TABLE TENNIS: Fraser’s Top Table
Claremont provides elite venue for local star by Ben Cornwell
Upcoming talent Fraser Kent, 15, who lives in Heathfield but plays for Hollington Academy in the Hastings League, is among those benefitting from a recent move of Weald Table Tennis Club to Claremont School in Bodiam. Weald is the South East Performance Centre, the main venue for the development of elite table-tennis players in the region. It has been running since 2001 under the coaching of Ken Muhr and Martin Chinn, producing international players such as Will Bayley, Lewis Gray, Josh Bennett and Yolanda King, and was previously based at High Weald Academy in Cranbrook. But, following concerns about a lack of security and inadequate facilities for the club at this location, Ms King, who was a former student at Claremont, suggested that, as an alternative venue, the new sports hall in Bodiam would offer an excellent environment for table tennis. So it is proving.
Left hander Fraser Kent started playing the sport for Broad Oak Table Tennis club when he was just eight years old and has been training at Weald over the past four years. As well as the coaching of Ken Muhr, Fraser is mentored by 74 year old Ian Harrison, who is a former national player and England open champion and has been vital in helping him develop his talent. To gain maximum match experience and keep improving, with the aim of becoming a national player, the 15-year-old turns out both for Hollington in Division 1 of the senior Hastings League and Laughton in the Eastbourne League, and maintained a 100% winning record in each during the 2017/18 season. He is now ranked at number 19 in the country for the under 15s age group. In May he represented the South East in the National Inter-Regional Championships winning the cadet (under 15) boys’ singles without losing
a single game having beaten Liam Biddy (representing the North West) in the final 11-7, 15-13, 11-9.
The Weald club aims to develop players to a standard where they are able to play nationally. But it is not just focussed on elite performance. It trains players of all ages and abilities and has a significant proportion of members of mature years, still participating after many years involved in the sport. Head coach Ken Muhr says: “People think table tennis is just about hitting a ball across a table, but they have no idea about the speed, agility and skill required to be a top table tennis player”. He has ambitions for the club to eventually be able to have its own facilities and to run more days during the week.
• It has a website www.tabletennisweald.co.uk and meets every Tuesday night. All are welcome to come along.
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