British star Paul Drinkhall claimed two bronze medals at the Commonwealth Championships in Glasgow

By Rajeev Gupta

When London Mayor Boris Johnson stood at the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics and exclaimed "Ping Pong's coming home," he was referring to both the sport's roots as a game played by British socialites and its new-found dominance by Chinese players.

While his statement appeared to champion table tennis in Britain, UK Sport dealt a huge blow to the game by slashing its funding by half to £1.2m in January.

The decision was made after UK Sport suffered a £100m shortfall in their funding after they failed to attract private investment.

A spokesman for UK Sport explained: "The economic climate means we have to run a no-compromise strategy, so sports which have the least medal potential will suffer."

The players are the best this country has had for 25 years Steen Kyst Hansen, Table tennis performance director

The fact that no British player managed to qualify for the Olympic Games means table tennis falls under this category.

However in the wake of the Games, young British talent with aspirations of global success have emerged.

The 19-year-old England number one Paul Drinkhall leads the national men's squad which has an average age of just 20.

Drinkhall has already showed his medal potential by winning a bronze in the men's singles at May's Commonwealth Championships and reaching the final of the World Junior Championships in Madrid last year.

"An Olympic medal is probably not realistic right now but if I keep improving the way I am then I think an Olympic medal is definitely a possibility in future," Drinkhall told BBC Sport.

Parker (right) and Sibley (left) claimed bronze in the woman's doubles

At the Commonwealth Championships, which are a precursor to next year's Commonwealth Games, England's young players continued to impress.

They won four bronze medals, including one for Darius Knight alongside Drinkhall in the men's doubles and another for Joanna Parker and Kelly Sibley in the woman's doubles.

Parker, who is the current England Women's number one, believes the funding cut could inhibit any chances of achieving future success.

"It's so frustrating because we have a number of players with great ability but the situation as it is means that we can no longer afford to practice against Chinese players which is important for our development.

"We are also desperate for external funding to keep the performance centre in Sheffield, which we need to compete anywhere," she said.

The team's recent results should go some way in proving table tennis has a future in Britain.

606: DEBATE What are your thoughts on the future of table tennis?

GB table tennis performance director Steen Kyst Hansen told BBC Sport: "The players are the best this country has had for 25 years."

However, Drinkhall admits that the team are under pressure to keep winning: "We have to carry on and hopefully win a medal at a major Games to prove to them we are worth the funding.

"Things are going to be difficult in future but we have to get through it."

It appears that the credit crunch is not only hurting businesses but also affecting Britain's chances of future sporting success.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version