Anna Hursey Wins Bronze at ITTF World Youth Championships 2024

Welsh table tennis sensation Anna Hursey added another prestigious medal to her growing collection at the 2024 ITTF World Youth Championships in Helsingborg, Sweden this in November.

Competing across three categories, Hursey’s standout performance came in the U19 Girls Doubles, where she claimed a well-deserved bronze medal, continuing her impressive streak of international success.

Hursey’s Championships started with the U19 Mixed Doubles, in which she partnered with Nicolas Lumm of Australia to reach the last 16. The duo began with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Belgium’s Lilou Massart and Romania’s Darius Movileanu in the round of 32.

In the round of 16, they faced the number one seeds for the event in Korea’s Yoo Yerin and Kim Gaon. Despite a strong effort, Hursey and Lumm narrowly missed out with the Korean pair taking the match 3-2, ending their mixed doubles campaign.

The highlight of Hursey’s tournament was her run in the U19 Girls Doubles, where she teamed up with Germany’s Annett Kaufmann. Their partnership proved formidable as they battled through a tough draw to secure a spot on the podium.

In the round of 16 the pair defeated Sweden’s Alice Nilsson and Agnes Svensson 3-1, setting up a quarterfinal against Cheng Pusyuan and Yeh Yi-Tian of Taiwan in which Hursey and Kaufmann delivered another impressive 3-1 victory to advance to the semi-finals. Up against China’s Qin Yuxuan and Zong Geman, the eventual champions, Hursey and Kaufmann gave a strong fight but lost out 3-1.

The result earned Hursey and Kaufmann the bronze medal, their second consecutive medal at the ITTF World Youth Championships after reaching the final in 2023.

This bronze adds to Hursey’s growing list of achievements, which includes medals at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, the European Youth Championships 2023, and the World Youth Championships 2023.

In the U19 Girls Singles, Hursey faced a challenging draw, coming up against her doubles partner and eventual champion, Annett Kaufmann, in the round of 32. Hursey battled hard but was edged out 4-1.