Performance Table Tennis
Table tennis players studying at The University of Nottingham join the strongest and most established programme of any UK university. Nottingham has an impressive history of national and international triumphs, with the most successful female player of all time, four-times Olympic champion Deng Yaping, amongst our alumni. National and Commonwealth champions include alumni Alex Perry, Nicola Deaton, Daniel Reed and Maria Tsaptsinos, who won Team bronze at the 2018 Gold Coast Games alongside Head Coach Kelly Sibley.
The £40 million David Ross Sports Village acts as a hub for English performance table tennis; we host England national squad training and University of Nottingham students have access to regular training and coaching alongside the world's top 100 players. Strong links to China, Malaysia and Europe also offer the opportunity to compete and train abroad.
Table Tennis at The University of Nottingham
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Coaching
Head Coach Kelly Sibley has led our table tennis programme since the 2016/17 season. 2018 and 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist and London 2012 Olympian, Kelly was ranked Number #1 in England for 6 years (2009-2011 and 2014-2017).
The programme is supported by Matjaz Sercer, former Italian and Slovenian National Coach and Gavin Evans, former British Senior Men's champion.
Contact Kelly Sibley
Performance training
Players may train for 20-25 hours per week with several team and individual sessions with our international-level coaches. Each player can tailor their programme to their academic needs:
- 4 weekly team sessions (3 hours each)
- weekly strength & conditioning sessions (60 minutes each)
- individual 1-2-1 sessions and multiball training
- regular performance analysis
- international training camps
Achievements
- 2021/22 BUCS National Champions and League team champions (Men 1 and Women 1)
- 2018/19 BUCS National Champions and League team champions (Men 1 and Women 1)
- 2017/18 - BUCS National Cup and League team champions (Men 1)
- 2017/18 - BUCS Premier Midlands champions and National Cup runners up (Women 1)
- 2017/18 - Won 4 out of 5 gold medals at the BUCS Nationals Individual competition
- 2016/17 - Sport Nottinghamshire Team of the Year
- 2016/17 - Won 4 out of 5 gold medals at the BUCS Nationals Individual competition
- 2016/17 - BUCS National Cup and League team champions (Men and Women)
- 2015/16 - BUCS National Cup and League team champions (Men and Women)
- 2014/15 - BUCS National Cup and League team champions (Men and Women)
Performance facilities
Competition
Alumni
- Deng Yaping - the world's greatest female player; 6 x World champion and 4 x Olympic champion
- Alex Perry - 4 x Commonwealth gold medallist, 14 senior national titles, British champion
- Nicola Deaton - European and Commonwealth medallist, 5 x English National champion
- Paul McCreery - Ireland No. 1 singles player
- Daniel Reed - Commonwealth medallist
Deng Yaping scholarship
A University of Nottingham graduate, Deng Yaping won six world championships and four Olympic gold medals during her career and as one of the greatest table tennis players of all-time.
Our Deng Yaping Sports Scholarship offers Chinese national table tennis players an opportunity to combine an international education, with performance sport opportunities across Europe. Scholarships for 2019 entry include 2 Masters scholarships and 4 Undergraduate scholarships.
Further details and application form
Athlete profiles
David McBeath
Studied: BSC Sports Rehabilitation
Top achievements: Commonwealth Bronze Medalist 2018 World Cup team bronze 2018, 2018 men’s doubles national champion
"I chose to study Sports Rehabilitation at UoN because I’ve always wanted to work with Sport Injuries and the UoN department of Health has a great reputation. The Table Tennis team is the most successful in BUCS and I can feel I can add further success to them. The facilities at David Ross Sports Centre are amazing and its great to train there."
Tin Tin Ho
Studied: Medicine
Tabe Tennis Achievements: Commonwealth silver medalist mixed doubles 2014 & 2018. Commonwealth Bronze medalist in the women’s team event. 3x National Champion. Top 100 in the world. European Championship 3x Bronze Medalist in singles.
“I chose UoN for medicine because I felt the intergrated style of teaching would suit me. The QMC is also a big hospital and it would allow opportunities to see and experience various things that would help me become a good doctor. Their early clinical contact also appealed to me as I would like to put my learning into context and develop my clinical skills early on. I also really like the beautiful campus with great facilities. In particular, the David Ross Sports Village offers great training environment for my table tennis. The table tennis set up at Nottingham is great, and I felt that I would be able to keep improving thus I can work towards my sporting goals. The staff and team are also incredibly friendly and hard working which brings a great atmosphere. I chose Nottingham for both my academic and sporting careers, and I am incredibly grateful to be a part of this University to have the opportunity to excel in these areas of my life.”