WTT Feeder Manchester.

The English pair defeated Rafael De Las Heras & Diego Lillo of Spain 3-1 (10-12, 11-6, 11-9, 12-10) in the final.

It might have been a little easier on the collective nerves had they taken a game point in the first, but they recovered from the setback of losing it 12-10 by racing through the second and then taking three successive points from 9-8 down to win the third.

But the English pair were never ahead in the fourth and it looked as if they were heading for a decider when the Spanish pair held three game points. Two points later, the Spanish took their timeout, but they were destined not to win another point as the English national champions claimed that historic title.

A first WTT doubles title – but a second on the circuit for Walker as he and Truls Moregard won the 2021 Czech Open in the days of the ITTF Pro Tour, the only time until now an English athlete had won a doubles title at that level.

Mixed Doubles

It was not to be for Connor Green & Sophie Earley as they were defeated in the final by Jo Yokotani & Kotona Okada of Japan.

The first pair from England to reach a senior WTT Mixed Doubles final, Green & Earley had turned heads when they beat Liam Pitchford & Anna Hursey in the semi-finals.

They raised hopes of another fine win when they took the first game, but their opponents won six points in a row from 5-4 down in the second and from that point kept the English teenagers at arm’s length and took the title 3-1 (5-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-5).

Women’s Doubles

The top seeds were sunk in the final as Krittwika Roy & Sayali Wani of India went down 3-1 (11-5, 11-8, 11-13, 12-10) to unseeded Dina Meshref of Egypt & Zeng Jian of Singapore.

The fact the winners were unseeded masks their vast title-winning experience during their individual careers – Zeng won four medals at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, including Women’s Doubles gold, while Meshref has won the African Championships in every possible event – singles, doubles, mixed and team.

Having both surprisingly missed out in the singles, they started in the mood to make sure they did not leave Manchester empty-handed, opening up a 2-0 lead. Although the top seeds hit back in the third, Meshref & Zeng closed out the match in the fourth, though they did see two match points saved from 10-8 before they took their third opportunity.

Results

Women’s Singles
Semi-finals
Elvira Rad (ESP) bt Sofia-Xuan Zhang (ESP) 3-1 (11-7, 7-11, 12-10, 11-9)
Anna Hursey (WAL) bt Kaho Akae (JPN) 3-1 (11-9, 11-5, 7-11, 11-8)

Final
Hursey bt Rad 3-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-7)

Men’s Singles
Semi-finals
Liam Pitchford bt Csaba Andras (HUN) 3-2 (8-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8)
Samuel Kulczycki (POL) bt Daniel Berzosa (ESP) 3-1 (9-11, 12-10, 12-10, 11-6)

Final
Pitchford bt Samuel Kulczycki (POL) 3-0 (11-6, 11-3, 11-8)

Mixed Doubles
Final
Jo Yokotani & Kotona Okada (JPN) bt Connor Green & Sophie Earley 3-2 (5-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-5)

Women’s Doubles
Final
Dina Meshref (EGY) & Zeng Jian (SGP) bt Krittwika Roy & Sayali Wani (IND) 3-1 (11-5, 11-8, 11-13, 12-10)

Men’s Doubles
Final
Paul Drinkhall & Sam Walker bt Rafael De Las Heras & Diego Lillo (ESP) 3-1 (10-12, 11-6, 11-9, 12-10)