Kind spearheads historic Sussex triumph

The 16-year-old table tennis starlet from Hastings won 13 of her 14 singles matches at Wood Green High School, Wednesbury, Birmingham.

Having thrashed Hampshire, Kent and Yorkshire all 10-0 on the first weekend, Sussex overpowered Hampshire 10-0, Essex 9-1, Middlesex 9-1 and Cleveland 6-4.

King was unbeaten until the last match against Cleveland, although playing Essex she struggled against the short pimpled back hand of Ifi Okafor before scraping through 13-15, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8.

Her only loss was against England no.2 Karina Le Fevre (Cleveland) in the last match, 8-11, 8-11, 11-9, 9-11. It was a very close encounter and the score stood at 8-8 in all three games that King lost.

In her other singles, King, a member of the Cranbrook-based Weald Table Tennis Club, had a good 11-8, 11-4, 11-2 win over the off-form current national junior champion Chloe Whyte.

Chelsea Furnival (Hollington TTC) was also part of the triumphant squad, while Rose Rainton (Hollington) and Ritchie Venner (Saints) represented the Sussex team which came second in the Senior Premier Division.

Paul Barry (Hollington), Nick Standen (Hollington), Martin Kellaway (Tigers) and Sheila King (Tigers), meanwhile, helped Sussex II finish second in Veteran Division 2B following a 5-5 draw against Buckinghamshire in Horsham.

The full article will appear in Friday’s Hastings Observer.