A squad of 13 DiSE players attended the 24th Raiffeisen Youth Championships in Linz over the Easter weekend. The trip, part funded by the Diploma in Sporting Excellence programme, saw the players compete against players from clubs and countries across Europe.

The team event format saw all teams play a group on the first day and depending on the finishing position, saw them then go into either the championship or challenge division, where further matches were played to secure a final position.

Team event – Championship Division

The U19 boys’ team, comprising Jakub Piwowar and Joseph Dennison, secured a bronze medal beating TTVI (Table Tennis Innerschweiz) 3-1 in the third-fourth play-off game. They were beaten in the semi-final game 3-0 by Söderhamn, Sweden.

The U17 girls’ team of Jonabel Taguibao and Lianna Shilani Tousi made it to the semi-finals, where they lost to Nederland 1-3 and were the beaten in the play-off for third and fourth places by Sokol Hradec Králové of the Czech Republic 0-3.

The U17 boys’ team of Zac Greenhough and Louis Cheung Turner were extremely unlucky to lose their quarter-final match to Luxembourg, meaning they were playing for positions 5-8. They won both their remaining matches against Mittelländischer Tischtennisverband of Switzerland 3-0 and then beat OB BTK of Denmark 3-1 to finish fifth.

Charlie Williams partnered Anton Major from TSV Dachau 1865 and they battled hard in the top division, beating Nederland II. Charlie picked up some great individual wins along the way and they finished in 16th position, losing their final game against Falkensee 1 of Germany 1-3.

Team Event – Challenge Division

The remaining teams ended up in the Challenge Division. The U19 girls’ team Rachael Iles and Anna Piercey were unfortunate to lose two of their opening day matches, both 3-2, however they went on a brilliant run thereafter and secured the Challenge Division title beating ITTG (Institut du Tennis de Table Genevois) from Switzerland 3-1 in the final.

The U19 boys’ second team – a Ben Mckay and Will Short – battled hard and won their first team match against NÖTTV of Austria 3-2 which set them up for their final game against Euskal Selekzioa/Basque team which they lost 1-3, finishing in 10th position.

The U17 boys’ second – Wajid Wafiq and Harley Guy-Sinclair – got off to a flying start winning their first game of the competition 3-0 against San Marino. Further wins against HITT Academy Malta saw them play their final game against TT Warmduscher of Germany, which they lost 0-3, placing eighth overall.

Singles

The singles event followed the same format, a group stage and then further group and knockout matches depending on your first initial finishing position.

Jakub, Joe, Zac, Wajid and Jonabel all proceeded through as either group winners or runners up into the main draw.

Jakub, Joe (U19 boys) and Zac and Wajid (U17 boys) all fell in the last 16, Jakub, Joe and Wajid all losing 2-3 respectively. Zac lost 0-3 to the No 1 seed.

Jonabel (U17 girls) beat the No 1 seed Julia Fuschs of Austria in the last 16, followed by another win against Faya Voojis of Nederlands 3-0, before losing in the semi-finals to Emilia Schorr a defender from FC Bayern Munich of Germany 3-1, securing a bronze medal in her first International event.

All of the other players ended up in the Challenge event and further medals were won by Lianna (gold U17 girls), Louis (bronze U17 boys) and Charlie (bronze U19 boys).

A mention for DISE athlete Lowri Hurd, representing Table Tennis Wales, who won a bronze medal in the singles event and a fourth-place team finish in the U19 girls’ team event.

Overall, a fantastic event for our athletes, who between them played 263 matches over five days. Players were supported at this event by DISE Lead, Natalie Green, Evie Collier and Chris Parker.

The Diploma in Sporting Excellence (DiSE) programme is a government-funded initiative run by SportsAid, which is a two-year programme enabling athletes to get a wider understanding of key areas

The Diploma in Sporting Excellence is a specialised qualification intended for athletes to develop their capacity to meet the demands of a high-performance sports performer. Topics include lifestyle, nutrition and UK Anti-Doping, as well as table tennis-specific units around training and competition. On successful completion of the course, athletes also gain 64 UCAS points towards university entry.

Applications for the 2025/2006 season will be out in May, but for further information about the programme please contact Natalie Green.