Enfield table tennis club wins British boys championship (From Enfield Independent)

Enfield's Ellenborough Table Tennis Club wins British championship

1:20pm Wednesday 15th February 2012 in News By David Hardiman, Reporter

A table tennis club in Enfield which received new equipment thanks to a grant from the Enfield Independent has gone on to win a British championship.

Ellenborough Table Tennis Club was chosen by the newspaper's parent company Gannett to receive £5,592 in December, which it used to buy ten new tables.

And the club, based in Kimberley Gardens in Enfield Town, went on to win the British Boys Premier League title in Wolverhampton on Sunday with their team of Zsolt Szarka, Bradley Tuttle, Sam Cowan and Daniel Wright.

Coaching officer Nick McCoy said: “In the premier league a lot of teams include star players brought in from elsewhere.

“But Ellenborough has always prided itself in developing local youngsters, and the fact that three of our four Premier League winning players are local to the club is testament to that fact.

“Success like this doesn’t happen overnight – a few years ago the club reorganised its coaching structure so that youngsters have a player pathway all the way from local level to national level.”

The club was founded in 1936 at a school in Ellenborough Road, Wood Green, before moving to Bowes Pavilion at Tottenhall Sports Ground, in Palmers Green, after the Second World War.

It made its final move to its current home in 1973 after the Bowes Pavilion burned to the ground. A purpose-built table tennis clubhouse was opened in October 2006.

The club is open seven days a week, providing playing space for players from as young as six right up to pensioners.