19-year-old Isle of Wight table tennis player Ryan Cates has achieved the best mainland result of his career after reaching the final of the Burgess Hill 2-Star Tournament at the weekend, earning around 50 valuable national ranking points.
Competing against a strong field that included experienced senior players and international opposition, Ryan produced a series of impressive performances to reach the final of the morning event.
His run included a notable 3-1 semi-final victory over Ryan Farthing, an established Senior British League A Division player, before facing Tunisian international Bourass Aboubaker in the final. Aboubaker, 25, has previously been ranked as high as World No 126.
Although Ryan was beaten 3-0 in the final, the Isle of Wight player pushed his vastly more experienced opponent hard, with 2 of the 3 games going to deuce.
The success continued in the afternoon competition, where Ryan secured three more victories before narrowly losing 3-1 to the tournament’s second seed. The match was much closer than the scoreline suggests, with Ryan level at one game apiece and leading 10-8 in the third game before his opponent fought back.
Ryan said:
“I lost 3-0 in the final, but I was really happy with how I played. My opponent is a very talented player, so to have two games go to deuce against someone of his quality was really pleasing.
“I gained around 50 ranking points from the tournament, which is a significant step in the right direction and gives me a lot of confidence going forward.”
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