Karina Lefevre

Ormesby’s 15 year old Karina Lefevre won her biggest championship so far in taking the gold medal in the UK School Games Table Tennis in Bath on Sunday.  The UK School Games is a multi sport event sponsored by the Government as part of the build-up to the 2012 Olympics and is the strongest competition at junior level in the British Isles.

To win the coveted title Karina, ranked at No 4 in the England Junior list and seeded 4th in this competition, beat all 3 players ranked and seeded above her.  Karina, who attends the Thornaby Community School, won 7 consecutive matches starting by winning her group against Chloe Thomas of Wales, Stephanie McCallum of Scotland and Ayonija Sundararajan of Berkshire, all by comfortable margins, to take a place in the last 16.

At this stage, Karina beat her second Welsh player, Natasha Rees, in straight games before going on to play the England No 2, Sara Wang, against whom Karina had played 2 very close matches in the team events.  This match was a third close encounter which was levelled at 2 games and 9 points all in the decider before Karina won the last 2 points.

In both the semi final and final, the Ormesby girl fought back from being 2-1 down.  In the semi, her recovery was against the England No 1, Emma Vickers, where Karina from the 2-1 deficit won the 4th at 11-6 and the decider at 11-7.  In the final Karina gained revenge against the England No 3 Junior and No 1 Cadet, Emily Bates of Lincolnshire, from the final of the English Junior Championships in May.  Karina looked in trouble when she lost the 3rd game convincingly at 11-3 but took full control from that point, winning the 4th at 11-6 with some strong hitting rallies and the decider at 11-4.

What makes this performance even more remarkable is that Karina, aged 15, was in the main playing against competitors 2 or 3 years older than herself.  She still has 3 more chances to lift this title in the future.

On Saturday, Karina helped the North East girls team to win the bronze medal in the team event with her Ormesby team mates Chloe Whyte and Rachel Greener and Sheffield’s Melissa Wright.  The North East team won their group by beating Scotland 6-1, Northern Ireland 5-2 and the South East by 4-3.

In the semi final the North East narrowly lost to the South West 4-3, so playing off for the bronze medal against the South East for the second time and on this occasion winning 4-3. 

Karina was the star of the North East team, winning 9 of her 10 matches whilst Melissa Wright won 7 out of 10, Chloe Whyte 2 out of 6 and Rachel Greener 1 from 4.

This overall performance with a total of 5 wins against higher ranked players will boost Karina’s England ranking right at the start of the new season and helps to justify the England selectors’ faith in her.  Karina’s next major competition is her first full international when she represents the England Senior team in the 6 Nation Championships in Fife a week on Saturday.

Name                          Karina Lefevre

Dob                             17/7/93                                                                                         

TT involvement (yrs)     5 years                        

Club                             Ormesby TTC

Coach                           Alan Ransome                                                                                          

Country represented     England

Style of play                 Attacking                                                         

Training schedule          12 hours per week  (Minimum)                                            

National ranking           No 2 cadet  No. 5 junior  No. 19 senior                       

Titles Held

• Liverpool Grand Prix Winner 2007
• UK School Games Individual Winner 2008                       

Best win                      

Lyndsey Thornton

Abigail Embling

Equip               rubber f/h         Bryce speed                        

                        Rubber b/h       Tenergy 05

                        Blade               Primorac OFF

                        Shoes              Radial GS5                          

Favourite music            R&B                             

Favourite film                Wedding Crashers

Favourite food              Chicken                                  

Comments about Butterfly                     The Best  

Comments about Table Tennis               An enjoyable sport that keeps you fit.

Karina Lefevre recommends and uses the following products: