Young table tennis players impress

Young table tennis players from the Arsenal Community Table Tennis Club are reflecting on a job well done after a highly successful debut season came to a close last week.

The Club submitted two teams to the National Junior League this year, Islington A and Islington B, who were made up of youngsters that actively take part in Arsenal’s Premier League 4 Sport programme, training regularly at the Arsenal Community Table Tennis Club at St Aloysius College in Islington.

The ‘A’ team, consisting of Ethan Osbourne-Clarke, Ike Okoroafor and Ezra Glasstone performed admirably in Division Two, losing just one game all year to the eventual winner Burlington Danes, eventually finishing in second place. As a result, the team will now be playing in the top division next season.

The ‘B’ team, meanwhile, consisting of Brandon Murray, Ramal Durgadeen, Gabriel Ogunsolai, Tristen Henry and in the final match, Jay Timms, finished third in Division Three in only their first year of competitive table tennis. Ramal was particularly impressive, winning 85% of his matches.

The Club also impressed on an individual level with Ezra Glasstone showing real improvement to finish the year ranked number 34 in England at Under-13 level. Tyla Anderson had an equally successful year in the Junior British League, beating a number of players in the Top 10 in England to win SIX tournaments and jump up the British junior rankings to number 35.

Brandon Murray, Islington B team player said: “I have loved playing in the league this season. We had some good wins and learnt a lot about competitive table tennis. I have also played in the Fred Perry Urban Cup and some matches for Arsenal against other football clubs and met Darius Knight, so this year has been amazing! Thanks to Arsenal and particularly my coach Steve for helping me get this far!”

Steve Achille, Arsenal Community TTC team coach said “This year has been a really good one for these young lads. They have all improved so much and with Premier League 4 Sport they can now train nearly every night of the week. Tyla particularly has improved a great deal and I am sure will continue to do so next year”.

Arsenal Football Club congratulates all of the youngsters involved on their success this season and wishes them the very best of luck as they look to improve further next year.

[Thursday, April 21, 2011]

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