McCreery is table tennis king of Ireland

McCreery is table tennis king of Ireland

4 March 2015

SAINTFIELD spin king Paul McCreery has just been crowned Irish table tennis champion for an unprecedented third year in a row.

The 22 year-old chemical engineering student at Nottingham University confirmed his position at the top of Irish table tennis when he dominated the field in Dublin at the weekend with cunning, looping forehands and soft touches to lift the title for the third consecutive year.

The field included Gavin Maguire and Ashley Robinson, both of whom are living and playing full time professionally in Germany and Sweden respectively.

McCreery’s draw was not kind as he drew them both — he had to beat Maguire in his semi-final and Robinson in the final.

McCreery has enjoyed another successful year in the Senior British League. His team collected the Premiership title in 2014 and he was named player of the year award.

Indeed, the team are joint leaders again in 2015 and have every chance of repeating last year’s success.

Paul has enjoyed his time in Nottingham where he is completing a Master’s degree and training with leading national coaches Alan Cook and Alex Perry, along with some leading players as practice partners.

He has a final push to complete his studies come June, at which stage he will be well placed to plan for some exciting table tennis opportunities in the future.

The sport has taken him around the world and opened many doors for him and he will always be grateful to everyone who has supported him, including his coaches, his school RBAI and the Irish Table Tennis Association.