A nutritionist who's recently moved to Newcastle is donning the colours of Team Scotland in a bid for Commonwealth Games glory.
Table tennis star Rebecca Plaistow, 22, is set to take on some of the best in her sport globally from Wednesday - and she's got the backing of colleagues at the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust. Swapping her NHS uniform for a table tennis bat.
Rebecca, originally from Ayrshire in Scotland, is one of four Scottish table tennis players to be selected. She told the Daily Record: “It's probably one of the biggest events I will play in my career, so I am really pleased to be selected. I’m really looking forward to the experience and the different types of players I will get to play.”
Rebecca begins her challenge for a medal mid-morning on Wednesday, when she is to play Ghanaian Cynthia Kwabi. She will take to the NEC Arena in Birmingham for the match with the support of many in Newcastle.
James Callaghan, Rebecca's boss at Newcastle Nutrition, said: "On behalf of all Rebecca’s colleagues at Newcastle Nutrition, we would like to wish her the best of luck whilst representing Scotland at the Commonwealth Games 2022.
"Rebecca has devoted a great deal of time and effort into preparing for the games, so this is an opportunity to showcase her talent and continue to fulfil her potential on this massive sporting stage."
And Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust chief exec Dame Jackie Daniel said: "I'd like to wish [our] dietician Rebecca Plaistow the very best of luck at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games this week as she makes her debut representing Scotland in table tennis. We are all so proud of you."
Roy Claxton Rebecca's old head coach at South Ayrshire Table Tennis Club, said: “We’re very proud of Rebecca, she’s a superstar. It’s great news from a club point of view; it’s one of our own that has been selected to play on one of the biggest stages of them all."
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