Table Tennis: Cathy Mitton joins world’s elite at top table for Sheffield event (From York Press)

Table Tennis: Cathy Mitton joins world’s elite at top table for Sheffield event

11:22am Wednesday 31st August 2011 in Table tennis

ELITE disability table tennis star Cathy Mitton will compete against some of the world’s top players next month in the run-up to the 2012 Paralympic Games, writes Martin Durrant.

Mitton, of Rufforth, near York, will compete in the British Open Para Table Tennis Championships in Sheffield from September 14 to 17.

The event will involve more than 300 competitors from 42 countries, with players travelling from Venezuela, Iraq and Hong Kong to take part.

The British Open is a factor 40 event, which means that only the European Championships and other continental events will carry a higher rating.

“The British Open is a fantastic opportunity for the athletes to take part in competitive matches against other players from all over the world who they may not have faced in the past. It is great practice for the Paralympics,” said Gorazd Vecko, Team GB para table tennis performance manager.

Mitton is no stranger to top international competition, having medalled in four World Championships, two Paralympic Games and a European Championship.

Both her appearances in the Paralympic Games, in Sydney and Athens, yielded bronze medals.

She won a gold medal at the World Championships in 2002, when she also scooped the team silver medal.

A silver medal was also her reward in the singles competition at the 1998 World Championships in Paris, while she won bronze in the 2006 event in Montreux.

Her only medal in the European Championships was a silver at the Stockholm event in 1997.