Watford table tennis talent wins two titles at Schools National Finals

The 13-year-old from Watford was third seed in the under-16 girls’ singles but she beat the top two seeds on her way to winning the title.

Having got through the group stage and early knockout rounds with no alarms, Jetha overcame second seed Ella Pashley 3-1 (11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 13-11) in the semi-finals.

In the final, she faced top seed Tianer Yu, 16, and played a controlled match to win 3-0 (12-10, 11-7, 11-9).

Esther Lam (bronze), Tianer Yu (silver), Sienna Jetha, Ella Pashley (bronze) with Table Tennis England Chairperson Sandra Deaton. (Image: Alan Man)

The second day of the two-day event in Wolverhampton saw the team events, and Jetha helped her school, London Academy, to win the under-16 girls’ competition.

They defeated Toot Hill School from Nottingham 8-0 and Wade Deacon High School Widnes 7-1 to set up a decider against defending champions St George’s Catholic School.

St George’s twice took the lead at 1-0 and 2-1 but, helped by two victories for Jetha, London Academy turned it around with five wins on the trot to complete a 6-2 scoreline and take the Mick Betts Memorial Cup.

Joining Jetha in the squad were Alisha Dutta, Mauli Shah and Tadeea Aparaschivei.

Jetha said: “It feels really good. My expectation coming in was to get far into the competition and I’m really pleased with how I did.

“I’ve had so much help from all my coaches, everyone at London Academy and my parents.”

Jetha will this weekend play at the Mark Bates Ltd Cadet, Under-17 and Junior National Championships, organised by Table Tennis England.

She is top seed in the Cadets and fourth in the Under-17s and will also play doubles competitions.

She added: “I feel a lot more confident after this tournament and how I performed.”