Cippenham player Rachael Iles crowned inaugural National Series u19s champion

Rachael Iles receiving her trophy from Table Tennis England director, Jos Kelly. Photo: Table Tennis England

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Cippenham player Rachael Iles saw off competition from the best u19s players in the country - including a few from her own club - as she was crowned inaugural National Series champion this week.

Iles was the most consistent player, winning seven of her eight matches across the fourth and final weekend of the competition.

Clubmates Mia Lakhani finished third and Anna Piercey sixth in a strong showing from Cippenham in the Division 1 competition.

Cippenham's Sai Prasanna Kumar was also victorious in his u13s Division 2 competition, seeing off his closest rival Taha Shamakh by the smallest of margins.

Iles received her trophy from Table Tennis England's director, Jos Kelly, after winning seven of her eight matches to finish a point above runner up Anjali Singh at Joola Plymouth TTC.

The boys u19s event was won by Max Radiven while Soraya Rahmani-Walentynska and Jake Davidson claimed the top prize in the u15s boys’ and girls’ competitions.

Amber Lemmon and Rishaan Sawant took the titles in the u13s competition.

Singh was the one player who managed to get the better of Iles in the competition, and she comfortably beat her 3-0 (13-11, 11-8, 11-4).

However, Singh couldn't match Iles consistency in her other matches, losing 3-2 to Alyssa Nguyen 3-2 (8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 11-2) and 3-0 to Lianna Shilani Tousi 3-0 (11-9, 11-5, 11-4).

Iles was also pushed all the way by Shilani Tousi but she recovered from being 2-1 down to win 3-2 (7-11, 11-2, 6-11, 11-2, 11-6).

No other opponent was able to take her beyond a fourth game as she pipped Singh for the title.

Despite testing Iles and defeating Singh, Tousi finished up off the podium in fourth place thanks to the form of Iles Cippenham teammate Mia Lakhani.

Lakhani finished third on countback ahead of Tousi who squeezed home in fourth ahead of Nguyen despite all three players finishing with five wins and three defeats.

Lakhani claimed third in the main thanks to a brilliant comeback victory over Nguyen, winning 3-2 having been 2-0 down (7-11, 9-11, 13-11, 11-5, 11-8). She also got the better of Luna Archard 15-13 in a deciding fifth game - those victories a testament to her character and ability to play well under real pressure.

In other notable matches, Singh defeated Lakhani and Iles' Cippenham clubmate Anna Piercey 14-12 in the fifth, while Piercey was victorious in a deciding fifth game on four occasions against Archard, Parmis Ahsani, Mille Noble and Shilani Tousi.

In the u13s Division 2 competition, Sai Prasanna Kumar finished just above Taha Shamakh at the top of the table after both players finished with five wins and one defeat.

Kumar’s defeat came against Zacharia Sarri, who battled back from being 2-0 down to beat him 3-2 (7-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9).

Kumar ultimately took the title thanks to a 3-1 victory over Shamakh. Sai was also tested by third placed Mustafa Ibrahim, but came through to win in five (8-11, 12-10, 12-14, 13-11, 11-6). Sarri finished fourth overall.