NATIONAL team success has rounded off an excellent season of progress for Weymouth’s young table tennis players.

Following schools’ glory for Budmouth and national qualification for Jamie Blair, Weymouth teams have competed well in national competitions.

For the first time Weymouth teams have competed in the National Junior League (under-18) in Fareham.

The Weymouth B team of Jamie Blair, Moses Lewis, Brad Burroughs and James Green won Southern Division Two and ended the fourth round of the tournament 10 points clear of their nearest rivals after an excellent final day’s play where all five games were won.

The Weymouth A team of Lily Cherry, Tom Cherry, Ben Graham and Sam Millar found things tougher in the top division and although they only won two of their seven fixtures in the last round of matches, they acquitted themselves well in some top quality matches.

Three Weymouth teams competed in the National Cadet League (under-15) in Southampton. The Weymouth A trio of Will Jolliffe, Ethan Gear and Jamie Blair finished fourth in Division One, just one point behind Generation II from Fareham.

Next season the youngsters will be looking to challenge the top two teams from Portsmouth and Bournemouth.

Weymouth B registered success early on, winning promotion from Division Two, with April Heasman, Snigdha Maganti and Ben Hannigan in good form, but, unfortunately, they ended up back in Division Two after battling hard in a strong top division.

Weymouth C started in Division Three and were also quickly promoted.

The team of Tom Lydford, Devin Fry and Eddie Knell then pushed Isle of Wight all the way to a last-round decider for the Division Two title, but the islanders proved just too strong in the end.

Weymouth deservedly won the runners up medals and finished the most improved team in this year’s tournament.

Weymouth League development officer Andy Millar was delighted with the progress made this season.

He said: “The teams can all be proud of their efforts and their hard work is starting to pay off.

“The introduction of Matt Ware to coach and develop our young players has really raised the standard of the whole squad from our beginners upwards.

“Our senior players are leading the way, but the quality of the young players coming through really does bode well for an exciting future.”

Training for the new season begins on Saturday, September 5. Coach Matt Ware will also be training the squad on Mondays.

New players of any age and ability are welcome to join. Contact Andy Millar at a.millar212@gmail.com or 07710507075 for information.