By Jane Leigh

THREE junior table tennis players from the Stroud area made up five of the Gloucestershire County Senior team for a Division 2B match at Cippenham in Berkshire.

Last year the trio of Emily Philp from Stonehouse, Ben Glover from Stroud and Olly Tyndall from Quedgeley were playing in the junior event.

This time they were called up to join Thomas Jeffcott and Ann Barnes in playing seven matches over the weekend.

The team got off to a good start on Saturday drawing 5-5 with Hertfordshire, with both Olly and Ben scoring maximums, and in a tough second match against Worcestershire, Emily won both her matches.

After lunch Gloucestershire lost 6-4 to Essex, despite a maximum from Olly and one win for Emily, but they finished the day in fine style, beating Cornwall II 9-1, with maximums from Olly, Thomas, Ann and Emily, and Ben unlucky to lose the final match in five.

Back early in the morning on the Sunday, Olly and Emily won one game each against Buckinghamshire, and the team won their second match of the weekend, beating four-player Wiltshire with two wins for Olly and one for Emily. The final match against top-of-the-table Sussex III saw Olly scoring a maximum, but the team going down 7-3.

Overall the relatively-inexperienced Gloucestershire team were pleased with their performance, finishing in sixth place ahead of Wiltshire and Cornwall II, and already looking forward to next year’s event.