Morecambe youngster claims national table tennis title

The 14-year-old won the Cadet Girls’ title at the Mark Bates Ltd Cadet & Junior National Championships.

Organised by Table Tennis England and held at the University of Warwick, the competition for U15 players saw Bethany seeded third.

However, when the top two seeds had to self-isolate under Covid-19 protocols, she knew there was a real chance to claim gold.

She did not disappoint, beginning with a 3-0 victory (11-4, 11-5, 11-5) over Anaiya Ali in the last 16.

Eighth seed Evelyn Pace was defeated 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-7) in the quarter-finals before Bethany saw off sixth seed Isabelle Lacorte in the last four, triumphing 3-1 (17-15, 11-7, 9-11, 13-11).

Her opponent in the final was seventh seed Sienna Jetha, who had won the U12 and U13 national titles the previous weekend.

Nevertheless, Bethany played a controlled match to seal the gold with a 3-0 win (11-7, 11-5, 11-7).

She said afterwards: “It feels really good and I’m really proud of myself. It was really tough but I’d worked so hard for it.”

Bethany also featured in the junior event for U19s where, despite being the lowest-ranked player in her group, she won four of five matches to reach the knockout stage.

There, she faced top seed Charlotte Bardsley with the England international winning 3-0 (11-5, 11-9, 11-3) on her way to claiming the title.

The success didn’t end there for the Ellis family with Bethany’s older brother Toby taking silver in the junior boys’ competition.

Having won his group, the 16-year-old built momentum through the knockout rounds, culminating in a 3-1 win (11-6, 11-13, 11-7, 11-8) over Naphong Boonyaprapa in the semi-finals.

With a number of seeds having pulled out due to self-isolation requirements and the rest having been knocked out earlier in the competition, the final was between two unseeded players in Toby and Maxim Stevens.

It was Stevens who took gold as he completed a 3-1 victory (11-8, 6-11, 11-2, 11-5).

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