Katyís back in the England frame

By UKJournalism

International table tennis star and first year BA (Hons) Journalism student Katy Parker is back in the England team after a two year break.

The former England number one travelled to Slovenia in January to play in her first international table tennis tournament since 2002.

Katy quit the professional game after the 2002 Commonwealth Games to concentrate on her studies but had recently missed the excitement of competing against the best in the world.

She said: "I really enjoyed playing in a big tournament again in Slovenia. I won three out of my five matches which I was pleased about.

"In the past Iíve played all over the world - China, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, America, and my first ever international event was in Sweden when I was eleven."

Youngest ever

And just a year after playing her first international tournament in Sweden, Katy became the youngest ever England competitor at a World Championships, when she turned out for the national team in Manchesterís G-Mex Centre aged just 12 years and 144 days.

She had only been playing table tennis for 4 years but already she was playing against some of the most skilled and experienced players in world table tennis. Katy later progressed to England womenís number one, winning national titles at U12 U14 and U17 level.

She comes from a table tennis family too. Mum Jill Hammersley-Parker was European champion and three-time winner of the English Open, and dad Don, who is the Sports Director for the Commonwealth Games Council for England, was also an England international player.

Dream

It is Katyís dream to play for Britain at the highest level but her chance has yet to arrive, as the national team failed to qualify for the Olympics in Sydney in Athens. But even if they got to the Olympics, Katy reckons that the all-conquering Chinese team would clean up.

"The Chinese players are by far the best in the world." She said. "They start playing much younger in China and the sport is much more recognised over there. Itís as big as football is in England.

"And now there are lots of Chinese players who apply for citizenship in France or Sweden, for example, if they canít make it in the Chinese national squad. So most European teams now have Chinese players in them who almost always outclass us."

Aside from her Olympic aspirations, Katy has her sights set on a career in TV journalism. This stems from her experiences in the TV spotlight - the teenage table tennis prodigy played a mock table tennis match against Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski on the 1997 BBC Sports Personality of the year show, and she has also appeared on Blue Peter, twice.

"I just loved the bright lights and the TV cameras, and when I was on Blue Peter I asked Katy Hill how I could become a TV presenter," she said. "She just told me to work hard in school, which led me onto the journalism course here."

More info:
BA (Hons) Journalism >

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See also:
English Table Tennis Association >

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