"I did alright!" Skegness' Tom Jarvis wins emotional first senior national singles title
Skegness table tennis ace Tom Jarvis won an emotional first men’s singles senior national title, defeating fellow England international Sam Walker to claim gold at the Mark Bates Ltd Senior National Championships.
The 22-year-old recovered from a slow start and then held off a comeback to beat Walker 4-2 (3-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-4, 3-11, 11-6).
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A timeout in the second game, when Jarvis saw a 9-4 lead whittled away to 9-8, proved a crucial intervention as Jarvis’ father Dave, who was in his coaching corner, found the right words to help arrest the slide.
Jarvis was almost lost for words after the final, saying: “I knew I could win, but I didn’t get the start I wanted.
"In the end, I did alright!”
“At the timeout, I just wanted to talk to my dad, he knows nothing about table tennis.
"He said ‘come on son, you can do it’, so I did.
"I want to thank my mum and dad who have been here, I couldn’t do it without them.”
For good measure, Jarvis – this time alongside Walker – won the men’s doubles title as well.
The pair beat Chris Doran and Joe Ferguson 3-2 (11-5, 9-11, 9-11, 11-2, 11-5) in a pulsating final.