Welsh champions crowned at Butterfly Welsh National Championships 2025
The Butterfly Table Tennis Welsh National Championships came to Cardiff on the weekend, as the best talent in Wales took centre stage to compete for national crowns.
Sport Wales was the venue, with the multi-table set-up in the Mian Hall drawing in a captivated crowd across the weekend.
The buzz reached a climax as the Men’s and Women’s Singles came to a thrilling close on the Sunday afternoon, with some excellent table tennis being played out.
In the Men’s category, Callum Evans claimed an eighth successive Welsh title as he overcame stern opposition in the form of Harri Docherty in the final – the third consecutive time these two had met in this showpiece event.
Callum’s epic achievement came after battling his way through a strong field including the likes of Daniel O’Connell, Harry Street, Oliver Jordan, Ryan Crowley and Rosen Andreev.
Also on the podium were Daniel O’Connell and Joshua Stacey, earning bronze.
In the other showpiece event, the Women’s title was contested between Anna Hursey and Charlotte Carey as the Commonwealth bronze-winning duo turned foe for this final.
But Anna’s sparkling display throughout – in which she topped a group consisting of Lowri Hurd, Lucy Page and Grace Williams – ensured that she retained her crown as a 3-1 win over Charlotte earned her a third title in a row.
With Charlotte claiming second, the bronze medal went to Danielle Kelly and Nancy Yeh.
Anna’s fellow Welsh representatives in Paris last summer, Paul Karabardack and Joshua Stacey, fought it out for the Para Class 6-10 title. In the end, Joshua bulldozed his way to top spot, beating his Paralympics colleague 3-0 and failing to even drop a set in his run to the Championship.
The category was littered with strong match-ups, with a highlight being a fifth set match between Jacob Wicks and Grace Williams to determine third place; the latter edged the contest with a hard-fought 3-2 win.
Dennis Bromage had an event to truly remember, as the 85-year-old Table Tennis Wales Board member walked away from the Championships with no fewer than three medals.
His highlight came in the Veterans’ O70s, in which he claimed gold within a tough category. After topping his group and defeating Colin Price in the final four, Dennis overcame Alan Thompson – who had also reached the last two after finishing first in the group stage – in his sixth final.
With Alan earning runner-up, fellow group-topper Reg Smith alongside Colin claimed bronze.
With Stephen Eades, Dennis also claimed bronze in the Veterans’ O60s event.
On his way to claiming the title in this category, Brian Jeanes notably overcame Stephen in a thrilling fifth set victory, before beating John Hook in the final.
Dennis also left with a silver medal in the Veterans’ O50s event, beating Mark Farrow in the last four to get to the final.
It was, however, once again Brian Jeanes who claimed the title, beating Dennis after progressing past Lee Thomas in the semis.
It was a proud day for the Jones family, as Gavin Jones was joined by son Evan at the Championships. As Evan competed in the U11 category, Gavin claimed a runner-up finish in the Men’s Veterans’, losing to Daniel Harris as Neil Cox and Vincent Dion also made podium.
On the women’s side, two group-toppers met in the final as Catherine Jones beat Claire Flannagan to earn the Women’s Veteran’s crown after a thrilling fifth-set decider.
Meanwhile, Bhaureta Sabaratnam and Lucy Page finished in the bronze position.
Harri Docherty made up for the disappointment of a Men’s Singles final loss at the hands of Callum Evans by beating Toby Harwood to the Men’s U21 title.
There were familiar names across the board in this category, with the two of them setting up a thrilling final by overcoming Oliver Jordan and Harry Street in the semi finals.
The same was the case with the Women’s U21s, with Lily Walters and Ruby Elliot losing out in the final four to claim third-places finishes.
Progressing past them into the Women’s U21s final were Lara Whitton and Lowri Hand, with the former eventually earning the title after a tough match-up.
The Women’s U21s event was also significant for one particular family, as all three Turner-Samuels sisters – Evelyn and Isabella, who faced each other in the group stage, as well as Eleanor – took to the table, also competing across a host of other events respectively (more on their successes to come…).
For those that missed out in the U21s events, however, the Junior categories provided further opportunities for success; and so it proved.
Toby Harwood came out on top in the prestigious Junior Boys category after an impressive tournament run, showcasing skill and determination. On his way to the title, he secured victories over Jayden Tang and Oliver Jordan, before facing Harry Street in the final. In a high-intensity match, Toby triumphed 3-1 to claim the Championship.
Harry also had a strong tournament, defeating Austin Hibbert before facing Luca Strinati in a dramatic semi-final clash which went to a deciding fifth set.
Alongside Luca, Oliver Harvey earned a bronze medal.
On the girls’ side, Lily Walters topped her group after some standout performances which saw her beat Ruby Elliott, Amelie David and Eleanor Turner-Samuels. Lowri Hurd also topped her group with victories against Eleanor’s sister Isabella, Penny Muil and Sasha Lewis.
