BASINGSTOKE won two county table tennis crowns in the Hampshire finals held at Testwood in Totton.

Aldworth Science College won the under-13 boys title and The Costello School girls were victorious in the under-16 competition.

To reach the Hampshire finals the schools first had to qualify from the Basingstoke event, which saw the under-11 competition held at Costello and the under-13 and 15 events at Aldworth.

The successful schools in the under-11 event were Oakley in the boys competition and North Waltham in the girls. The only disappointment was that only four primary schools entered.

In the under-13 and under-16 age groups eight schools entered, which was a good increase on previous years.

Aldworth won both the under-13 titles and then Costello did likewise at under-16.

All six winners travelled down to Testwood for the county finals and Basingstoke was the only area in the county to have representatives in all six categories.

In the under-11 competition Oakley just lost out to winners Brockenhurst Primary School, while North Waltham’s girls finished third, also behind Brockenhurst.

In the under-16 boys competitions Costello qualified from their group but lost in the semi-final to eventual winners Upper Shirley High.

In the Under 13 boys competition Aldworth in the under-13 boys tournament made it all the way to the final where they faced Westgate School from Winchester. In a close fought showdown Aldworth managed to forge a lead which they kept until the end, being crowned county champions.

The girl’s competitions were poorly represented by other areas in the county.

The Aldworth under-13 team had only one team to play to decide who would be champions. In a very close match the score in the end was four games all which meant the match went down to sets, which Aldworth lost by one.

Costello’s under-16 girls had an even easier time because they were crowned county champions without any opposition. Little did the team know, but when the five schools took part in the Basingstoke competition it was in effect the county final.

The Aldworth’s under-13 boys and Costello’s under-16 girls now have the opportunity to represent Hampshire at the zone final which is taking place at Morpeth School in Tower Hamlets on Sunday, January 20.