A year to remember for Silcocks – Jersey Evening Post

Teenage table tennis sensation Hannah Silcock said her nomination for the Rising Star award at the 2022 Betway CI Sports Awards came as a big surprise.

Silcock (pictured below) has certainly had a year to remember.

As well as becoming the U15 British Home Nations Champion and the U18 British Schools Champion, he represented Jersey at the Commonwealth Games and reached the round of 32 where he was eventually beaten by Tin-Tin Ho after winning two matches against the England No.1. .

Silcock also competed in several European events and finished the year representing well-known Bretagne club Hennenbont in the French league.

It was wonderful to be nominated, Silcock said. 2022 was probably my biggest and most challenging year yet. I played a lot of table tennis and the head of GB Youth table tennis had also challenged me to get more European experience so I started competing on the World Table Tennis tour in Europe.

The level was really high, but I managed to move into the top 50 in the world at the U15 level.

Another great experience was qualifying for the European Youth Championships in the summer in Belgrade. I managed to reach the last 32 U15 girls singles events. But the highlight of the tournament was teaming up with England’s Larry Trumpasuskas and beating the Romanian top seeds in the last 32 series. [doubles] tournament.

However, the highlight of Silcock’s year was undoubtedly his experience at Birmingham.

The level was insanely high but it was great to get away with some wins in the singles and mixed doubles, the 15-year-old added. I really enjoyed playing with Jordan Wykes in the mixed doubles and it was great to get a 3-1 win against the popular Cypriot pair in the semi-final of 64. I managed to have two matches on the pitch and the BBC streamed my matches live. Against Tin-Tin. It was a really scary atmosphere, but the support from the Jersey crowd was huge and I was happy to be able to compete against him and give him something to think about at 2-2.

The opening and closing ceremonies were brilliant and I was amazed at how many people saw me interviewed live at the opening. The noise from the crowd was really loud, but it was a wonderful memory that should not be taken from the Games.

With GSCEs a priority for the JCG pupil, Silcock may not be as active in 2023, but he is still looking to progress in his sport and wants to be among the gold medalists at this year’s Island Games in Guernsey.

It’s an important year because I’m sitting my GCSEs in May and June, he

explained. But I will continue to train hard and compete in tournaments in the UK and France. Playing more table tennis in France at the end of last year in Hennenbont… I’ve really enjoyed the change of scenery and hope it helps with my GCSE French.

But my main focus this year is the Island Games. I’ve never competed in the Island Games before, so I’m looking forward to the new experience. We are taking a strong team to Guernsey in July and it will be 16 years since I competed that week.

I couldn’t have imagined the kind of success I achieved last year. It’s been great to be able to compete and win awards, but now it’s time to draw the line under 2022 and start setting new goals for 2023.