Arsenal seach for future table tennis star

The annual Fred Perry Urban Cup table tennis competition got underway last month, with youngsters from across the local community battling it out for a chance to represent Arsenal at the tournament Finals next month.

The competition, which is run in conjunction with the Premier League 4 Sport (PL4S) programme and the English Table Tennis Association (ETTA), sees 20 Premier League clubs link in with regional table tennis community clubs to encourage and inspire youngsters to get involved in the sport.

The Level One competitions, launched by British No 3 Gavin Rumgay in October, form part of the intra-school stage of the Fred Perry Urban Cup with local winners progressing to an inter-satellite stage where the youngsters will then battle it out for a spot in the Finals.

The lucky individuals that have progressed to the inter-satellite stage are as follows: Frankie Jones and Kur Deng (William Ellis School), Jay Timms, Elvis Muja and Hollie Cox (St Mary Magdalene Academy), Tashan Harris (New Kingshold), Max Barragan-Segre (Haverstock), Kevin Rees, Bartosz Pabich, Hassan Dogus and Hugo Teixeira (St Aloysius College) and Duresa Silamniku and Miran Sengul (Highbury Fields Girls).

As part of the competition, Arsenal will also be working with the ETTA to provide a Young Officials course for participants that that would like to volunteer at the Finals next month.

Tony Alvarez, one of the Club’s table tennis coaches, said: “The tournament at Haverstock went well, there was a lot of interest and some fierce competition. The eventual winner was Max Barragan-Segre who will now go on to represent the school. Max’s hard work has paid off as he has been the most regular attendee to the table tennis sessions but some of the new Year 7s are after his crown and catching him up rapidly!”

Last week the Level Two stages took plac,e with the winners now readying themselves for the national finals in a fortnight.

Duresa Sllamniku (Highbury Fields Girls School) and Hollie Cox (St Mary Magdalene Academy) placed top two in the girls section with Jay Timms (St Mary Magdalene Academy) and Romayne Stewart (Stoke Newington School) advancing from the boys. They will now get the opportunity to represent Arsenal in the Community.

Arsenal Football Club wishes all of the participants the best of luck.

For more information on the Premier League 4 Sport initiative, please contact Ross McKinley on 0207 704 4147 or email rmckinley@arsenal.co.uk.

[Friday, November 18, 2011]

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