Mum’s the word for table tennis hotshot
Regional finals winner Mitchell follows mother’s success
HAREFIELD Academy table tennis hotshot Mitchell Jones is following in his mother’s footsteps
Jones, whose mother Sara was one of England’s top players in the sport, emerged victorious from the Jack Petchey Foundation regional finals of the singles competition hosted by Capital City Academy, in Willesden.
The competition brought together teams from schools in Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon and Hounslow.
The boys U19s category was won by Jones, aged 17, who won the same competition last year and was in the winning team in the finals played at the end of last month at UEL’s SportsDock.
Jones has been playing for nine years, the last five competitively, and the sport is in his blood.
He said “The final was tough in particular against Danny Lewis.
“We play and train at the same school so we know each other’s game inside out. I perhaps have a 60-40 advantage in matches played, but they are always very close.
“This time the match went to five and Danny led 9-7 in the 5th, but I managed to just take the win 12-10.”
Jones plays for Middlesex and also played for England Schools last year in Sardinia, where the team came sixth.
He would like to progress to playing professionally for a club in the European league.
Fellow Harefield Academy pupil Ben Naylor-Smith, aged 15, finished runner-up to winner Curtis Welsh in the boys U16s section.
The Jack Petchey London Schools’ Table Tennis Championships is a prestigious event aimed at increasing participation and awareness of table tennis in London Schools.
It includes individual and team competitions and all winners progress to the Jack Petchey London School’s singles finals, being held on Saturday, June 20.
The project also includes the donation of indoor and outdoor table tennis tables, which is also helping to bring more girls into the sport. Over four years, 1,000 table tennis tables have been donated to London schools and 21,000 players have taken part in the competitions.
For further information about the scheme, visit www. londonschoolstabletennis.co.uk.