THE Junior British League got under way at Derby and this season a Cippenham Table Tennis Club girls’ team has replaced the boy’s side and been placed in Division Three.

Cippenham’s two young stars, Rachel Iles and Anna Piercey, ranked 22 and 23 respectively in England cadet girls’, needed a third player to make up the team.

Head Coach, Ken Phillips, made an inspired selection in Hannah Silcock from Jersey and she led the side brilliantly, winning nine of her 10 individual matches.

Piercey won seven and Iles six as Cippenham won four of their five team matches and sit comfortably in second position in the division.

All three members of the Cippenham team are just 12 years old and playing in a competition that is for Under 18s.

The weekend started with a match against Halton 2. The three Cippenham girls won the first four sets with the loss of just a solitary game to secure the maximum yield of points before Piercey lost to Milly Hanrahan. Iles then won her second match against India Odley to give her team a 5-1 final result.

The one setback during the weekend came next as Cippenham lost to divisional leader St Neots. This was a closely-fought match with all of the first three sets requiring a fifth game to decide the outcome.

Cippenham were unfortunately on the losing end of the first two as Iles led 2-0 against Chloe Pryke but could not hold on to her advantage then Silcock suffered her only reverse against Stefania Popa.

Piercey got Cippenham back into the match with a close win over Aditi Dhillon and Silcock drew her team level by beating Pryke 3-0. Iles and Piercey however were unable to win their final two singles and the match was lost 4-2.

Cippenham got back to winning ways with a 4-2 victory over Britannia. The Ipswich-based team actually went 2-1 up but Cippenham roared back to win with Silcock winning twice and Iles and Piercey once each.

The matches on Sunday were plain sailing as Ackworth were beaten 5-1 in the morning, then Cippenham went one better against Lillington in the afternoon, the final result being 6-0.

Over the two matches, four of the sets were close enough to require a deciding game, but overall it was a dominating display from Cippenham with Silcock and Piercey wining all their four games, and Iles winning three times.