Anna_Hursey

Anna Hursey

Anna Hursey

Welsh table tennis player (born 2006)

Anna Hursey (born 22 June 2006)[1] is a Welsh table tennis player. She is thought to be the youngest person to represent Wales at senior level in any sport, having been aged just 10 when she competed for Wales in a European Championship qualification match against Kosovo in 2017.[2]

Quick Facts Born, Welsh National Championships ...

Hursey competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, and the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, United Kingdom, where she came third in the women's doubles event.

Personal life

Hursey was born in Carmarthen, Wales,[3] and attended Cardiff High School.[4] She left Cardiff High School after Year 8.[5] Hursey's mother is Chinese,[3] and in 2019, Hursey moved to Tianjin, China to take up table tennis full-time.[4][5] She is a United Nations ambassador for climate change in sport, and in 2021, Hursey spoke with US President Joe Biden about climate change.[6]

Career

Hursey began playing table tennis at the age of five.[1][7] In 2017, Hursey, aged 10, competed for Wales in a European Championship qualification match against Kosovo. In doing so, she is believed to be the youngest person to represent Wales at senior level in any sport.[7][8] In the same year, she competed at the 2017 World Cadet Challenge.[9] She competed for Wales at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.[1][7] She was the youngest competitor in Commonwealth Games history.[6] Hursey was nominated for the 2018 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award, which was won by Kare Adenegan.[10]

After the 2020 Welsh National Championships, in which Hursey finished second to Charlotte Carey,[4] she was unable to return to China as the Chinese borders were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3][4] She instead trained in Peterborough, England.[3] Hursey has been ranked the number one ranked Welsh under-15 woman, and number two ranked Welsh woman of any age.[3][5] At the 2021 ITTF World Youth Championships, Hursey and Portugal's Matilde Pinto came third in the under-15 girls' doubles event.[11]

Hursey was selected in the Wales team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games;[12][13] Hursey and Charlotte Carey came third in the women's doubles event at the Games, the first time that Welsh women had won a Commonwealth Games table tennis medal.[14] She was part of the Wales team that finished fourth in the women's team competition,[14] and she lost in the quarter-finals of the women's singles event.[15]

References

  1. [1]
    "Commonwealth Games 2018: Wales name 11-year-old Anna Hursey in squad". BBC Sport. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  2. [2]
    Alao, Lola (28 July 2022). "Who is Anna Hursey? All eyes on teen table tennis sensation at Commonwealth Games". The Evening Standard. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  3. [3]
    "China return in the air for table tennis prodigy Anna Hursey". Express & Star. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  4. [4]
    "Anna Hursey: Welsh table tennis prodigy waits on China return because of coronavirus". BBC Sport. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  5. [5]
    "The 13-year-old girl from Cardiff who has moved to China to become a table tennis star". Wales Online. 13 November 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  6. [6]
    "President Joe Biden asks Anna Hursey, 14, for climate advice". BBC News. 25 February 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  7. [7]
    "Anna Hursey, 11, to represent Wales at 2018 Commonwealth Games". Sony ESPN. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  8. [8]
    "Table tennis star Anna Hursey, 10, sets Wales record". BBC News. 31 March 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  9. [9]
    "Morning to forget for Team Europe". International Table Tennis Federation. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  10. [10]
    "BBC Young Sports Personality 2018: Kare Adenegan wins award". BBC Sport. 21 October 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  11. [11]
    "ITTF World Youth Championships: U15 Girls Doubles". International Table Tennis Federation. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  12. [12]
    "CGW are pleased to announce the 2022 Women's Table Tennis team". Commonwealth Games Wales. 11 May 2022. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  13. [13]
    Moore, Shaun (11 May 2022). "Team Wales: Women's Table Tennis players announced". Sunshine Radio. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  14. [14]
    "Table tennis duo claim Wales' last medal of 2022 Commonwealth Games as star breaks down in tears". Wales Online. 8 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  15. [15]
    "Women's Singles - Quarter-Final 3". 2022 Commonwealth Games. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
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