TABLE tennis ace Megan Gidney just missed out on the gold medal at the Junior National Cup.

The Bolton teenager was beaten by the top seed Mollie Patterson in her final match.

The event sees 10 of the highest-ranked young players in the country invited by Table Tennis England to compete against each other on a round-robin basis.

Gidney was seeded second but suffered a surprise 4-3 (2-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-5, 12-10, 5-11, 11-9) defeat to the sixth-ranked player Lois Perryman in the fourth round.

She also had to dig deep in round seven, coming from 3-1 and 7-5 down to third seed Sarah Menghistab to win 4-3 (10-12, 9-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 12-10), and she then defeated fourth seed Tiana Dennis 4-2 in her penultimate match.

With seven wins out of eight, she faced unbeaten top seed Patterson in the last round knowing victory would see her leapfrog her opponent by virtue of the head-to-head result.

She led 2-1 but Patterson recovered to complete a 100 per cent record with a 4-2 (11-4, 5-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6) victory.

Gidney, who lives in Blackrod, said: “It’s not what I came here for but I feel like it’s still a good result.

“In the final match, I feel like I lost focus a bit, especially at 2-1 up when the first points are always important against a player like Mollie.

“She really upped her game and played well – she was very consistent. I was trying to find solutions but she was getting one more ball back on the table than me.”

Gidney was pleased with her comeback against Menghistab, adding: “That’s something I’m trying to develop more – to stay calm in pressure situations, reset and take my time.”