Nigel Eckersley has just missed out on his third veterans' title.

The Uckfield ace was playing at Sheffield in the last Grand Prix of the season, but lost out to arch rival John Hilton, from Manchester, in the final.

Eckersley led Hilton by two games to one but could not hold onto the advantage, as Hilton's slightly superior top-spin attack proved decisive with at 11-7 in the fifth game.

Sheila King, the leading Sussex veteran and captain of the Millennium Belles team, helped her side retain the British Women's Veteran League premier division title for the third year in succession after five matches at Stratford upon Avon.

Led by the England No 5 Helen Shields (Yorkshire), the five girls beat all five opposition teams, culminating in a 4-2 victory over their main rivals Colebridge, from Birmingham.

The Birmingham team included England No.2 Jan Dunning, who scored twice, but the Belles won the remaining four games.

King is also hoping she can climb back up the England women's rankings from her present spot at No 24 after individual success in the Veterans' Southern Masters at Bracknell.

She reached the final of the main event, the over-40s, losing 21-17, 21-18 to the Plymouth player Elaine Short.