READING’s Jamie Liu claimed gold at the PG Mutual Cadet and Junior National Championships, winning the boys’ doubles event with his teammate Amirul Hussain.

Liu and Hussain were top seeds in the event and were able to handle the pressure and claim victory by beating second seeds Naphong Boonyaprapa and Louis Price 3-1 in the final.

“We started off a bit slowly, but after that we started getting into it and our teamwork and communication got stronger,” said Liu.

“In the end we both played really well to take the title. I’m happy with both our performances.”

The pair were tested early on in the tournament, when they faced Callum McRae and Peter Smallcombe in the quarter finals.

The scores were tied at two sets each, but top seeds Liu and Hussain had enough to win the final set 11-4 to progress to the semi finals.

In their semi-final match-up the duo cruised past Freddie Osenton-Brown and Rhys Davies, beating them 3-0.

Elsewhere, 14-year-old Liu reached the final of the singles where he faced his doubles partner Hussain, although he had to settle for silver this time as he was beaten 4-2.

Liu had already beaten Rhys Davies and Josh Weatherby in the quarter finals and semi finals, respectively, on his way to the final.

His first-round match-up with Davies in particular was hotly-contested, with Caversham-born Liu managing to pull through and win 4-3 in a close match.

In the older junior events, Liu also took silver in the mixed doubles with his partner Ruby Chan.

Chan and Liu had to fight hard on their way to the final, having been two sets down in both the quarter-final and semi-final matches, coming back to win 3-2 on both occasions.

They were unable to pull off the same heroics in the final however, as they lost a five-setter to second seeds George Hazell and Sarah Menghistab.

Also, in the junior boys’ singles, Liu was eliminated in the group stage, while he exited in the quarter-final stage of the junior boys’ doubles along with partner Boonyaprapa, losing 3-1 to Sam Wilson and Alexander Ahl.