YOUNG table tennis star Anaya Patel has had a busy year since joining Kingifisher Table Tennis Club in Reading.

The 12-year-old from Lychpit trains at the club four times a week and travels nationally twice a month representing both county and club in competitions.

After an absence of two months, she played at the Cippenham Young Players’ Summer Festival.

In the under-12 mixed event, Patel made the last eight, where she lost out to number five seed Marco Plate in a thrilling five setter which earned her the Special Player Award.

The under-14s event was a girls only event and the Basingstoke player won it without dropping a single game.

Patel then travelled to the English National Championships to play in the under-12 and under-13 girls events.

It is an invitational event for the Top 24 girls in the country.

In the under-13 event, the 12-year-old had a tough group and beat number seven seed Ilyssa Lacorte.

In the quarter-finals, Patel lost to number two seed Darcie Proud and then along with Lacorte lost to the number one seeds in her first doubles competition.

The Lychpit player also had a tough draw in the under-12 event and finished second in her group.

After beating number six seed Amy Marriot, she produced the shock of the weekend, beating the reigning national champion Ruby Chan.

This set-up a semi-final clash with number three seed Sophie Chiang and won the first two games, before going down 3-2.

Patel said: “I am happy as last year I didn’t get past the group stages.

"My short term goal at the start of season was to finish in the top four which I have now achieved, however I now want to be the best player in England and represent England."

Next up for Patel is to complete in the qualifying stages in the Junior British League in Derby on July 16.