Allerton youngster in the zone for Leeds school (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Allerton youngster Ben Hemsley in the zone for Leeds school

5:00pm Friday 25th January 2013 in Sport By Sports Desk

A youngster from Allerton has helped his school to a regional final of a national table tennis competition.

Ben Hemsley, a former Wilsden Primary School pupil, is one quarter of The Grammar School at Leeds’ (GSAL) under-13 team which became West Yorkshire champions.

And they have now gone one better by progressing through the zone finals, which included South Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire.

The team won their three matches convincingly, with scorelines of 8-0, 7-1 and 7-1 and have their sights on the national prize as they go through to the regional final in Grantham on February 24.

Their under-16 GSAL counterparts, in a close-fought zone final, came third out of five teams.

Team coach Martin Gibson said: “Last year we were runners-up in the West Yorkshire competition so we are delighted to have gone further this time around and wish the under-13s best of luck when they play for a place in the national final.”