Steen Hansen quits as Great Britains performance director over funding cuts

By Rod Gilmour Published: 7:47PM GMT 01 March 2010

Future hope: Paul Drinkhall plays with extensive hold and "Chinese style" forehand double back Photo: AYOADE ADEMAKINWA / ayoade1@btopenworld.com

Hansen, a former clergyman in Denmark, initial came to Britain in 2001 and led England to important success at girl turn notwithstanding being hampered by appropriation cuts in 2004 and 2008.

The preference by UK Sport to condense list tennis"s appropriation by some-more than 50 per cent for London 2012 left Hansen with a shoestring bill to sight twelve Olympic hopefuls.

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The 59 year-old told The Daily Telegraph: "I only can"t assimilate that the formula we completed as a growth programme and with the girl and afterwards unexpected we get punished for great results. I only lost conviction in the system."

Hansen, who additionally cited inner problems inside of the English Table Tennis Association for his preference to leave, has right away taken up a identical on all sides with the Spanish inhabitant team.

He leaves ETTA in irregularity as England try to wand off relegation from the European League, starting opposite Israel on Tuesday night.

He said: "I am unhappy not to have been given the event to finish what I proposed generally as 2012 is around the corner. We took ETTA from a shouting batch to being a vital force inside of the general game. I only couldn"t assimilate the UK Sport appropriation policy."

Paul Drinkhall, one of The Daily Telegraph"s 10 to follow for 2012, stays the brightest goal for destiny success, display his intensity when he carried the under-21 pretension at the China Open last year.

Hansen had nurtured the twenty year-old given 2001 and the Dane pronounced Drinkhall, the 2008 universe youth china medallist, "must right away confirm either he wants the will to win", adding that "he has the bent to be a universe top-20 player".

Hansen, though, was less nominal on England"s women players. During the English Open in November, he pronounced that they "were some-more meddlesome about the colour of their nails" than the competition itself.