A SOLIHULL schoolgirl is celebrating after picking up gold at a national table tennis tournament.
Sophie Rinnhofer was part of the West Midlands team that claimed the under 13s girls title at the inter-regional finals.
The 11-year-old Tudor Grand Academy pupil took part in the inaugural Table Tennis England event after a series of regional qualifying events.
The event saw boys and girls across three age groups complete for one of the ten regions from across the country in both singles and team competitions.
Featuring Amillia Baker and Kirsty Maull, the West Midlands team won their group and then defeated South West in a thrilling final which went to the deciding set of the deciding match.
West Midlands took the lead as Baker beat Angharad Beman – however Mari Baldwin levelled the scores by defeating Rinnhofer.
Baker and Maull won the doubles against Beman and Baldwin before it was left to the talented Rinnhofer and Beman to battle it out to decide who would be champions.
Rinnhofer won the last set 11-9 to complete a 3-2 victory (11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 11-13, 11-9).
Rinnhofer said: “It’s really good – we kept calm and didn’t panic.”
“We didn’t think we were going to get through to the final, but supporting each other was important.”
