AN Okehampton Primary School student recently joined the top 300 junior table tennis players in the National Schools Table Tennis Championships.

Edward Haskell, 11, won his place in the event after becoming Devon Primary Schools Champion in February , when he fought off the competition by winning all his matches 3-0.

The national event, which took place in the Dome, in Doncaster on Saturday, April 24, saw 300 players from 50 counties in England compete against each other, all of which had won county championship status to give them a place in the nationals.

Edward, who trains between four and five times a week and competes across the country, represented his county in the under 11 boys' event.

He won his first game 3-1, followed by three matches that all had a 3-0 win. The wins gave him a place in the next round where he was knocked out of the competition by the third placed winner.

Edward, who has been playing table tennis for the past three years, had great success at the national event and came 12th in England.

The following day he played in the South West squad, competing in the regional championships, along with all ten regions in England who competed against each other.

Edward was one of two U11 boys to be selected to play for the region and was ranked number one, which meant he went on to play all the other number one players.

He won four out of the six matches he played, which contributed to the sixth place win for the region.

The talented player has won many competitions, including Devon County U11 Champion and Devon County U13 runner-up.

He also plays in the Devon County team in the U18 category.

Edward will return to Doncaster at the end of the month to compete in the national finals.