Paul Drinkhall facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Paul Drinkhall
Personal information
Full name	Paul Andrew Drinkhall
Born	(1990-01-16) 16 January 1990 (age 35) Middlesbrough, England
Highest ranking	32 (September 2016)
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Weight	80 kg (13 st; 180 lb)
Medal record Men's table tennis Representing  England World Championships Bronze 2016 Kuala Lumpur Team World Cup Bronze 2018 London Team Commonwealth Games Gold 2014 Glasgow Mixed doubles Gold 2018 Gold Coast Doubles Gold 2022 Birmingham Doubles Silver 2010 Delhi Team Silver 2014 Glasgow Team Bronze 2010 Delhi Mixed doubles Bronze 2018 Gold Coast Team Bronze 2022 Birmingham Team

Paul Andrew Drinkhall, born on January 16, 1990, is a famous table tennis player from Britain. He has won the English Championship many times, in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2016, and 2017.

Paul Drinkhall's Table Tennis Journey

Paul Drinkhall at the ITTF World Tour 2017 German Open

Paul Drinkhall was born in Middlesbrough, England. He started playing table tennis in 1997. He went to watch his grandfather play and loved the sport. As a young player, Paul won many national championships. He even won against older players!

His talent was noticed early on. He was nominated for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award in 2005. In both 2006 and 2007, he finished in second place for this award.

In 2008, Paul joined a German team called TTC Indeland Jülich. Before that, he played for another German club, Goennern. In December 2008, he was the runner-up at the World Junior Table Tennis Championships in Madrid. He lost in the final to Chen Chien-an. In 2010, Paul signed with a Belgian club, Nodo TTC Ekeren.

At the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, he won two medals. He got a silver medal with the Men's Team. He also won a bronze medal in the Mixed Doubles event.

Paul has been a National Champion in every age group he has played in. This includes Under 10, Under 11, Under 12, Under 14, Under 17, and Senior Men. In March 2007, he became the youngest player since Chester Barnes to win the English Senior Men's title. He beat Alex Perry 4-1 in the final.

In September 2011, Paul moved to Italy to join the Sterilgarda club. He wanted to improve his game for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Playing at the 2012 London Olympics

Paul Drinkhall earned a spot in the 2012 Olympic Games because London was the host city. In the singles event, he played very well. He beat Ibrahim Alhasan from Kuwait 4-0 in the first round. Then, he defeated Yang Zi from Singapore, who was ranked 52nd in the world. In the next round, the last 32, Paul lost to Dimitrij Ovtcharov from Germany.

Achievements After 2012

In 2012, Paul joined Werder Bremen's table tennis team. He returned to the table tennis Bundesliga, a top German league. Paul was part of the Werder Bremen team that won the Bundesliga that season.

In August 2013, Paul Drinkhall married Joanna Parker. She is also a professional table tennis player and has won many English championships.

In April 2014, Paul made history. He became only the second English player, after Carl Prean, to win a tournament on the ITTF World Tour Open circuit. He won the Spanish Open. This was the first time a British player won a World Tour singles event in 18 years!

The next month, he helped the England men's team. They moved up to the top level of world table tennis at the World Team Championships in Japan.

In June 2014, Paul left Werder Bremen to rejoin TTC Nodo for the 2014–15 season. He wanted more playing time. He won the Belgian League with Nodo that same season.

Paul represented England at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. He won a silver medal in the team competition. Then, Paul and Joanna Drinkhall won a gold medal in the mixed doubles. They beat another English pair, Liam Pitchford and Tin-Tin Ho, in the final.

In November 2014, Paul reached the final of the Russian Open. He beat several top players, including the top seed Dimitrij Ovtcharov. His great results on the ITTF World Tour helped him qualify for the Grand Finals in Bangkok. He was the first Englishman to compete there since 1996. These performances also pushed him to his highest world ranking of No. 33.

At the first European Games in Baku in June 2015, Paul reached the semi-finals. He lost to the top player, Dimitrij Ovtcharov. He then lost the bronze medal match to Lei Kou.

In November 2015, Paul won the men's singles at the Aquece Rio International Tournament. This was a test event for the Rio Olympics.

In March 2016, Paul was part of the England team that won bronze medals at the World Team Championships in Malaysia. His teammates were Liam Pitchford and Sam Walker. This was England's first medal at that level since 1983! It was also the first time a newly promoted team won a medal at the event. That same month, he won his fifth national men's singles title.

Paul represented Team GB in the singles and team event at the Rio 2016 Olympics. He became only the third British player to reach the last 16 stage in singles. In the team event, with Liam Pitchford and Sam Walker, he helped GB beat France. They were later knocked out by China. After the 2016 Summer Olympics, Paul reached his highest world ranking of No. 32 in September.

In March 2017, Paul became the English Senior National Champion for the sixth time. He won 4-2 against Sam Walker in the final.

In February 2018, Paul was part of the England team that won bronze medals at the ITTF Team World Cup in London. His teammates were Liam Pitchford, Sam Walker, David McBeath, and Tom Jarvis.

At the Commonwealth Games in Australia in 2018, Paul won a gold medal in the men's doubles with Liam Pitchford. He also helped the England team win a bronze medal in the men's team event.

In 2019, Paul made history again. He became the first English player to win two ITTF World Tour events when he won the Serbia Open.

In 2021, Paul qualified for the Tokyo Olympics at the last minute.

At the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, Paul and Liam Pitchford won the men's doubles title again. Paul also reached the men's singles bronze medal play-off. He was beaten by Sathiyan Gnanasekaran from India. Paul, Pitchford, Sam Walker, and Tom Jarvis won bronze in the men's team event.

In 2024, he won his seventh men's singles title and fourteenth men's doubles title at the English National Table Tennis Championships. This event was held at the David Ross Sports Village in Nottingham.

See also

• List of England players at the World Team Table Tennis Championships