Anna Hursey

Anna Hursey (born 22 June 2006)[1] is a Welsh table tennis player. She is thought to be the youngest person to represent Wales at senior level in any sport. Hursey competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.

Anna Hursey
NationalityWales
Born (2006-06-22) 22 June 2006

Personal life

Hursey was born in Carmarthen, Wales,[2] and attended Cardiff High School.[3] She left Cardiff High School after Year 8.[4] Hursey's mother is Chinese,[2] and in 2019, Hursey moved to Tianjin, China to take up table tennis full-time.[3][4]

Career

Hursey began playing table tennis at the age of five.[1][5] In 2017, Hursey, aged 10, competed for Wales in a European Championship qualification match against Kosovo. In doing so, she is believed to be the youngest person to represent Wales at senior level in any sport.[5][6] In the same year, she competed at the 2017 World Cadet Challenge.[7] She competed for Wales at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.[1][5] She was nominated for the 2018 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award, which was won by Kare Adenegan.[8]

After the 2020 Welsh National Championships, in which Hursey finished second to Charlotte Carey,[3] she was unable to return to China as the Chinese borders were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2][3] She instead trained in Peterborough, England.[2] Hursey has been ranked the number one ranked Welsh under-15 woman, and number two ranked Welsh woman of any age.[2][4]

References
  1. "Commonwealth Games 2018: Wales name 11-year-old Anna Hursey in squad". BBC Sport. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  2. "China return in the air for table tennis prodigy Anna Hursey". Express & Star. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  3. "Anna Hursey: Welsh table tennis prodigy waits on China return because of coronavirus". BBC Sport. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  4. "The 13-year-old girl from Cardiff who has moved to China to become a table tennis star". Wales Online. 13 November 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  5. "Anna Hursey, 11, to represent Wales at 2018 Commonwealth Games". Sony ESPN. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  6. "Table tennis star Anna Hursey, 10, sets Wales record". BBC News. 31 March 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  7. "Morning to forget for Team Europe". International Table Tennis Federation. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  8. "BBC Young Sports Personality 2018: Kare Adenegan wins award". BBC Sport. 21 October 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.


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