FURNESS players landed four Cumbria Schools Table Tennis titles at the individual championships in Kirkby Stephen.

Rebecca Rigg was the star of the show for the girls, taking the under-13s and under-16s crowns, while Ben McDonald was the boys under-19s champion Askam Village School's Mischa Turner claimed the under—1s girls trophy.

Rigg started her dominance in the under-13s event, dominating the round-robin group.

The most any of her rivals managed to win in a set against the St Bernard's player was five points as she showed why she is among the best in the North West.

The tension came with the battle for second as three girls each managed three wins.

Walney's Amelia Langhorn secured the runners-up spot by virtue of a superior set difference.

She beat Kirkby Stephen's Janna McWhirter in straight sets, but was beaten by Chloe Irvine, of St Bernard's, 6-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 9-11.

McWhirter defeated Irvine in four sets, which meant she took third spot.

It was a similar tale for Rigg in the under-16s event as she was again the class player, marking up three straight sets wins to take her second title of the day.

Langhorn was again the runner-up, with Irvine third and McWhirter fourth.

In the under-19s boys, holder Ben O'Flynn, of Barrow Sixth Form, and St Bernard's pupil McDonald cruised through their groups as the top two seeds. Both players won all their matches in straight sets.

In the third group, Ryan Cotton, also of St Bernard’s, started well by defeating Millom's Sam Huddleston and Windermere's Bosse Ruschmann in straight sets, before winning in four against Leighton Guang, also of Windermere School.

He had considerable work to do to secure top spot against team-mate Matthew Rigg, with an extra twist meaning Rigg could finish anywhere from first to third and even faced the prospect of a shock early exit.

The pair went point for point in the opening set, but Rigg hit the winning ball at 14-12, but Cotton's straight forward push, counter-hit style gradually reeled in his opponent and he took the win.

It was between Guang and Rigg for the runners-up spot, and the match between them was another scintillating five-set encounter. The Windermere player went ahead after taking the opener 12-10, Rigg took the next two, but Guang levelled and went on to take the decider 11-4.

Guang also overcame Huddleston in five sets and, although both players went through to the quarter-finals, the result affected the seeded positions.

Jack Cullen, of Millom School, finished as runner-up behind McDonald, and the quarter-final line-up was completed with two players from Group B, Millom’s Scott Barker and Daniel Holder, from Ullswater Community.

McDonald sailed through the last eight in straight sets against Holder, while Barker went behind against Guang but took three sets in a row to book his semi-final berth.

Cotton opened with an 11-3 set against Cullen, lost the next two, but reeled off four and five 11-2, 11-3 to advance.

The last of the quarter-finals produced great table tennis and tension between O’Flynn and Rigg.

The former had the better opening, with an 11-6 set, but Rigg levelled, 11-5. O’Flynn again edged ahead, 11-9, only for Rigg to win the fourth, 11-5.

It was point-for-point in the decider as both players made good use of their serves and gained points from powerful topspin drives. The score went to 11-all before O’Flynn took his chance to seal victory 13-11.

There was further drama in both semi-finals, with the close encounters testament to the high standard.

McDonald kept his focus against the determined Barker to win 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 11-2, while Cotton had the better start against O’Flynn, pinning him down to take the opener 11-6.

O’Flynn showed determination in his last appearance at the Cumbria finals and won the next 11-9 before going 2-1 up.

With victory in sight, nerves crept back into his game, and Cotton seized his chance to get back into the match. Deuce in the fourth set became 13 -13 before O’Flynn ended the Cotton fightback 15-13.

The final was fast and furious, with both young players showing why they are among the best in the county, McDonald taking a three-set win.

In the under-13s boys event, St Bernard's duo Fraser Park and Adam McLoughlin reached the quarter-finals but were unable to go any further.

Jake Haygarth, of Tebay, showed in the final how much he has improved in the last 12 months with a confident title-winning display.

All three players in the under-11s girls event were from Askam School.

Emily Graham began with a win against Charlotte Askham, with Turner also beating Askham and winning the title when she overcame Graham.