Crawley table tennis star Paul Carter wins English title

England champions (from left) Gary Knights, former European champion John Hilton and Paul Carter

The Crawley Community Club player won the England Over-40s Men’s Doubles title with his partner Garry Knights (Staffordshire).

They beat England number four Andrew Wilkinson (Northumberland) and number 35 Stephen Scowcroft (Lancashire) in the final at Wolverhampton.

This is the first national title he has won since winning the England Schools Under-19s Singles 29 years ago.

Carter, from Worth, said: “This is one of my proudest ping pong achievements ever.”

The fourth seeded duo also had to overcome former World Championships bronze medallists Neil Charles (Ipswich), who won the English over-40s Singles title, and Tommy Cutler (Luton) in the semi-final.

Carter and Knights upset the odds by recording a 3-0 victory.

The final saw Carter and Knights have six championship points at 10-4 up in the fourth game.

However, Wilkinson and Scowcroft fought back superbly to take the final into a deciding set.

Despite this setback Carter and Knights were able to regain complete the surprise title win 11-6 in the fifth.