Hot-shot table tennis players from Newham took top honours the East London regional final of the Jack Petchey London Schools Team Championships.

Run in partnership with Table Tennis England at Morpeth School, Tower Hamlets and celebrating its 10th year, the event attracted 88 players from nine schools from Barking & Dagenham, Bexley, City of London, Greenwich, Hackney, Havering, Lewisham, Newham, Redbridge and Tower Hamlets, making up 22 teams.

Age ranges included U12, U14, U16 and U19 and the under-16 boys event was won by Rokeby School, who beat the host school in the final.

Their team was Ochir Bayarbaatar, Arik Rahman, Julian Miguel Balmores, Harris Khan and Walid Bouazza and the standard of competition was high, with some close games against Morpeth despite the final score.

Harris Khan said: "We are delighted to get through to the final and this is our first win together. Last year we played in the U13 Boys and lost in the semis. We can't wait for the final."

In the under-19 boys event a team from NewVic Sixth Form were runners-up after losing to Hackney's Petchey Academy. Their team was Terrique Wade, Martines Angeliev and Abdul Samir.

Winners of the regional competitions progress to the Jack Petchey London School's Team Championships Final being held on January 11 in the SportsDock at the University of East London.

The Jack Petchey Table Tennis programme includes competition opportunities through the Schools via Team and Individual Championships, with progression to the grand finals. Over 6,000 students have played in competitions during the last year and over 50,000 school children have been directly impacted by the scheme since it started.

Sir Jack Petchey CBE, the 94-year-old founder of the Jack Petchey Foundation, is passionate about giving young people freedom and opportunity.

He said: "As a young man I loved playing table tennis. It kept me fit and active and developed my self-discipline and confidence. It's great to know so many play every week as this programme is close to my heart."

For further information visit https://tabletennisengland.co.uk/clubs/jack-petchey-scheme.