Anna Hursey has set her sights on a place in the main draw of the 2026 World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, following a blistering start by the Wales women's team. With two commanding 3-0 victories over Nigeria and Uzbekistan already under their belts, the Welsh squad is riding high as they prepare to face an equally unbeaten Australia on Friday to decide the top spot in Group 12.
"It's been a really good start for us," said the 19-year-old Hursey, whose energy and precision have been key to the team's success. "We have a more difficult match tomorrow against Australia, so hopefully we can play as well as we did in the last two. For all of us, the goal is to get to the main draw because we think it's quite possible. We just have to try and play well and have confidence from the last two matches."
The Championships, running from 28 April to 10 May, bring together 64 men's and 64 women's teams across two iconic London venues: the OVO Arena in Wembley and the Copper Box Arena at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The 14 group winners advance directly to the main draw at the OVO Arena—with the top seven seeds and England already guaranteed spots—while second-placed teams will battle in a preliminary round for the remaining 10 places. The main draw will ultimately feature 32 teams in a knockout format.
Hursey, alongside teammates Danielle Kelly, Lowri Hurd, Charlotte Carey, and Lara Whitton, is determined to keep the momentum going. "I've had a very good year, so I hope just to keep playing well in the next few matches," she added. The Cardiff teenager has already made history as the first Welsh table tennis player to break into the world's top 50, a milestone she achieved last year. Her journey began at just 10 years old when she first represented Wales, and she became the youngest competitor in Commonwealth Games history at the Gold Coast the following year.
Hursey's career has been marked by remarkable achievements: a doubles bronze medal at the Birmingham Commonwealths, a groundbreaking Olympic appearance at Paris 2024 as the first Welsh table tennis player to compete in the Games, and a historic medal in 2025 that cemented her legacy. Now, with the knockout stage in sight, Hursey and her team are proving that Welsh table tennis is a force to be reckoned with on the world stage.