A BROMLEY schoolgirl has achieved a rare double by becoming county champion in both tennis and squash.

Elizabeth Ashworth, 14, holds the Kent 14-and-under and 16-and-under tennis titles as well as the under-15 squash championship.

She is also the only girl in the country with national rankings in both sports, placing at 33 in tennis at under-16 and at 28 in squash at under-15.

The youngster said: "A lot of people say you can't play both tennis and squash, but Roger Federer does.

"In fact, he was better at squash than tennis until he was about 17."

Elizabeth, who is in her first year of GCSE studies at Royal Russell School in Croydon, started playing tennis at the age of four at Park Langley Club in Beckenham.

She started off with mini tennis using a sponge ball on a smaller court and progressed through the various stages before starting to use the standard tennis ball at the age of nine.

Elizabeth took up squash at the age of six and also played badminton until her schedule became just crowded.

She trains for about 14 hours a week at tennis and often has tournaments at weekends, together with occasional overseas trips.

Although Elizabeth has no formal squash coaching at present due to lack of time, she still plays regular matches for Park Langley Ladies and competes in tournaments when possible.

Most tennis players of her standard train full-time, spending up to six hours a day on court and getting their education via correspondence courses and the internet, but Elizabeth has no plans to give up school.

She said: "My school is very understanding about letting me have time off for training.

"I am hoping to get my GCSEs and A-Levels, then I shall consider whether to see how far I can get in full time sport."