Academy table tennis players up their game!

Dartmouth Academy table tennis players participated in the Devon Individual Table Tennis Championships; a high standard of competition that was held at Eggbuckland Community College on 11th February. There were around 250 entries across three age groups with the winner from each entry going on to represent Devon County. Dartmouth travelled to Eggbuckland with six players, all of whom have committed to table tennis inside and outside of school in order to prepare for these types of competition. Ollie Smith (Year 9), Tommy Stewart (Year 10), Tom Daw (Year 9), Adam Callard (Year 9) and Tyler Grimes (Year 9) were all entered for the Under 16 category. Four of the boys battled it out for five games against other opponents but fell short of the hurdle and were knocked out in the group stage, despite winning some of their games. Ollie Smith played with real maturity and advanced to the final round of 16 where he came up against noticeably competent players from the very successful Joola Plymouth Table Tennis Club. He managed to claim a few winning points but was beaten 2-0 in games. Abby Peeke (Year 7) played in the Under 13s category, winning one of her four games in the group stage. She managed to hold other players to three game matches. All players can come away proud of their achievements at the Academy's first visit to this high level of competition. It is also worth noting that they will all be within the same age category again next year and with another year's experience, we are sure they will make further progress. The next event in the Academy's Table Tennis calendar is the School Games County Final, which our Year 9 team have reached. This will take place in March and we wish them the very best.