Abigail shakes off her injuries to triumph

SUPER: Abigail Griffith, who won the English Nationals under-11s tournament.

TABLE TENNIS:

PING-PONG princess Abigail Griffith became the first person from the North-West since 1995 to win the English Nationals under-11s tournament.

Fearless Abigail (10), who lives in Failsworth, also took on older girls in the under-12s category of the same competition in Doncaster, and finished a more than respectable joint-third.

The future looks bright for the talented table tennis star, who is seeded number one in the UK for under-11s.

Proud dad David said: “I was ecstatic to see her do so well and she was obviously delighted, not just because of the victory but because I promised her a laptop for her first tournament win!

“I didn’t think it would happen until maybe the end of the year, but I’ve always been a man of my word so she is now enjoying her new computer.

“She deserves it for all the hard work she has put in to reach this level, I’m very proud of her and long may it continue.”

Abigail shook off a string of niggling injuries to deliver her impressive performances.

David added: “It’s been one thing after another for a while now.

“She injured her knee by banging it on the desk at school, then she had a bad ankle, and just five weeks before the tournament she fell and damaged ligaments in her arm.

“This restricted Abigail to just one hour of training before she entered the tournament, which makes it an even bigger achievement.”

Abigail is ready for a well-earned break before the table tennis action gets properly under way again in September.