THE sport of table tennis has a long and storied history here in Hamilton, with current Olympian and Paralympian, Melissa Tapper, being the obvious name that springs to mind, but now youngster, Ruby Rankin, is progressing through junior pathways.

Rankin has just completed five tough days of training and competition in Geelong at the Table Tennis Australia (TTA) Hopes Challenge, where the best young players from across Australia are brought together to train and play at higher standards.

This forms part of the TTA pathway where those players who have been identified are brought together from around the nation to gain extra coaching in their chosen sport.

Having taken up the sport three years ago, Ruby has progressed quickly through the ranks to the stage where she won the Under-9 State title last year, beating out the best young girls from all over Victoria.

Mum (Brianna) and Dad (Darryl) are keen players themselves, and are embracing the opportunities Ruby is getting..

She travels to Geelong most weeks to undergo coaching and competition which is intense and beneficial to her progression, while she also plays here in Hamilton when the season is running, but basketball is also high on her list of favourite sports, and she has just completed a season of squad basketball for the Hamilton Hurricanes.

In the TTA Hopes Challenge she participated in the Minihopes girls’ section, which is for players Under-10, and she finished a very creditable eleventh after winning three matches and going down in another four.

The five-day program puts the children through intensive training for the first four days, then on day five they get to put into practice all that they have learned across a series of matches: in Rankin’s case a total of seven matches all on the last day.

From here she will play in the upcoming Bendigo tournament in both Under-11 and Under-13 age groups in both singles and mixed doubles.

With Hamilton hosting a Table Tennis Victoria event in October, the preparation for this event will happen all over winter with other tournaments in Ballarat and Melbourne, all while also travelling to Geelong for training and competition.