BOLTON’S Megan Gidney has pledged to work harder to win a national title after returning from this year’s PG Mutual Cadet and Junior National Championships with two silvers and a bronze.

The 17-year-old, from Blackrod, reached both doubles finals but missed out on both occasions.

In the girls’ doubles she and partner Charlotte Bardsley were seeded second and were edged out in a decider by top seeds Denise Payet and Mollie Patterson.

After a tight match the winners finally made their lead stick after being twice pegged back in a 3-2 (11-4, 5-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9) scoreline.

In the mixed doubles, Gidney and Sam Wilson were unseeded but knocked out top seeds Payet and James Smith in the quarter-finals and fourth seeds Naphong Boonyaprapa and Millie Rogove in the last four. 

They came up just short, however, against third seeds Ethan Walsh and Bardsley in the final.

The duo lost 3-2 (11-5, 9-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9). 

In the women’s singles competition, third seed Gidney was beaten in the semi-finals by second seed Bardsley, who won 4-0 (11-5, 11-5, 11-9, 13-11).

Gidney said: “I’m a bit disappointed, especially in the two doubles finals because we lost 11-9 in the fifth.

“In the singles I wanted to get to the final, but Charlotte played really well and didn’t let me play my game. 

“I need to work harder and be ready for next year.”

England player Gidney will soon turn her attentions to international competition. 

She is part of a 14-strong team for the European Youth Championships in Czech Republic in July.

The squad will travel to Ostrava to compete from July 7 to 16 with Gidney taking her place in the junior girls’ team alongside  Payet, Patterson and Bardsley. 

Table Tennis England director of sport, Simon Mills, said: “At the Cadet and Junior Nationals, it was good to see players fighting to win not just for the right to be champion but also with something bigger at stake, namely selection for the Europeans.”