JAMIE Liu and Felix Thomis both brought home medals as they took on the best young table tennis players in the country.

The Reading youngsters were among a select group invited to the National Cup by virtue of being one of the top players in their respective national rankings.

Liu played in the Cadet Boys’ event and Thomis in the Under-12 Boys. They took on the rest of the top 10 players in round-robin events.

Liu was the top seed at the tournament in Preston and he won his first six matches but then was surprisingly beaten 4-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7) by fourth seed Louis Price.

Victory in the final match against second seed Ethan Walsh would still have given him the gold. However, Walsh played a strong match and won 4-0 (11-9, 11-5, 11-6, 13-11), leaving Liu to settle for silver.

Liu, 13, who attends the Table Tennis England National Talent Academy at Ackworth School in Yorkshire, said: “It’s been a successful weekend. I tried to go into every match not thinking about the pressure of being top seed and to prepare for every match the same.

“You are playing the top 10 in England, so there are no easy matches, especially being best of seven sets, it’s gruelling.”

Thomis was second in his event and the 11-year-old won six matches to finish third.

"It could have been even better as Thomis was 2-0 up in the final match against top seed and eventual champion Naphong Boonyaprapa, only to lose 3-2 (9-11, 12-14, 11-8, 11-9, 11-8).

The Leighton Park School pupil said: “Mentally that was the hardest match but I feel like I played well.

"It’s a tough weekend, so I’m quite happy to win bronze.”