The Pilgrim School in Rochester are national table tennis champions.

The squad of Katie O’Dwyer, Amy Barrance, Lily Clarke and Scarlett Lennon won the under-11 girls’ event at the Butterfly English Schools Table Tennis Association national team finals on Saturday.

Having battled through two qualifying stages to reach the finals at Hinckley, the squad started with a 7-1 victory over Cliffedale Primary School from Grantham and followed up with an identical score against Old Clee Primary of Grimsby.

They faced St Andrew’s C of E Primary from Plymouth, who had also won their first two matches, in the deciding tie and, despite losing the first match, they powered into an unassailable 5-1 lead and went on to win 5-3.

Team No 1 Katie O’Dwyer, 11, said: “We’re really happy, because we didn’t expect it. We didn’t think we would be first, but perseverance and teamwork helped us.”