THE Malvern trio of Craig Preece, Lizzie Gorton and Alison Sage entered new territory when they joined Chris Pearce (Evesham) and Adam Nuttall (Kiddermin-ster) to represent the Worcestershire cadet table tennis team.

Their first weekend of matches, held at Evesham Sports College, saw them oppose Sussex, Surrey, Middlesex and Berkshire.

The first two matches saw Worcestershire narrowly defeated 6-4 against Sussex and Surrey, which was followed by a heavy 10-0 defeat against a very strong Middlesex side. The team then managed to redeem themselves by coming back from a 5-2 deficit to draw 5-5 against Berkshire.

Lizzie proved to be the most successful Worcestershire player, winning four of her eight matches, but all four team mates also contributed with hard-fought wins at stages throughout the day.

The whole team gained valuable experience against nationally ranked players in some cases and can look forward to their final round of matches against Glamorgan, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire in February with a certain degree of optimism.

The trio of Malvern players all attend the Malvern Table Tennis League's coaching sessions, which are held every Sunday evening at the main assembly hall at Dyson Perrins C of E School, Yates Hay Road.

Three sessions run from 5.30pm until 9.15pm catering for all ages from six years upwards with the main aim of promoting table tennis for junior players in the Malvern area.

Anyone interested in attending, or requiring information, can contact Cicely Palmer on (01684) 540595 or Graham Collier on (01905) 428486.