Youngsters represent Bolton Wanderers Community Trust with pride at the
2011 Fred Perry Table Tennis Urban Cup Finals
Premier League, Fred Perry and ETTA nationwide table tennis initiative reaches its climax
5 December, 2011: Young table tennis stars representing Bolton Wanderers Community Trust took part in the 2011 Fred Perry Table Tennis Urban Cup Finals at London’s Business Design Centre on Saturday, taking on 19 other teams from Premier League clubs around the country.
Bolton Wanderers two boys and two girls – Macaulay Farrington, Sam Walker, Samantha Gill and Poppy Haslam - finished the day with an impressive 17 points. The Wigan Athletic team were the overall victors, narrowly beating Arsenal in the final, with Hull City taking third place.
In the boys division, Arsenal were victorious over runners-up Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers. Portsmouth were triumphant in the girls division over second-placed Manchester City, with Norwich City’s young stars in third.
The Fred Perry Urban Cup, an initiative partnered by the Premier League, Fred Perry and the English Table Tennis Association (ETTA), gives 120,000 kids aged 11-14 across urban areas of the country the chance to try out table tennis for the first time this year. Saturday’s Urban Cup Finals in London saw the top 100 kids representing every Premier League club battle it out for the 2011 title.
Bolton Wanderers PL4S manager Nicol Meredith said: “Our youngsters played superbly and really showed of the talent they had which was due to regular attendance at their local satellite club session .We are already looking forward to coming back to next year’s Fred Perry Urban Cup Finals.”
Darius Knight, GB table tennis star and Fred Perry Urban Cup ambassador, was on hand to support the finalists and inspire the next generation of table tennis stars.
Darius said: “There was some great table tennis talent at this year’s Fred Perry Urban Cup Finals. I definitely spotted some stars of the future and it is through initiatives like this we will see more and more youngsters taking up the sport. Congratulations to everyone taking part in today’s finals and well done to the promising kids from Bolton Wanderers.”
Richard Martin, Director of Marketing at Fred Perry, said: “This year’s Urban Cup was bigger and better than ever and Fred Perry is extremely proud to have partnered with the Premier League and ETTA to give so many kids the opportunity to play table tennis. Congratulations go to Bolton Wanderers youngsters for a very impressive performance today. Fred Perry himself was a table tennis world champion in 1929 so we are really excited to see the popularity of the sport continuing to grow and look forward to the next edition of the Urban Cup.”