CRA’s Table Tennis success

Student Ella Pashley was crowned U21 English National Champion in Kettering on Saturday 17 May at the Mark Bates Ltd Junior & Under-21 National Championships. A remarkable achievement at any time, and Ella is also in the middle of her GCSEs.

Table Tennis scholars from CRA also enjoyed competing at the Butterfly National Schools Championships recently. The Butterfly National Schools Championships, organised by Table Tennis England, took place at WV Active Wolverhampton on 26th and 27th April 2025. The weekend event featured individual age-category singles competitions on the Saturday, followed by team events on the Sunday.

Students Ella and Ryan both earned their places at the national finals through the county qualifying rounds and competed on the Saturday. Ella, fresh from representing the England Senior Women’s team at a major international competition in Manchester, successfully defended her title in the Under-16 Girls category. Meanwhile, Ryan, seeded ninth in his event, delivered an outstanding series of performances to reach the semi-finals. He secured a bronze medal in an age group in which he still has two more years of eligibility - a remarkable achievement and a promising sign for the future.

On Sunday, the CRA Under-16 boys’ team - Abraham, Harrison, Ryan, Tudor, and Adam - also enjoyed tremendous success, retaining their U16 boys’ team national title in style. They won all their matches in the final round-robin stage, winning against top schools including Tudor Grange (Warwickshire) and London Academy (Edgware), both by 7–1 margins, and The Reading School (5–3), with Tudor winning the final match to clinch the title.

Their journey to the finals saw them overcome strong opposition, with earlier wins against Bradford Grammar School, St Mary’s College (Hull), The King’s (The Cathedral) School (Peterborough), and St George’s Catholic School (London).

Following the Butterfly National Schools Championships, Ella, a student at CRA, commented: “I am really happy to retain my title. I had a close game in the semi-final but managed to come through it and play well in the final to win.”

Ryan, also a student from CRA, said: “I was really pleased with the way I played and really happy with the results I achieved for myself and the school.”

Natalie Green, Head of Table Tennis for DRET and CRA, said: “We are so proud of our table tennis scholars! This is a fantastic result for them, for CRA and for DRET. Congratulations to everyone involved.”