HAMPSHIRE Ladies, whose home venue is the Academy in Basingstoke, have been crowned English Blackball Federation county champions for the third time in five years.

The Hampshire A team, made up of Kelly Rees, Clare Haines, Catherine King, Rachael Bosworth, Jo Shaw, Nicole Clegg, Kirsty Taylor, Amanda Watson and Nicola Glass, beat West Berkshire 11-3 in the final, held at Selsey.

This was after beating Staffordshire A 11-8 in the semi-final and a thrilling 11-10 quarter-final victory over Oxfordshire, with captain Clegg winning the deciding frame.

To reach the quarter-finals, Hampshire won through the group stages as 12 counties were reduced to eight.

Hampshire qualified for the final stages by winning the Western Region title for the second year running, getting the better of Hampshire B, Wiltshire, North Somerset and Bristol.

Bosworth topped the singles averages in the Western Region.

The team won £1,000 for their victory and decided to split it 10 ways, with £100 going to the nine players and the other £100 going to Cancer Research in memory of Kathy Ridgard.

Ridgard was a member of the 2012 winning team, but lost her battle with cancer in 2013.

The Hampshire men’s C team made it to the semi-finals, losing 14-6 to Nottinghamshire.