A PAIR of Vale of Clwyd sporting stars are really Hungary for success!
In their penultimate season as juniors in table tennis terms, Denbigh’s Angharad and Megan Phillips have been as busy as ever.
The last four months have seen the twins take part in an increasing number of European tournaments and competitions.
As part of their development, the Phillips’ sisters now play for a club team in the Premier Division of the Hungarian league system. Hungary is traditionally one of the strongest countries in Europe for female table tennis and consequently, Angharad and Megan are regularly coming up against highly-ranked world players.
Over the last couple of months, they have also been involved in other competitions on the continent.
Angharad played for Wales in the European Championships in Poland and also in Helsinki during the Finland Open.
Meanwhile, Megan represented her country in the German Open and earlier this month she was in Tavira for the Portugal Open.
In all of these tournaments, both sisters gained notable victories against opponents who were far higher ranked in the world.
On the domestic front, success has continued in the two major league events in Britain.
Halfway through the season in the Premier Division of the British Junior league, the team of Angharad, Megan, Charlotte Carey and Chloe Thomas lie in first position.
Angharad can boast a 100 per cent record having won all eight of her matches.
The Phillips’ girls also represent the Widnes-based Halton Table Tennis Club in the Premier Division of the British Women’s League.
With half of the season to go, their team lies in fourth position in the high-quality six-team division, with Megan having the best win-loss ratio.
DHS Greenhouse Progress are favourites to win the Premier League, having won all five of their matches to date, but their closest match so far was a narrow 4-2 win over Halton.
Angharad defeated Tin Tin Ho 11-7, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6 to give Halton a 1-0 lead, while Megan handed Evangeline Collier her only three-game loss of the season so far, with an 11-5, 12-10, 11-7 card.
Halton’s best result in the first half of the season was their 4-2 success versus Poole Ladies.
Megan was too strong for Sanja Clements and Michele Reeves, while Angharad saw off the challenges from Clements and Emma Rose.
There has also been a tight 3-3 draw for Halton against Knighton Park.
As things stand, Halton are only two points adrift of third placed Thorntons with five matches left to play.
In recent one-off competitions, Angharad won the team event - alongside Lincolnshire’s Emily Bates - in the Stockton 4* tournament and was also a finalist in the individual event.
Angharad also won band 1 of the Medway Grand Prix in Gillingham, beating England’s number two junior Yolanda King in the final.
Meanwhile, in the senior home nations event, where Wales finished third, Angharad had the best win-loss ratio of the Welsh players and reached the quarter-finals of the singles event before losing to Olympic squad member, Hannah Hicks from England.
Angharad and Megan will now enjoy a well earned break over the Christmas holidays before embarking on a two-pronged attack towards, hopefully, success on the table tennis table as well as in their A levels.