Lucy Beecroft takes silver at The World Games

Lucy Beecroft’s spectacular run at The World Games 2022 ended with a silver medal as the Englishwoman, representing Great Britain in Birmingham, Alabama, lost to Belgian top seed Tinne Gilis in the final.

World No.54 Beecroft has won plaudits over the past week for her performances in the USA, which came less than one month after she reached the British Nationals final as the No.6 seed.

The 25-year-old from North Shields went into The World Games - a multi-sport championship held every four years for sports not included in the Olympic Games programme - as the 5/8 seed, but put together a brilliant run to the final that saw her beat Hungary’s Hannah Chukwu, Hong Kong’s 9/16 seed Cheng Nga Ching, Germany’s Katerina Tycova and the USA’s 5/8 seed Haley Mendez without dropping a game.

Beecroft made a strong start in her final against World No.13 Gilis, where she was hoping to be the first British woman to win the tournament. The Englishwoman was able to move Gilis around the court and trapped her in the back a number of times as she opened up a narrow 7-5 lead.

Gilis, however, was able to feel her way into the game and took five unanswered points to earn three game balls at 10-7. While the 25-year-old was able to save two of these, Gilis eventually closed out the game 11-9.

Beecroft continued to push her opponent hard in the second game. Gilis, though, only further improved and the increasingly confident-looking Belgian took a commanding two game lead after moving from 5-5 to win 11-7.

The third game was again largely even and Beecroft was good value for her 6-5 lead before the impressive Gilis won another brutal succession of points to close out the match with an 11-6 victory.

Reacting afterwards, Beecroft said: “It has been such a great week representing Great Britain at The World Games.

“This is the first time representing my country at senior level and I'm so proud to come away with a silver medal. I was very happy with my performances this week, not dropping a game in the earlier rounds and getting through a tough semi-final 3-0."

“Tinne was too strong in the final but I’m still very happy with my performance and excited to keep working hard this summer for the season ahead!”

Result: The World Games 2022 Women’s Final

[1] Tinne Gilis (BEL) beat [5/8] Lucy Beecroft (GBR) 3-0: 11-9, 11-7, 11-6.