Ella Pashley and Larry Trumpauskas successfully defended their Under-21 National Cup titles over an intense weekend at Highfields TTC in Wellingborough.

Sophie Earley and Anna Green were also on the women’s podium, with Abraham Sellado and Max Radiven joining Trumpauskas at the men’s open medal ceremony.

Pashley was unbeaten in the women’s category, ending Earley’s 100% record in the final match to seal victory, while Trumpauskas lost once on his way to the crown.

Final positions

Women’s: 1 Ella Pashley, 2 Sophie Earley, 3 Anna Green, 4 Sienna Jetha, 5 Catherine Lv, 6 Mia Lakhani, 7 Rachael Iles, 8 Eva Eccles, 9 Hannah Saunders, 10 Mabel Shute

Men’s open: 1 Larry Trumpauskas, 2 Abraham Sellado, 3 Max Radiven, 4 Rohan Dani, 5 James Hamblett, 6 Krish Chotai, 7 Isaac Kingham, 8 Olivier Chi, 9 Sinan Surensoy, 10 Aarav Parihar

Day one

Sophie Earley was dominant, winning all five of her matches without dropping a game, with Ella Pashley close behind, having conceded three games.

Pashley dropped one game to Catherine Lv in the first round, when the only other match to go beyond three was Anna Green’s tight 3-2 (11-8, 10-12, 14-12, 8-11, 11-5) win over Rachael Iles.

The second round saw three matches decided in the fifth, and all of them involved comebacks. The most notable turnaround saw Sienna Jetha recover a 2-0 deficit to beat Eva Eccles 3-2 (11-13, 6-11, 11-7, 13-11, 11-9).

Hannah Saunders overcame Mia Lakhani 3-2 (12-14, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9), while Mabel Shute got her first win with a 3-2 (3-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9) scoreline against Green.

Jetha kept up her 100% record in the third round with another comeback win in five, this time 3-2 (14-12, 5-11, 11-13, 11-8, 11-5) against Saunders. There was also a first win for Lv, who defeated Lakhani in three.

Jetha kept up her run of success in the fifth as she and Lakhani played out a belter in round four, Jetha taking a match with four deuces 3-2 (10-12, 12-10, 11-9, 11-13, 12-10). Pashley found herself behind for the only time all weekend, losing the first game to Eccles 12-10 but coming back to win in four.

The final round of the day saw Pashley prevail in four against Saunders, while Lv came from 2-0 down to defeat Shute 3-2 (7-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-7). Jetha’s 100% record was ended by Green in four games, all 11-9, leaving Earley and Pashley as the only unbeaten athletes, with Jetha and Green on four wins each.

Meanwhile, in the men’s open, Larry Trumpauskas was the only player unbeaten all day, though he did have to dig deep a couple of times.

The only game to go to five in the first round saw Max Radiven come from 2-0 down to defeat Rohan Dani 3-2 (4-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-7).

And Radiven had another comeback win in round two, this time from 2-1 down against Aarav Parihar, the final scoreline 3-2 (11-9, 8-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-3) in Radiven’s favour. Dani was on the right side of a fifth-game decider, winning 3-2 (8-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9) against Sinan Surensoy. James Hamblett got his first win, in four against Isaac Kingham.

Trumpauskas had dropped only one game in his first two matches, to Olivier Chu, but found Krish Chotai a tough opponent in round three – Chotai twice levelled before Trumpauskas came through 3-2 (11-9, 5-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8).

Parihar was on the end of another 3-2 defeat, this time to Hamblett, who came from 2-1 down to complete a 4-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9, 11-8 victory, while Abraham Sellado was beaten for the first time in four games by Dani.

Round four saw first wins for Chi, in three against Hamblett, and for Surensoy, against Parihar. Chotai defeated Kingham in five.

However, the tie of the round saw an epic between Sellado and Radiven, which the former edged 3-2 (15-13, 8-11, 4-11, 12-10, 16-14), ending Radiven’s unbeaten record.

Trumpauskas ended the day with a 3-1 (12-14, 11-2, 13-11, 11-2) win over Radiven, while Hamblett defeated Chotai 3-2 (8-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-1, 11-9) and Dani beat Kingham 11-9 in the fifth. It left Trumpauskas clear at the top, with Sellado second on four wins.

Day two

Round six saw Pashley beat Jetha in three, and that result, along with Jetha’s defeat by Earley and Pashley beating Green in round seven (15-13, 13-11, 12-10), kept the top two pulling ahead.

Also in round seven, Iles got her first win, 3-0 against Eccles – and she went on to win the next two as well, lifting up to a final position of seventh. Lv beat Saunders in five, and Lakhani and Shute played out the longest game and match as Lakhani won 3-2 (19-21, 12-10, 4-11, 11-9, 14-12).

Jetha kept her medal hopes alive in round eight as she beat Lv 11-9 in the fifth, while Earley beat Green in four – the first game she had dropped all weekend.

With Pashley beating Lakhani in four, it set up a final-round clash between the top two – and also a match between the winner of the inaugural U21 National Cup in 2024 – Earley – and last year’s champion.

it was Pashley who rose to the occasion with a 3-0 (7, 8, 5) win over Earley to seal the title.

Green’s win over Lv sealed the bronze, with Jetha having to settle for fourth after a 3-2 (11-8, 8-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6) defeat by Iles.

The top three in the men’s got through their respective round six matches with few alarms, but something was bound to give in round seven, when Trumpauskas met Sellado.

It was a strange match, with three deuces and two one-sided games, but Trumpauskas’ 3-2 (11-3, 10-12, 12-10, 2-11, 12-10) win effectively clinched the title, with Sellado and Radiven having lost twice and Trumpauskas holding the head-to-head record against both in the event it went to countback.

The champion dispelled any need for countback by beating Parihar in four in round eight, where Surensoy picked up a good 3-2 win over Hamblett and Sellado kept up his medal push by coming from 2-1 down to beat Kingham.

The final round saw Trumpauskas unable to complete a perfect weekend as he was defeated 3-1 (3-11, 11-3, 12-10, 11-9) by Kingham.

Radiven completed his fourth win of the day in seeing off Chotai, which clinched him a medal – and it turned out to be bronze as Sellado’s 3-0 (16-14, 11-1, 12-10) win over Hamblett meant he took silver by virtue of head-to-head record against Radiven.

The only thing remaining was to see whether Parihar could pick up his first win, but unfortunately is was not to be as he missed out 3-2 (11-8, 6-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9) to Dani.