A team of Croydon students have been crowned national table tennis champions.

The squad from Whitgift School consisted of Ollie Maric-Murray, Jacky Lee, Kai Sun Yiu, David Aboagye and Thomas Sullivan Ferrarin and the group took out the Under-13 Boys’ title at the Butterfly School Team Championships.

Having come through county and regional heats to reach the national finals in Hinckley, the team faced the three other qualifiers.

Two wins over Nottinghamshire opponents – 8-0 against Toot Hill School and 5-3 against Carlton le Willows Academy – saw then face also unbeaten Fortismere School from Muswell Hill to decide the champions.

It went to the wire as both schools led at some point, and it was David Aboagye who won the final match for Whitgift to make it 4-4, meaning they had won 15-12 on sets difference.

Aboagye said of his win: “I knew what I had to do. I stayed calm and tried not to get frustrated if I wasn’t playing my best.

“We had an idea we could win the trophy – we’ve trained very hard and this felt like the year.”