Neither, however, went all the way to claim the title, with Ruby steaming through to be crowned Junior Girls National Champion. After beating Lowri 3-1 in the last four, Ruby faced a fierce match-up with Lily, in which she eventually ran out victorious courtesy of another 3-1 win.
In the Turner-Samuels family, Isabella claimed the bragging rights this time, as she joined Lowri on the podium with a bronze.
In the Cadet Boys event, Nye Evans was joined by Oliver Harvey in the final as both players performed brilliantly throughout. Having defeated Jayden Tang and Dylan Williams, Nye earned his first ever National title as he came out on top in a hotly contested Cadet Boys final against Oliver, who had got past Lucas Horswell and Jenson Denton-Smith to book himself into his second final of the day.
Meanwhile, Amelie David earned the title of Cadet Girls National Champion after topping her group and overcoming a tough semi-final clash with Penny Muil. Despite a strong fight from Penny, Amelie managed to hold on and clinch the victory in a thrilling fifth set, booking her place in the final where she faced yet another Turner-Samuels sister, Evelyn.
In what promised to be a closely contested match, Amelie proved her strength and skill to take a 3-1 win 3-1 and secure her title.
Alongside Penny, Jessie Daniels earned a third-placed finish.
With silver and bronze to his name, Oliver Harvey would eventually leave the Welsh National Championships with a full set thanks to a brilliant win in the Boys U13s category.
Displaying excellent form and consistency throughout the tournament, his journey to the title included impressive victories over Thomas Williams and eventual bronze medallist Jenson Denton-Smith, both of whom put up strong performances. However, Oliver remained in control, not dropping a single set in any of his matches.
Dylan Williams had a strong run to the final, defeating Stanley Jones and bronze medallist Toby Young. His semi-final match was competitive, but he stayed composed to secure his place in the final, showing skill and determination throughout the tournament.
It was also a day packed with beaming pride for the Evans family, as Ffion Evans joined her brother Nye to claim a Welsh National Championships title.
Ffion put on a brilliant performance to claim the Girls U13 title, defeating Evelyn Turner-Samuels in a tough five-set semi-final.
Jessie Daniels also impressed, reaching her first-ever final after a hard-fought win over Eloise Burnell in the semis, before Ffion proved just too much in a fantastic final.
One of the stories of the day came in the Boys U11s event, as Toby Francis-Li stormed to the title despite competing in his first national competition.
He topped a tough group where there was a countback for second position, before defeating Alfie Giles in the fifth set of their semi final, holding off his fightback from two sets down.
Freddie Dacey also topped a tough group and then defeating Rushdan in the semi-final, before losing out to Toby.
In the Girls U11s, competition was consistently intense, with many close sets. Sophie Williams won all her matches to become the Girls U11s National Champion, dropping only one set throughout. Ezgi Dion finished second, being the only player to win a set against Sophie, while Evie Gowen claimed the bronze medal.
The Doubles events provided brilliant entertainment, as well.
In the Men’s Doubles, Harry Street and Toby Harwood joined forces to claim top spot, despite coming up against the brotherly duo of Callum and Louie Evans. The pairings of Daniel Harris and Neil Cox, and Morgan Siddley and Joe Clayton claimed third place.
Finishing second and third in the Women’s Singles respectively, Charlotte Carey and Nancy Yeh formed a powerful partnership as they claimed the Women’s Doubles title. They overcame Lara Whitton and Danielle Kelly in the final, while Lilly Walters & Ruby Elliot finished third.
Callum Evans and Charlotte Carey went on to form a frightening pairing for the Mixed Doubles competition, although settled for a silver medal after dramatic, fifth-set defeat to Chris Bush and Nancy Yeh in the final.
Chris and Nancy defeated Harry Street and Lily Walters, and Harri Docherty and Lara Whitton on their way to the title, while Callum and Charlotte defeated Catherine Jones and Michael Fischetti in the semi-final to book their place in the final.
Catherine and Michael were evidently destined for bronze on the day as they also finished in third place in the Veterans’ Doubles event.
The category provided yet more great competition, as Lee Thomas and Mark Farrow came out on top. They beat Peter Gordon and Antony Williams in the final four, before overcoming John Hook and Brian Jeanes, who had knocked Catherine and Michael out at the semi-final stage.
Lowri Hurd and Toby Harwood became Junior Doubles National Champions after a hard-fought journey in which they caused a number of sibling teams heartache. They secured victories over Thomas and Josh Williams, Nye and Ffion Evans, and eventual bronze medallists Eleanor and Isabella Turner-Samuels to reach the final, where they defeated Austin Hibbert and Oliver Jordan in a thrilling five-set match.
Hibbert and Jordan also had a strong run, overcoming Jacob Davies and Oliver Harvey as well as the eventually third-placed painting of Lily Walters and Harry Street.
