A young table tennis star is celebrating this week after scoring a silver medal at a national event held in Kettering.
Nine-year old, Sanav Sethi is a member of Bedford Community Table Tennis Club and attends Hazeldene School in Bedford. He picked up the silver medal in the Under 10 to Under 13 national event ran by Table Tennis England at the Kettering Arena.
Table Tennis England run four annual national knockout championships for male and female individuals and doubles pairings in the Under-10 to Under-13 age group, the Cadet and Under-17 age group, the Junior and Under-21 age group, plus the senior competition.
Seeded second for the tournament featuring the youngest players, Sanav eventually came unstuck against first seed and reigning champion, Stefan Wierszyllowski, but has a bright future ahead on the table tennis circuit.
“I would like to thank all of the Bedford and District League players I competed against this season in helping make me a stronger player”, said Sanav.
He also thanked Hazeldene School who had been very generous in allowing him time off to attend his England squad training camps in Nottingham.
Sanav also completed a great weekend taking a bronze medal in the Under-12 doubles with his partner, Raphael Church.
Story of the tournament
Sanav’s progression to the individual final was a dominant one, as he came through his group – Group 2 – without dropping a game.
Finishing top of the group, beating Henry Hamilton, second placed Oscar Woodier, Kaihang Dai and Iver Hastings, Sanav progressed with ease to the knockout stages.
He then beat Danel Hoang Ortuoste in the first knockout round, before beating Ayansh Pahwa in the semi-finals.
The final was a much tougher affair.
Sanav lost the first game 5-11, and just missed out on taking the second losing 11-13.
Undeterred, he bounced back to win the third game 11-3. It was nip and tuck in the fourth game, before Sanav eventually lost it 11-13 for a well deserved silver medal.
Sanav will be back in action this coming Saturday (25 April), as he represents Bedfordshire in the National Schools’ Individual Championship in Wolverhampton.
