Table tennis player Sienna Jetha enjoyed a golden double at the Mark Bates Ltd Cadet and U17 and Junior National Championships.
The 13-year-old Watford player had a busy weekend at the championships, competing in all three age categories at the University of Nottingham, in both singles and doubles. Singles competitions included group and knockout stages, while doubles were straight knockout.
She successfully defended the cadet girls’ doubles title, alongside partner Naomi Coker, and tasted singles glory in the Under-17 category – as well as picking up two silvers.
In the cadet (Under-15) doubles, top seeds Jetha and Coker had few alarms in the early rounds and completed their defence thanks to a 3-0 (12-10, 11-6, 11-8) victory over Jonabel Taguibao and Isabella Turner-Samuels in the final.
Jetha was seeded fourth in the Under-17 girls’ singles but reached the final by knocking out the second seed Maliha Baig in the semi-finals, withstanding a fine comeback by her opponent to win 3-2 (11-6, 11-6, 10-12, 7-11, 11-9).
In the final, she posted a 3-1 (11-5, 8-11, 11-5, 11-4) victory against sixth seed Ella Pashley.
Jetha also reached the cadet girls’ singles final, in which she was the top seed. She faced her doubles partner Coker, seeded fourth, and was stunned as Coker won 3-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-9).
Her final medal came in the junior (Under-19) girls’ doubles, in which she and partner Saskia Key reached the final with a superb 3-2 (11-8, 9-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8) victory over top seeds Mari Baldwin and Lauren Loosemore, coming from 5-1 down in the deciding set.
In the final, they faced sisters Anna and Erin Green, who won the title by a 3-1 (14-12, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8) scoreline, leaving Jetha and Key to settle for silver.
Jetha was unfortunate not to progress from the group stage in the junior girls’ singles as she went out on countback after she, Erin Green and Jonabel Taguibao had all won two matches apiece in their four-player group.
Jetha said: “It’s mostly been good, apart from the Cadet Singles final. But I focused on the next match and forgot that had happened.
“Naomi and I get along really well and communicate really well, so in between points we were planning what we needed to do and what we could do better.”
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