Anna Hursey
{{Short description|Welsh table tennis player (born 2006)}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox table tennis player
| name = Anna Hursey
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|2006|6|22|df=y}}
| birth_place = Carmarthen, Wales
| death_date =
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| highest_rank =
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{{Medal|Competition|Welsh National Championships}}
{{Medal|Silver|2020|Women's singles}}
{{Medal|Competition|Commonwealth Games}}
{{Medal|Bronze|2022 Birmingham|Women's doubles}}
{{Medal|Competition|World Youth Championships}}
{{MedalSilver|2023 Nova Gorica|U19 girls' doubles}}
{{MedalBronze|2021 Gaia|U15 girls' doubles}}
| show-medals = y
}}
Anna Hursey (born 22 June 2006) is a Welsh table tennis player. She is thought to be the youngest person to represent Wales at senior level in any sport, having been aged just 10 when she competed for Wales in a European Championship qualification match against Kosovo in 2017.{{cite news |last1=Alao |first1=Lola |title=Who is Anna Hursey? All eyes on teen table tennis sensation at Commonwealth Games |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/anna-hursey-teen-table-tennis-player-commonwealth-games-b1015350.html |access-date=6 August 2022 |publisher=The Evening Standard |date=28 July 2022}}
Hursey competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, and the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, where she came third in the women's doubles event.
Personal life
Hursey was born in Carmarthen, Wales,{{cite news |url=https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/uk-sports/2020/03/17/china-return-in-the-air-for-table-tennis-prodigy-anna-hursey/ |title=China return in the air for table tennis prodigy Anna Hursey |work=Express & Star |date=17 March 2020 |accessdate=2 October 2020}} and attended Cardiff High School.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/table-tennis/51715622 |title=Anna Hursey: Welsh table tennis prodigy waits on China return because of coronavirus |work=BBC Sport |date=3 March 2020 |accessdate=2 October 2020}} She left Cardiff High School after Year 8.{{cite news |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/education/anna-hursey-table-tennis-wales-17249404 |title=The 13-year-old girl from Cardiff who has moved to China to become a table tennis star |work=Wales Online |date=13 November 2019 |accessdate=2 October 2020}} Hursey's mother is Chinese, and in 2019, Hursey moved to Tianjin, China to take up table tennis full-time. She is a United Nations ambassador for climate change in sport, and in 2021, Hursey spoke with US President Joe Biden about climate change.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-56203565 |title=President Joe Biden asks Anna Hursey, 14, for climate advice |work=BBC News |date=25 February 2021 |accessdate=26 February 2021}}
Career
Hursey began playing table tennis at the age of five.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/wales/42788772 |title=Commonwealth Games 2018: Wales name 11-year-old Anna Hursey in squad |work=BBC Sport |date=24 January 2018 |accessdate=24 January 2018}}{{cite news |url=http://www.espn.in/olympics/story/_/id/22195899/anna-hursey-11-wants-prove-wales-2018-commonwealth-games |title=Anna Hursey, 11, to represent Wales at 2018 Commonwealth Games |work=Sony ESPN |date=24 January 2018 |accessdate=24 January 2018}} 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.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-wales-39462258/table-tennis-star-anna-hursey-10-sets-wales-record |title=Table tennis star Anna Hursey, 10, sets Wales record |work=BBC News |date=31 March 2017 |accessdate=24 January 2018}} In the same year, she competed at the 2017 World Cadet Challenge.{{cite news |url=https://www.ittf.com/2017/10/27/morning-forget-team-europe/ |title=Morning to forget for Team Europe |work=International Table Tennis Federation |date=27 October 2017 |accessdate=24 January 2018}} She competed for Wales at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. She was the youngest competitor in Commonwealth Games history. Hursey was nominated for the 2018 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award, which was won by Kare Adenegan.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/sports-personality/45926048 |title=BBC Young Sports Personality 2018: Kare Adenegan wins award |work=BBC Sport |date=21 October 2018 |accessdate=10 December 2018}}
After the 2020 Welsh National Championships, in which Hursey finished second to Charlotte Carey, she was unable to return to China as the Chinese borders were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She instead trained in Peterborough, England. Hursey has been ranked the number one ranked Welsh under-15 woman, and number two ranked Welsh woman of any age. At the 2021 ITTF World Youth Championships, Hursey and Portugal's Matilde Pinto came third in the under-15 girls' doubles event.{{cite web |url=https://worldtabletennis.com/results?selectedTab=COMPLETED |title=ITTF World Youth Championships: U15 Girls Doubles |publisher=International Table Tennis Federation |accessdate=7 December 2021}}
Hursey was selected in the Wales team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games;{{cite web |title=CGW are pleased to announce the 2022 Women's Table Tennis team |url=https://teamwales.cymru/en/womens-table-tennis-team-announced/ |publisher=Commonwealth Games Wales |access-date=12 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511231446/https://teamwales.cymru/en/womens-table-tennis-team-announced/ |archive-date=11 May 2022 |date=11 May 2022 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |last1=Moore |first1=Shaun |title=Team Wales: Women's Table Tennis players announced |url=https://www.sunshineradio.co.uk/news/commonwealth-games-2022/team-wales-womens-table-tennis-players-announced/ |access-date=12 May 2022 |work=Sunshine Radio |date=11 May 2022}} Hursey and Charlotte Carey came third in the women's doubles event at the Games, the first time that Welsh women had won a Commonwealth Games table tennis medal.{{cite news |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/uk-sport-news/table-tennis-duo-claim-wales-24704136 |title=Table tennis duo claim Wales' last medal of 2022 Commonwealth Games as star breaks down in tears |work=Wales Online |date=8 August 2022 |accessdate=13 August 2022}} She was part of the Wales team that finished fourth in the women's team competition, and she lost in the quarter-finals of the women's singles event.{{cite web |url=https://results.birmingham2022.com/#/h2h-result/TTE/W/SINGLES-----------/QFNL/000300-- |title=Women's Singles - Quarter-Final 3 |publisher=2022 Commonwealth Games |accessdate=13 August 2022}}
Hursey was selected for the women's singles event at the 2024 Summer Olympics.{{cite web| url=https://www.dai-sport.com/anna-hursey-ready-for-more-limelight-at-paris-olympics/| title=Anna Hursey Ready For More Limelight At Paris Olympics| publisher=Dai Sport| date=22 July 2024| accessdate=22 July 2024}} She went out in the first round to 18th seed Manika Batra from India.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/articles/c1rw1g2v8g5o|title=Teenager Hursey suffers first-round defeat|publisher=BBC Sport|accessdate=28 July 2024}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{ITTF|131480}}
- {{Team Wales|anna-hursey-2}}
- {{2018 Commonwealth Games profile|table-tennis/athlete-profile-n6027815-anna-hursey}}
- {{2022 Commonwealth Games profile|59889}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hursey, Anna}}
Category:Welsh female table tennis players
Category:Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Wales
Category:Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in table tennis
Category:Table tennis players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
Category:Table tennis players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
Category:Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
Category:Welsh expatriate sportspeople in China