Anna Hursey aims for qualification at the 2026 World Team Table Tennis Championships in London after Wales women's team secured two 3-0 victories. They will face Australia next to determine the top position in Group 12.
Anna Hursey was the youngest athlete to compete at the 2018 Commonwealth Games [Getty Images]
Anna Hursey is targeting qualification for the main draw at the 2026 World Team Table Tennis Championships finals in London, after Wales women made a strong start to their campaign.
Two 3-0 wins over Nigeria and Uzbekistan mean Wales face similarly unbeaten Australia on Friday to see who will finish top of Group 12.
"It's been a really good start for us and we have more of a difficult match tomorrow [Friday] against Australia. So yeah, hopefully we can play as well as we did in the last two," said the 19-year-old.
"For all of us, the goal is to get to the main draw because we think it's quite possible, so we just have to try and play well and have confidence from the last two matches."
The Championships sees 64 men's and 64 women's teams compete from 28 April – 10 May at two London venues - the OVO Arena in Wembley and the Copper Box Arena at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London.
The 14 group winners progress to the main draw at the OVO Arena - with the top seven seeds and England already qualified - while the second-placed teams in the groups will compete in a preliminary round to determine the final 10 teams to go through.
The main draw will feature a total of 32 teams in a knockout format.
Hursey, with team-mates Danielle Kelly, Lowri Hurd, Charlotte Carey and Lara Whitton, is hoping their good form will carry them through.
"I've had a very good year so I hope just to keep playing well in the next few matches that we have," Hursey added.
Last year, Hursey became the first Welsh table tennis player to break into the world's top 50.
The Cardiff teenager first represented Wales at just 10 years old and was selected for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games the following year - becoming the youngest competitor in the history of the event.
Anna Hursey is targeting qualification for the main draw at the championships.
Wales women's team achieved two 3-0 victories against Nigeria and Uzbekistan.
Wales will face Australia next to determine the top position in Group 12.
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Hursey won a doubles bronze medal at the Birmingham Commonwealths and became the first Welsh table tennis player to go to an Olympics at Paris 2024.
In 2025, she became the first Welsh player to medal at a World Youth Championships, claiming three in Romania - winning the under-19 girls' doubles alongside Mia Griesel of Germany, clinching a silver in the mixed doubles alongside home favourite Iulian Chirita, and a bronze in the singles.