Paul Drinkhall wins Serbia Open title

Having already won the Spanish Open title in 2014, Drinkhall claimed the Serbia Open crown when he triumphed in Belgrade.

The Loftus Olympian started the tournament as the 12th seed, but enjoyed a dramatic run to the semi-finals that featured a 4-3 win over number one seed Stefan Fegerl in the last 16.

His semi-final success proved every bit as tense, with Drinkhall winning a final-set decider to see off Frenchman Andrea Landrieu 4-3.

That set up a final against the unseeded Abdel-Kader Salifou, and while Drinkhall lost the opening two games to trail 2-0, the saving of a game point in the third game proved crucial.

Drinkhall scrapped out a 12-10 win in game three to reduce the arrears, and from that point on, his superior technical ability enabled him to overwhelm his opponent.

He won the next three games for the loss of just six points to complete a 4-2 success (8-11, 10-12, 12-10, 11-3, 11-2, 11-1) and become the most successful table tennis player in British history.

A double Commonwealth Games gold medallist as well as a two-time Olympian, Drinkhall is the one of just two British players to have won a World Tour event.

Carl Prean, in 1996, is the only other player to have triumphed on the World stage, but Drinkhall now has two successes on his CV.

“It’s great to win the tournament, but it’s more about playing well and that’s what I’ve managed to do in every match,” said Drinkhall. “Putting the wins together, eventually you’re going to win the tournament.

“I knew it was possible from the start of the tournament, it was just about performing well in each match and not getting carried away with who’s next.

“It’s nice to get ranking points but it’s more about playing how I can play and then ranking points take care of themselves.

“At 2-0 down, I don’t think anything changed. The second set I was leading and even the first, I was in it. I got momentum and having Ceri (Ceri-Ann Davies) in the corner helped a lot.”

Davies has been working with Drinkhall this season, and is believed to be the first female coach to have guided a player to a World Tour victory.

Drinkhall’s success will have a major impact on his World ranking, and should significantly enhance his prospects of gaining an automatic qualifying place for next summer’s Olympics in Tokyo.

If the 29-year-old was to appear in next year’s Games, he would create another piece of history by becoming the first British table tennis player to compete at three successive Olympics.

He could also feature in one of the doubles events in Tokyo, although his men’s doubles campaign with Sam Walker at the Serbia Open ended at the last-16 stage. The British duo suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Hungarian Bence Majoros and Dane Tobias Rasmussen.

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NORTHALLERTON runner Marc Scott smashed his personal best over 10,000m as he posted a career-best performance in the Payton Jordan Invitational, which was staged in California.

Scott, who is a member of Richmond and Zetland Harriers, but who has been based in the United States for much of his senior career, knocked 11 seconds over his previous personal-best time as he finished in 27:56.19.

The North Yorkshire runner finished second behind American Ben True, and looks set to have a successful outdoor season as he continues to build towards this autumn’s World Athletics Championships in Doha.

Closer to home, City of York runner Alex Botterill claimed the 800m gold medal at the British University Championships at Bedford.

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JACK LAUGHER’S strong start to diving’s World Cup series continued as he claimed a silver medal in the individual 3m springboard in Montreal.

Having finished sixth competing alongside Dan Goodfellow in the 3m synchro on the opening day of competition, Laugher returned to the pool for the individual event hoping to improve on his two bronze medals from previous World Cup events.

The Ripon diver, who won Olympic gold in Rio, achieved his aim as he produced his best series of dives of the season so far.

Exceeding 500 points for the first time this year, Laugher split Chinese duo Slyl Xie and Yuan Cao, with his fourth and fifth-round dives proving especially impressive.

He will not turn his attention to the series-ending London World Cup, which will be staged at the London Aquatics Centre on the Olympic Park between May 17-19.

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AIMEE WILLMOTT has been confirmed as part of a 25-strong British team for the World Swimming Championships in South Korea in July.

The Teessider, who has won senior medals at the European Championships and Commonwealth Games, achieved the consideration time for the Worlds when she won the British 400m Individual Medley title in Glasgow last month.

Her performance at the British Championships effectively cemented her place on the squad, and her selection was confirmed when the final British line-up was announced.

Willmott, who is now based at the University of Stirling, will compete in the 400m IM in Gwangju, and will be Britain’s standard-bearer in the event after her long-term rival, Hannah Miley, was not selected because of an ongoing injury issue.

“Now that the team is finalised, we will head to a team preparation camp in June, with all athletes and staff getting together for two legs of the Mare Nostrum series in Canet and Barcelona,” said British Swimming national performance director Chris Spice.

“We have also been fortunate to secure our pre-Worlds holding camp in Yokohama this year, which will also form a dress rehearsal for our preparations for Tokyo 2020.”

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NICOLA WILSON recorded a 21st-place finish at last weekend’s Badminton Horse Trials on Bulana.

Wilson, who was part of the British three-day eventing team that won a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics in Rio, was outside the top 40 after the dressage discipline, but climbed more than 20 places after a characteristically strong showing on the cross-country.

Twelve show-jumping faults saw the Morton-on-Swale rider finish in 21st position, with a final total of 56.7 points.

British rider Piggy French claimed the Badminton title on Vanir Kamira, with Oliver Townend completing a domestic one-two as he finished in second position aboard Ballaghmor Class.