Anna Hursey Sits Out Long Wait For Return To China

Welsh table tennis prodigy Anna Hursey has been unable to return to her Chinese training base because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The teenager – who rose to prominence in 2018 when she competed at the Commonwealth Games at the age of just 11 – moved to China last year to train full-time alongside top-quality players.

Carmarthen-born Hursey’s mother Phoebe is Chinese and the 13-year-old speaks Mandarin.

She was living and training in the city of Harbin in Heilongjiang province with her mother and father Laurence, an Englishman.

But Hursey returned to Europe to compete in several tournaments, including the Welsh National Championships, and now is waiting to discover when she can return to China.

“The plan was to go back to China in early April,” said Laurence.

 

@annaLhursey @walesTT @Gareth38920729 @ptangerines @Diccongray @Lowpj @InterHighED @NealeDenis Anna is inspring Peterborough community kids to take on TT at Archway Peterborough TT club on the 3rd day ! pic.twitter.com/TA19DfsmtQ

— Anna Hursey Table Tennis (@annaLhursey) March 5, 2020

“But what’s gone on, and the way it’s happened so quickly, we’re here and don’t know when we’ll be able to go back to China.

“It was the right decision to move to China. She loves it out there and her game has really improved.”

Hursey made headlines at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in Australia.

At the age of 11, she became Wales’ youngest ever senior international in any sport.

Hursey, currently ranked number one in Wales for Under-15s and second for seniors, has based herself in Peterborough as she waits on her return to China.

She had been training with the club’s top seniors for up to eight hours a day before the virus crisis forced the club to close its doors.

Hursey’s upcoming schedule had included International Table Tennis Federations events in Thailand and China, while the European Youth Championship were due to be held in Croatia in July.