BASINGSTOKE teenage table tennis star Amy Blagbrough helped Hampshire Cadets to second place in the Premier Division of the County Championships.

Last season the player from Kempshott was part of the Hampshire team that was promoted to this level and it was a great achievement for the county players to do so well in their first year after promotion.

The event took place at the Westfield Table Tennis Club in Wellingborough and Hampshire enjoyed a strong opening day.

They beat a strong Middlesex team 8-2, Staffordshire 8-3 and then Lancashire 7-3 to finish top-of-the-table at the end of the first day.

The following day, they played second placed Sussex in their first game, winning a closely-fought encounter 6-4.

Blagbrough and her county colleagues then swept to a 10-0 victory over Surrey.

The penultimate match was against a very good Kent side and Hampshire did not have it all their own way.

With two matches left to play, they trailed 5-3, but a fine 3-0 win by Blagbrough over Kent’s number one got them back into the tie.

Matthew Daish then won his match 3-0 to earn Hampshire a 5-5 draw.

This left them joint top-of-the-table with reigning champions Yorkshire, who Hampshire faced in their final match.

Despite Blagbrough winning her first match, the Yorkshire team were too powerful and won 8-2 to claim the title for the second year running.

Blagbrough has a busy February coming up as she will be playing in the Woman’s British League and Junior British League.

The Kempshott player has qualified for the Cadet Masters, which pits the top 12, under-15 girls in the county against each other. She will then compete at the English Senior National Championships.