Landmark gold for Ireland girls thanks to Ulster trio
Three Belfast-based table tennis players recently helped Ireland girls’ under 18s to a landmark first Senior Schools’ Championships gold medal.
Ormeau Table Tennis Club’s Anjali Singh, Grace Looney and Niamh Mason returned from the Isle of Man as senior schools’ champions thanks to a 3-0 defeat of England A in the finals.
"The team had lost in the group stage to the English team by 4-1 and later won in the finals against them 3-0,” said Ireland coach Ranjit Singh. “It was remarkable resilience from the girls.
"We went through the lesson and learned from the loss to convert it to a gold medal.”
Singh also finished as singles champion by defeating Looney, having reached the final with wins over England’s Connie Dumelow and Wales’ Ruby Elliot each by 3-1 scorelines.
Looney’s path to the main event featured a 3-2 semi-final success against England’s Zarita Lo plus 3-0 victory over Scotland’s Amelia Smolarek.
The players credit practice sessions featuring support from Ormeau Table Tennis Club, the Ulster performance squad and Ireland national squad as key.