STOURBRIDGE'S Charlotte Bardsley was England’s best performer at the European Youth Championships in Ostrava.

The table tennis star knocked out one of the leading players as she reached the last 16.

The 17-year-old started with a narrow 4-3 (16-14, 8-11, 5-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-3, 11-2) victory over Anna Klempererova of host nation the Czech Republic.

In the second round, she faced fourth seed Kristina Kazantseva of Russia and put in an impressive performance to win 4-1 (11-8, 11-8, 11-8, 10-12, 11-9) and go through to the last 32.

Her run continued at the expense of 27th seed Kornelija Riliskyte of Lithuania, Bardsley winning it 4-2 (11-7, 5-11, 15-13, 13-11, 8-11, 11-4).

However, 12th seed Ema Labosova of Slovakia proved a bridge too far in the last 16, as Bardsley went down 4-1 (9-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-3, 11-7).

In the Junior Girls’ Team event, Bardsley competed alongside Denise Payet, Megan Gidney and Mollie Patterson and England won their group by defeating Greece 3-0 and Moldova 3-2.

However, a 3-0 defeat to Sweden in the first round of play-offs meant England could not qualify for the top division of 16 teams.

Instead, they competed for positions 17-32 and, after a 3-0 win over Luxembourg, a 3-1 defeat by Lithuania left them fighting for 21st to 24th places.

A 3-1 victory against Bulgaria meant they faced Croatia for 21st place and a 3-1 defeat, despite Bardsley winning her individual match 3-0, saw England finish 22nd.

Old Swinford Hospital School student Bardsley also played in the Junior Girls’ Doubles alongside Patterson and they won their first-round match to reach the last 32, where they were defeated 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-7) by fifth seeds Elizabet Abraamian and Anastasia Kolish of Russia.

In the Junior Mixed Doubles, Bardsley and Ethan Walsh were beaten 3-2 (9-11, 11-5, 5-11, 12-10, 12-10) in the first round by Radoslav Kotev & Kalina Hristova of Bulgaria.