Lowri Hurd And Ruby Elliott Strike Gold At Home Nations

By Graham Thomas

National coach Josh Morgan believes a healthy medal tally from the Home Nations International tournament proves the future strength of Welsh table tennis will extend beyond Anna Hursey.

In a week where 17-year-old Hursey broke into the top 100 women players in the world, other Welsh youngsters underlined their protentional in Bangor at the weekend.

Led by a gold medal display from Lowri Hurd and Ruby Elliott in the junior girls’ doubles, Wales came away from Bangor with 16 medals – one gold, eight silver and seven bronze.

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The bi-annual tournament is a useful barometer of young talent pushing through among the competing nations of Wales, England, Scotland, Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.

Hursey and seven-times Welsh champion Charlotte Carey were competing overseas, but the strong results achieved by Wales at both junior (U19) and cadet (U15) level has given Morgan plenty of encouragement around future success.

“It’s always difficult to gauge success from a one-off tournament, but the team performed really well and it was a very positive weekend,” said Morgan.

“The gold medal for Lowri and Ruby probably exceeded our expectations, if we are honest. It was something of a surprise result against the English girls, but it was absolutely fully deserved.”