UCLan hosts major table tennis event

15 December 2016

Olympic Silver medallists Germany beat England at Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre

England faced Germany this week at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) as the Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre hosted a European Championship qualifying table tennis match.

Germany were too good in the end for the England Leopards women who lost the tie 3-0 overall in nine matches.  The visitors are three time European Champions and were Olympic Silver medallists in the Rio 2016 Games with world number 6 Shan Xiaona included in the team.

Big hitters from the England squad included Commonwealth Games medallists Tin-Tin Ho and Kelly Sibley.

Martin Baines, Manager of UCLan’s Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre, said: “We are proud and delighted to host this prestigious event.  It allowed us to bring some of the best table tennis players in the world to Preston for our local community to see world-class athletes in action on their doorstep.  It was a great advert for table tennis at its very best.”

"We are proud and delighted to host this prestigious event. It allowed us to bring some of the best table tennis players in the world to Preston for our local community to see world-class athletes in action on their doorstep."

UCLan is no stranger to international table tennis. It has already hosted two Junior National Competitions, acted as a pre-Olympic training facility for the Australian and American teams prior to the London 2012 Olympic Games and hosted an international fixture between England and Australia ahead of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014.

Table Tennis England Chief Executive Sara Sutcliffe said: “The Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre has a track record of delivering first-class table tennis events and we were therefore delighted to return here for this key fixture.”

View images from the event on the UCLan Flickr gallery.