Anna Hursey’s Rise Tipped To Take Welsh Olympian To The Very Top After Stunning European Success

Anna Hursey has been backed to fulfill her huge potential by becoming a Welsh world champion.

The table tennis star – still only 18 - became the first Welsh athlete to compete in the sport at an Olympic Games when she represented Great Britain in the women’s singles in Paris last year.

That followed her dramatic surge into the world’s top 100 in the months leading up to the Games at the age of 17.

Now, following her recent stunning success in claiming a double European U21 title, Gavin Evans, director of performance development for Great Britain Table Tennis, has predicted Hursey is heading for the very top.

On the eve of this year's World Championships in Doha, which begin on May 17, Hursey is attempting to lift her global ranking which currently stands at 77.

The Cardiff-raised Hursey recently clinched the European Under-21 singles title in Bratislava, defeating Ukraine’s Veronika Matiunina 4-1 in the final. 

The Team Wales Commonwealth Games medalist also secured the women’s doubles title alongside Germany’s Mia Griesel, dispatching the defending champions from Romania, 3-0.

That double triumph marked her fifth consecutive international gold medal, crowning a remarkable rise in form over the past two months.

Evans said: “Anna’s placed her trust in the GB programme and the programme we have set for her, and it’s given her the confidence to go out and perform.

“I genuinely believe Anna has all the ingredients in her game and set-up to be a European Senior champion and win a World Championship medal one day.

“It’s also exciting that she’s got three more goes at this competition, and Connor Green has as well – he reached the last 16 in the singles and was very close to winning a medal in the doubles.”

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Hursey became the first Welsh athlete to win a European title. 

The victory continued a rich vein of form for Hursey, stretching back to the beginning of April, when she won three successive golds in WTT Youth Contender and Youth Star Contender events in Serbia and France – beating the world No 3 Junior on her way to winning the third title.

She then translated her success to the Senior ranks, winning the women’s singles at WTT Feeder Manchester as sixth seed, dropping only one set all competition.

The successes have catapulted her to No 4 Junior (U19) in the world and No 77 on the Senior list.

Hursey, who is part of the GB performance programme based in Sheffield, now heads to the World Championships in Doha, which begin on Saturday 17 May. 

Also competing at the Worlds are English trio Liam Pitchford, Tom Jarvis and Connor Green.
The GB programme moved to Sheffield last year and draws on the best talents – athletes and support staff – from all the Home Nations.

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Evans added: “It enables greater performance, and the new centre supports athletes to be truly professional.

“Table Tennis Wales have also trusted the programme and have enabled GB to run Anna’s programme. 

“When the Home Nations work together and are aligned and trust each other to deliver in their space of expertise, you can get amazing results. 

“Anna’s success is testament to the work she’s done and the team has done – and it is a team effort, with the sports psychology and strength and conditioning support in our partnership with Sheffield Hallam University.

“What Anna is doing is giving belief to other athletes coming through. 

“She leads from the front with incredible professional behaviours - we’re lucky to have such a professional athlete leading the way for the other athletes coming through.

“To have an under-21 double European champion in the programme gives that belief. It shows that if you’re committed to the programme and you are professional and believe in yourself, everything is possible.”

Table Tennis Wales CEO Owen Rodgers said: "I'm 100 per cent behind what Gavin and the performance team are doing and it's proving to be very successful.

"The continuity of coaching is key and producing amazing results for Wales and Great Britain."

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