CHRIS DORAN'S ACHIEVEMENTS

uly 2008 - Chris Doran has been selected to represent England in the European Youth Championships in Italy in a strong team also including Paul Drinkhall, Darius Knight, Matt Ware and Damien Nicholls.

Doran's England calling (Evening Telegraph)

Six year's of hard work have finally paid off for one of the county's best table tennis players. Chris Doran, who lives at Cogenhoe and attends Wollaston School, has been picked to play for England in the European Youth Championships which will take place in Terni in Italy next week.

Doran's selection came after he claimed a superb silver medal at the recent Luxembourg Youth Open and he was notified of his achievement just a few days after his 17th birthday. The youngster will head to Sheffield tomorrow where he will join his England team mates for a week long training camp at the English Institute of Sport before they fly out to Italy a week on Thursday for the Championships, which are being held between July 11th and 20th. During the event Doran will take part in team and individual matches and his father Keith was left delighted by his son's selection.

"It's the culmination of six years of hard work" he said. " It's great for Chris because he was never selected as a Cadet when he was younger. But he kept on going. He's had some great results over the last few months and it has brought him the rewards. He is lucky to have a centre like the one at Weavers where he can play and it has played a big role in getting him into this position. It will be an amazing experience for him and now I hope he will top it all off with some good exam results!".

Doran has also been snapped up by a team in Antwerp and, with the permission of the English Table Tennis Association, will spend alternate weekends on the continent next year. The England team will be hoping to build on the superb results of last year when they ran away with the Junior Boys gold as well as winning gold and silver in the Junior Mixed doubles.

CHRIS DORAN WINS GOLD AT JUNIOR MASTERS (27 May 2008)

The National Masters event is the ultimate prize in junior table tennis according to Peter Charters the vice chairman of the England selectors. These words form part of his opening speech as he addressed the 14 boys and 14 girls competing at the Cippenham Table Tennis Club in Slough this weekend. Charters conceded that the National Championships was the most prestigious prize but the luck of the draw often came into play, in this competition and this competition alone do you play all of the top players. Over 2 days this event stretches the players technical, tactical, physical and psychological talents but, in particular it will show up aspects of their personality such as perseverance and persistence.

In the absence of the top 3 juniors who are currently training in China the England selectors were looking for one more junior to come through the pack to join them in the European Championships in Turin in July. Local youngster and England number 7 Junior Chris Doran produced those qualities and more winning the title after two gruelling days in which he only lost one match out of 13 and that by the narrowest of margins 16-14 in the 5th to Damien Nicholls from Shropshire who collected the silver medal having only suffered two defeats. The Wollaston school boy had been put under additional pressure by declining England junior internationals in Spain the previous week and Poland next week due to his AS exams. His reward for this fantastic achievement which is believed to be the first ever by a Northamptonshire Junior is selection for the Luxemburg youth open from 12-16 June.

ENGLISH NATIONAL JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS (3 April 08)

Chris had a very successful competition. Seeded 7 he lost in the semi-finals to the English No 1 Paul Drinkhall who is ranked No 4 in the world and is one of those the BBC is trailing in the run-up to the London Olympics. In the Junior Boys doubles he and his partner Matt Ware lost 3-2 in a very tight final and he and his partner, who were unseeded, lost to the winners of the mixed doubles 3-1 in the semi-final.

WORLD SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIPS IN MALTA (28 March 08)

ESSEX JUNIOR 4 STAR (19 March 08)

In the morning competition Chris won the elite boys singles title, an event open only to the top 32 singles players entering the Open competition. This is a unique event in Junior table tennis, one which attracts the top Juniors,and for which a cash prize of £100 is awarded. Confidence boosted by his performance in Malta saw Chris take the £100 prize which will be used by him to attend the Hungarian National Training Centre in Budapest in August.

In the afternoon event Chris progressed to the semi-final and his "thirteenth" match of the day, which proved to be his last, where he lost 11-9 in the fifth to William Maybanks the England Junior international.