Title treble for Amy Blagbrough (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Title treble for Amy Blagbrough

2:00pm Wednesday 6th March 2013 in Sport

TABLE tennis ace Amy Blagbrough is celebrating after claiming a remarkable hat-trick of Hampshire titles.

Despite being just 12, the Aldworth Science College pupil won the under-13, under-15 and under-18 competitions at the Hampshire Table Tennis Association Junior Championships, which were held at Testwood Sports College, in Southampton.

Blagbrough cruised through the under-13 event, dominating all of her matches to claim the title without losing a set, beating Temeesha Hobbs from the Isle of Wight in the final.

It was a similar story as she stepped up to compete in the cadet (under-15) event, Blagbrough only dropping two sets on the way to victory, beating another Isle of Wight player, Anna Joyce, in the final.

These two players were to meet again in the final of the junior (under-18) competition and this time the final went to the wire. The first four sets were shared as both girls played some excellent attacking table tennis – but the Basingstoke player moved up a gear to win the next two sets and claim her third title of the day.

Blagbrough is in top form at the moment, having won the Hampshire Schools under-13 title two weeks earlier to qualify for the English Schools National Finals in April.

She will also compete in the under-13 and under-14 competitions at the English National Finals, which will take place in Tipton, near Birminghamm in June. Blagbrough has qualified automatically as she is the third in the national under-13 rankings and the sixth-ranked under-14.

Blagbrough’s achievements at the county championships were matched by Southampton’s Artur Caltabiano, who won the boys under-13, under-15 and under-18 titles.