BRAMHOPE’S Shayan Siraj ended the domestic season on a high by taking the bronze medal at the Junior National Cup.
The Table Tennis England event sees the top 10 players in the Under-18 national rankings play each other in a round-robin format over two days and is one of the toughest events on the national calendar.
Siraj, 17, was top seed for the event in Plymouth but was on the wrong end of a shock scoreline in the first round when he was beaten by Josh Weatherby, the lowest-ranked player, 4-2 (10-12, 11-7, 5-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-6)
He won his next five matches but suffered another upset in round six, losing 4-3 (11-8, 6-11, 16-14, 14-12, 8-11, 8-11, 11-6) to fourth seed Naphat Boonyaprapa.
He was also beaten by eventual gold medallist Ethan Walsh in the penultimate round, going down 4-2 (11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-8), but won his last match to ensure he had done enough to take the bronze.
Siraj next's event is representing England at the European Youth Championships in Czech Republic, beginning on July 7.
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