The Official Website of the British No.1 and Triple European Champion
Part 2 The Cadet Years and The Beginning of European Success Fast forward two years to 2004 and another six national titles (Under 12 singles and doubles, Cadet singles and doubles twice) Paul visits China for three months in 2004 and comes back a different player. Physically he is in incredible condition; Daily multi-ball with Mr. Liu and constant physical training have paid dividends - his senior club mates at home, who were on par with Paul prior to the trip, find themselves well and truly outclassed by the youngster. A major development has been the power which he can now generate in his strokes; his team mates notice a change in style. Paul has always relied on his exceptional ball feeling and anticipation - now his movement has been significantly enhanced by increased leg strength and his style is almost completely Chinese. He plays aggressively over the table, dominates with an incredibly powerful third ball attack and despite having an exceptional array of strokes on the backhand wing moves round at any given opportunity to utilise his sledgehammer forehand. The change of style and leap in standard takes him to his first National Junior (Under 18) title at the tender age of 14, where he defeats several players four years his senior en route to becoming champion; is addition to this he wins the Junior Boys Doubles title in partnership with Darius Knight. In addition to this, Paul plays in the English Top 12 competition where he is on the brink of causing the shock of the day - he finishes an incredible second to former three time Commonwealth Champion, Four times National Champion and Two time Olympian Matthew Syed. In the final he pushes the experienced Syed the full seven games and is a whisker away from taking the title, with Syed’s additional guile and experience just seeing him home. At the European Youth Championships in Budapest, Paul and Darius although seeded two behind Turkey are hot favourites to take the Cadet boys team title. They underline this when they defeat Turkey in the semi finals by a score line of 3 games to 0. Paul remains undefeated all the way to the final. Both Paul and Darius win their first two singles against there French opponents Salifou and Baubet. Surprisingly, they lose the doubles 3 - 2, then Salifou causes the upset of the competition to defeat Paul 3 - 1in the next singles. With the pressure on, Baubet plays an outstanding game to defeat Darius Knight and the title goes to the French. The start of the 2005/2006 season sees Paul confirmed as European number 1 Cadet. He dominates proceedings both domestically and on the European scene winning several European Cadet Opens and a further brace of National Titles. His number one seeding at the European Championships later that year is easily justified; he takes the singles title at the expense of his team mate Knight in the final 4 - 0. They combine too take the Gold Medal in the team event at the same competition. In 2005 there is also another landmark for the young Paul; he makes his debut for the England Senior team in there match against the Netherlands. Going on at 2 -2 and with his country needing him to win in order to qualify for the top category in the upcoming European Championships, Paul defeats the Dutchman Wiijers to clinch the last qualifying spot demonstrating incredible maturity under pressure. 2006 sees Paul established as an important member of the England Senior team as well as being the backbone of the Junior team. He again wins the singles and doubles titles at the Junior National Championships but has to retire injured in his quarter final match against Alex Perry in the National Senior Championships. He represents England in the Commonwealth Games in Australia, and partnered by the now Veteran Alan Cooke just misses out on a bronze medal after losing to a Nigerian pairing in the Men’s Doubles competition. Paul’s game is now radically advanced for his age; he plays with the spin and power of a top Senior player and on his day is already a match for the very best in the world. He begins to take top world ranked seniors close, displaying his true potential in ITTF Pro Tour events around the globe. |