A letter of praise from the Prime Minister as well as inclusion in a hall of fame alongside Bradley Wiggins, Linford Christie and Christine Ohuruogu still saw Tin-Tin Ho’s week end in disappointment.
The Bayswater table tennis star was hoping she and England would gain promotion in the European Team Women's Championship in Lisbon.
Both men’s and women’s team had high hopes of finishing 17th. It would have sealed promotion to the Championship Division, and qualification for the inaugural European Games in Baku next summer.
But the best laid plans and all that saw both win their groups but lose in the play-offs and keep them rooted in the second tier. The women ended in 21st place and the men 23rd.
Number one Joanna Drinkhall was injured, so 16-year-old Ho featured in every match, winning two out of three in the group stage as England finished above Lithuania, Wales and Azerbaijan.
However, in the quarter-final against Greece, she lost both her matches as England went down 3-2 to end promotion hopes.
They recovered to beat Bulgaria and Slovenia, both 3-1, and although Ho lost her game against Bulgaria, she ended on a high by beating Slovenia's Tamara Pavcnik 3-2 (6-11, 11-2, 7-11, 11-4, 11-5) as England ended in 21st.
She said: “We didn’t get promotion but we played a lot of matches that was a good experience.
"I played as number two for most matches and I think I coped all right, but I hoped to play a bit better against Greece.”
But after her exploits for England at the Commonwealth Games that netted a team silver, and previous multi wins in the London Youth Games, the letter from David and Samantha Cameron dropped on her mat to go with prestigious inclusion to the LYG hall of fame.
