Paul Day (table tennis player)

Paul Day (born October 20, 1958 in Newmarket ) is a former English table tennis player from the 1970s and 1980s. He took part in three world championships and several European championships.

Career

Left-hander Paul Day achieved his first international successes at the European Youth Championships. In 1974 he won silver in doubles with Andrew Barden . Two years later he was in three finals: in singles he was defeated by the Yugoslav Zoran Kalinić , in doubles with Andrew Barden he was European youth champion and in mixed with Melody Ludi he was second.

In the adults he was nine times English champion : Already in 1974/75 he won doubles with Andrew Barden. They repeated this success in 1977/78, when Paul Day was still champion in the individual. From 1980 to 1984 he won the title five times in double competition, first with Nicky Jarvis , then each with Desmond Douglas . In 1977 he also won the mixed title with Melody Ludi .

At the 1978 European Championship in Duisburg, he won silver with the English team. He was nominated for three world championships, namely 1977 , 1979 and 1981 , but won no medals. In 1982 he won the Commonwealth Championships with the English team.

In the 1978/79 season Paul Day played with Eintracht Frankfurt in the German Bundesliga . With Desmond Douglas he won the International German Championships in doubles in 1981/82 .

After the end of his active career as a competitive athlete, he devoted himself to promoting young talent in England. For example, he looked after the young people at European Youth Championships.

Private

Paul Day studied mathematics at Fitzwilliam College at the University of Cambridge from October 1977 , but dropped out after a year because of his sporting activities in Germany at Eintracht Frankfurt. In 1980 he opened a sports shop in Ely .

Results from the ITTF database

Association	event	year	place	country	singles	Double	Mixed	team
CLOSELY	Commonwealth Championship	1982	Bombay	IND				1
CLOSELY	European Championship	1978	Duisburg	FRG				2
CLOSELY	European Youth Championship (Juniors)	1976	Modling	AUT	silver	gold	silver
CLOSELY	European Youth Championship (Juniors)	1974	Gopping	FRG		silver
CLOSELY	World Championship	1981	Novi Sad	YUG	last 64	last 16	last 64	6th
CLOSELY	World Championship	1979	Pyongyang	PRK	last 64	last 64	Agony	10
CLOSELY	World Championship	1977	Birmingham	CLOSELY	last 64	Agony	Agony	10

Individual evidence

1. ^ "Table Tennis News" magazine, February 1977, page 34 Online (accessed October 16, 2014)
2. ↑ DTS magazine , 1981/17 page 27 + 1981/19 page 5
3. ^ "Table Tennis News" magazine, December 1976, page 17 Online (accessed October 16, 2014)
4. ^ "Table Tennis News" magazine, October 1978, page 2 Online (accessed October 16, 2014)
5. ^ "Table Tennis News" magazine, October 1980, page 21 Online (accessed October 16, 2014)
6. ^ Paul Day (table tennis player) Results from the ITTF database on ittf.com (accessed October 16, 2014)