Fantastic table tennis as champions crowned at the 2024 Merthyr Junior Open

The 2024 Merthyr Junior Open ran on Friday 1 November, marking the second time that the event had been held at Merthyr College. There were more entries than last year, with nearly every event being at full capacity, attracting players of all ages and abilities to the college.

The four categories on show during the day were U11s, U13s, U15s and U19s with two events being played in the morning and two events in the afternoon.

There were many closely contested games throughout the day as well as lots of upsets across the four events.

The two events that kicked us off in the morning were the U11s and U15s.

Cardiff’s Freddie Dacey was the winner of the U11 event with Timmy Muil coming in as the runner up.

Timmy had some exceptional wins throughout the day, knocking out top seed Gracie David in a closely contested 3-2 match going Timmy’s way.

Freddie was fully focused as they played the final, running away with a 3-0 lead to take the first title of the day.

In the plate event, Ethan James came away as winner with a very tight 3-2 win over Rhondda team mate Rushdan Shariff. Ethan beat Alfie Giles in one semi-final, with Rushdan beating Ava Thomas in the other.

The U15s event was won by first seed Lily Walters, who beat second seed Amelie David in the final 3-0 – the only event in which the top two seeds met in the final, demonstrating the number of upsets that occurred throughout the day.

Both played some outstanding table tennis throughout the morning and reached the final comfortably, with Lily coming away as the morning’s second event winner.

The winner of the plate event was Penny Muil following her 3-0 victory over Zac Scrine in the final, continuing her run of convincing wins throughout the event. She had beaten Jessie Daniel in the semi-final with Zac Scrine having an intense battle against Jayden Tang.

The afternoon events then arrived as the U13s and U19s took to the tables.

The U13s event was won by non-seeded Henry Markall. Coming from across the bridge, Henry had an outstanding 3-0 win over top seed Dylan Williams in the group stage, launching him to number one spot during the knockouts.

There were multiple upsets in the group stages with Gracie David beating Jessie Daniel, and Jayden Tang beating Toby Young in some incredibly tight games.

In the final, it was once again Henry Markall against Dylan Williams, with Henry beating Jayden 3-0 and Dylan getting a 15-13 fifth-set win over second seed Oliver Harvey in the semi-finals.

The final once again proved a masterclass from Henry Markall as he won in straight sets to take the U13 title.

In the plate event Tom Williams came away as winner with a 3-1 win over North Wales player Ellis Phillips Pugh. Ellis beat Sebastian Green to secure a spot in the final, while champion Tom got there by overcoming brother Josh Williams in the final four.

The last event of the day saw the U19s battle it out for the crown, with top seed Luca Strinati showing his class to eventually earn the title.

He was up against surprise finalist Nye Evans who had played incredibly well all day, getting great results throughout the U15 and U19 events. He overcame second seed Lily Walters in a thriller, surviving a scare as Lily came back from 2-0 down, earning his place in the final over five sets.

In the end, however, Luca took the title with a 3-1 victory.

In the U19s plate event, Jenson Denton Smith and Danyal Shafia played out the final having already met in the group stage. On that occasion, Danyal was victorious, but the tides had turned by the time of the final as Jenson’s fine form saw him take the plate with a 3-0 win.

He’d reached the final after a semi-final win over Rowan Taylor, while Danyal overcame Merthyr College student Jun Chun.

Table Tennis Wales would like to say a massive well done to all competitors involved in the Merthyr Junior Open and we hope to see you at the next one!

Thank you to all who made the event possible!