Match Report for Anna Hursey’s Bronze Medal Endeavour at the European Youth Top 10
Anna Hursey continued to show her promise earlier this month with a fantastic Bronze medal in the Cadet girls singles event at the European Youth top 10 in Berlin. Anna came third in a high quality field playing some great table tennis overcoming the world numbers 8 & 11 along the way. Winning 7 out of 9 matches and only losing out to two top 10 players.
There were a few last minute adjustments to the line up in the cadet category as four players were replaced as they had to be quarantined. Four very capable understudies were ready to take their places and Day 1 commenced.
Day 1- 9th October- Anna started slowly in her first match before getting into her rhthym to overcome Bianca Rosu (Romania) 3-2 in a competitive encounter. Before despatching Julie Van Hauwaert (Netherlands) and Dominka Wiltschkova (Slovakia), both 3-0, in two dominant displays ending day 1 in joint 1st place.
Day 2- 10th October- Anna came back from match points against her in the first match against German Jele Stortz. Showing her mental resilience for another impressive victory resulting in a 3-2 win. Against the powerful serving Charlotte Lutz (France) Anna suffered her first defeat of the weekend 3-1. Finishing day 2 with a impressive 3-1 win against World no. 8 Sophie Earley from Ireland, left Anna in joint 1st position with 3 players.
Day 3- 11th October- Annette Kaufmann the eventual winner had the tactical edge in the first match on the final day overcoming Anna 3-1. Mia Griesel (GER) started very aggressively and won the first set in the second match, Anna responded likewise and went onto win 3-1. Anna’s last match is against Helena Sommerova of the Czech Republic. Anna found herself 0-2 down to the competitive opponent then matched her levelling at 2-2 before storming through the last set 11:1,winning 3-2.
Anna finished in third place, on the same matches lost as Charlotte Lutz who came 2nd- this was decided on sets won over the course of the three days.
Anna commented on her achievement “I’m Really pleased to have won a bronze medal for Wales at the Europe Top Ten playing against the strongest cadet players in Europe.”
This is a brilliant tournament for Anna who competed well throughout with many lessons learned. For Wales this was the best result ever in the Europe top ten cadet, last time was fifth place for Adam Robertson 2001.
| Competition | Date | Player | Ranking | Win/Loss | Scores | |
| Euro Youth Top 10 | 10/09/2020 | Rosu (ROU) | U15 WR 25 | Win | 3-2 | |
| Euro Youth Top 10 | 10/09/2020 | Van Hauwaert (BEL) | U15 WR 23 | Win | 3-0 | |
| Euro Youth Top 10 | 10/09/2020 | Wiltschkova (SVK) | U15 WR 20 | Win | 3-0 | |
| Euro Youth Top 10 | 10/10/2020 | Lutz (FRA) | U15 WR 9 | Loss | 1-3 | |
| Euro Youth Top 10 | 10/10/2020 | Stortz (GER) | U15 WR 27 | Win | 3-2 | |
| Euro Youth Top 10 | 10/10/2020 | Earley (IRL) | U15 WR 8 | Win | 3-1 | |
| Euro Youth Top 10 | 10/11/2020 | Kaufmann (GER) | U15 WR 10 | Loss | 1-3 | |
| Euro Youth Top 10 | 10/11/2020 | Griesel (GER) | U15 WR 44 | Win | 3-1 | |
| Euro Youth Top 10 | 10/11/2020 | Sommerova (CZE) | U15 WR 11 | Win | 3-2 |