‘Mixed emotions’ for Liam Pitchford after leading England to table tennis bronze
England were beaten in the semi-finals by Singapore
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.England table tennis player Liam Pitchford admitted it was difficult to get up on Tuesday morning as he helped the men’s team seal a bronze medal against Nigeria.
England had looked destined for the final, but were narrowly beaten 3-2 by Singapore in Monday’s semi-final.
In a dominant performance the men’s team comfortably beat Nigeria 3-0, with Tom Jarvis and Paul Drinkhall winning their doubles game before Pitchford and Drinkhall won their singles matches.
Despite securing his ninth overall Commonwealth Games medal after a tight battle with Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna, Pitchford admitted there were “mixed emotions” about securing bronze.
“It’s not really what we came for, I’m sort of a bag of mixed emotions at the moment, last night was tough, I didn’t really sleep,” he said.
“I somehow had to get myself up for today and do it for the team. I can look back and be proud of myself that I actually did that, because I could have shied away and not stood up out there and not performed but I did it.
“I’m just proud because it gives me confidence going into the individual events that I’m still here and can beat the best guys in the tournament and I can do something.
“The support’s been amazing, not just from the team but for the spectators and everyone here, probably couldn’t have done it without them, especially today.
It's not really what we came for, I’m sort of a bag of mixed emotions at the moment, last night was tough, I didn’t really sleep
“It was hard to get up for this match and we just had to give it one big fight and we did that so obviously I’m proud of the team today.”
Pitchford now has the chance to go for gold in three more events, and believes his bronze-medal performance will spur him on.
He added: “[I’m feeling] a bit more confident now, especially after that I think hopefully yesterday was just a blip and obviously I know if I perform like that there’s chances.
“I just need to be playing like that every match and be that focused every match and try and keep it up somehow.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments