The Official Website of the British No.1 and Triple European Champion
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PAUL ENJOYS RUN TO TWO QUARTER FINALS IN ENGLISH OPEN 3 Nov 2009 Paul has just finished competing in the English Open in Sheffield where he put in some good performances, having good runs in both the Mens Singles and Doubles. In the Mens Doubles, Paul and his partner, Darius Knight, reached the quarter finals, which was a great result for the lads as it was one of the strongest pro tours of the year. On their way to the quarter finals, they beat a Greek pair in the last 16 who were both ranked higher than the English pair. Paul also had a good result in the Main event, the Mens Singles. He had a bye into the first round - as the tournament was in his home nation, he received one of the seeding births. However, in the first round, he played a German who was around 30 places above him in the world ranking, currently sat at 83. Although the odds were against Paul, he played some good table tennis and overcame the German 4-0. Paul then came up against the World Number 9 from China, Chen Qi, in the last 32. Paul played some good table tennis and fought hard but unfortunately the Chinese star was just too good on the day, coming out a 4-0 winner. Paul's last event of the week was the Under-21 Singles, In the first round, he defeated an Indian 4-1, booking a place in the last 16 against Thomas Treglar, a rival of Paul's from his junior days. Although the match was suspended a day due to Paul's good run in the Mens Singles event, Paul again played some great table tennis, coming out a 4-1 winner. In the quarter final, Paul came up against another familiar face. The Korean that Paul faced was the player who defeated Paul in the World Junior Championships team event semi final. The match was very tight and both players played some exceptional table tennis but it was not meant to be on the day, with the Korean coming out a 4-1 winner. However the match seemed to be a lot closer than the result suggested. After defeating Paul, the Korean then went on to claim the Under-21 title. To top the week off, Paul and girlfirend Joanna Parker, who is also the English number one, had the honour of carrying the Queen's Baton as part of the relay leading up to the Commonwealth Games in Deli. The Batton will now travel to Twickenham on Saturday before visiting every Commonwealth nation on its way to Deli next year. Click here for photos. |
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