England are on the up thanks to Sibley

Kelly Sibley enjoyed an outstanding Intersport European Championships in Gdansk, Poland, winning a gold medal from the Challenge Division and helping England to promotion in the team event.

The 23-year-old won 12 consecutive matches in the singles and doubles alongside Joanna Parker as England beat Greece, Portugal and France to secure 17th place in the Challenge Division play-offs.

They had earlier beaten Azerbaijan, Italy and Finland to top their group.

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“The girls have achieved the goal we set ourselves 12 months ago,” said England coach Alan Cooke.

“We were in the same position 12 months ago and narrowly missed out so this is a great feeling.”

Sibley also claimed a dramatic triumph over Russia’s world number 78 Anna Tikhomirova in the singles, coming back from 9-3 down in the deciding game to make it through to the third round.

However, her participation was ended by world number 15 and top seed Li Jiao, who went on to retain her European crown.

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Next month, Sibley will take part in the Pro Tour finals at the new Excel Arena in London, which is the table tennis venue for the 2012 Olympics.

She will also compete for Great Britain against the rest of the world.

Anyone wishing to sponsor Sibley should email [email protected] or contact 07739 902377.

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