West Norfolk's Mollie claims gold

West Norfolk table tennis ace Mollie Patterson enjoyed the perfect weekend at the Junior National Cup by winning all nine matches to take the gold medal.

The Brancaster Staithe youngster was top seed for the event, which sees 10 of the highest-ranked young players in England invited to play each other on a round-robin basis.

Patterson lost only three games in winning her five matches on the first day in Enfield, and she won her next two 4-0 on the second morning.

It left her destiny in her own hands, ahead of her final two matches against the third and second seeds.

In the first of those, she faced her biggest test as opponent Sarah Menghistab twice came from behind to lead 3-2.

Patterson levelled by taking the sixth game 11-3, but the decider was tense as both girls had match points before Patterson won it 14-12.

She faced second seed Megan Gidney in the last match, knowing defeat would see her opponent leapfrog her into top spot, and Patterson trailed 2-1.

But she upped her game to take the next three games to seal the title.

Patterson, who trains at the Grantham College Table Tennis Academy, said: “I’m really pleased to have won gold this year after getting bronze and silver at this event in the last couple of years.

“I tried to feel no pressure and go into every match the same and beat the player in front of me.

“I just tried to stay cool and relaxed and play my game and in the difficult moments have belief in myself and confidence in my abilities.

“I’ve got a couple more years at this level so, hopefully, more golds to come.”