8 Feb 2011 On Saturday four youngsters representing Bolton Wanderers Community Trust competed in the Fred Perry Table Tennis Urban Cup finals at London’s Business Design Centrefinishing in 3rd position.
An initiative launched by the Premier League and Fred Perry that has seen 100,000 girls and boys aged 11-14 try table tennis over the past three months –wearing their Premier League club kit – the four youngsters had reached the final 80 competitors in the country. The four Bolton Wanderers supporters who qualified for the Urban Cup finals were Cameron Lawson aged 14, David Naylor aged 13, Shannon Gill aged 14 and also Shaungh O’Donnell aged 14, all of which are pupils at Bolton St Catherine’s Academy and Thornleigh Salesian College.
Pictured below:
Shaungh O'Donnell, aged 14
School: Thornleigh Salesian College
Shannon Gill, aged 14
School: Thornleigh Salesian College
David Naylor, aged 13
School: Bolton St Catherine's Academy
Cameron Lawson, aged 14
School: Bolton St Catherine's Academy
Project Coordinator Nicol Meredith who lead the team to the finals stated, “The Fred Perry Urban Cup is a fantastic competition and really appealing to young people. I was extremely proud of all four people that competed. The Premier League 4Sport project had supported the growth of table tennis and it is excellent to see young people compete and represent our club and their school”.
The overall winners of the Fred Perry Urban Cup were Manchester United, mirroring their football team’s success on the pitch this season. For the boys’ title, Blackburn Rovers youngsters Jack Ellison and Adam Robinson edged out Manchester United boys Lars Cretier and Hal Dwobeng. In the girls’ division, Portsmouth’s Emma-Leigh Marlow and Jessica Boden were victorious, with Manchester United’s Mia Pemberton and Lamara Hines finishing second. In the overall combined boys and girls table, however, the Manchester United quartet was a class apart and took home the Fred Perry Urban Cup.
The Fred Perry Urban Cup, led by iconic sports fashion label Fred Perry which is in partnership with the Premier League 4 Sport (PL4S) programme, the English Table Tennis Association (ETTA) and Sport England’s Sportsmatch initiative saw all 20 Premier League clubs link with regional table tennis community clubs encourage and inspire youngsters to get involved in table tennis. Over 100,000 youngsters aged 11-14 across the country were given the chance to try their hand at the sport over the past three months, with four from each Premier League club – 2 girls and 2 boys – qualifying to represent their team at the Urban Cup finals last Saturday.
Richard Martin, Head of Global Marketing at Fred Perry, said: “The Fred Perry Urban Cup has proven to be an enormous success in previous years, but with the new association with the Premier League now in place we have been able to take the competition to the next level. Engaging over 100,000 youngsters with the scheme this year is an incredible achievement.”
Watching the action un-fold and mentoring the finalists on Saturday was 20 year-old English international table tennis star Darius Knight.
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Darius said: “I was amazed at some of the table tennis talent on show on Saturday at the Fred Perry Urban Cup finals. Congratulations to all of the boys and girls who qualified for the finals. It’s great to see so many kids being given the chance to play the sport that I love; if they keep at it they might find themselves playing for England one day too!”