Leyton’s Tiana Dennison agonisingly missed out on a bronze medal, as she was just beaten by Sarah Mengistab at the Junior National Cup in Table Tennis.

The event sees 10 of the country’s highest-ranked young players invited by Table Tennis England to compete against each other on a round-robin basis.

The 16-year-old Highams Park pupil claimed five victories from her nine matches but was unable to claim a step on the podium, as she was beaten 4-3 by Mengistab in a closely fought game, which saw Dennison lead 3-2 at one stage.

Despite the disappointment of missing out on a place on the podium, Dennison was pleased with her performance and vowed to go one step better next year.

She said: “It was a very strong competition, you constantly get tough matches one after the other. I did my best and ended up having a lot of good wins, so I’m happy with how I played.

“It was a good match against Sarah and she played well. Next year I’ll try and do better.”