In a final in which both players agreed was one of the best matches they had ever played, former England and Commonwealth champion Alan Cook, 35, beat his Chesterfield colleague Bradley Billington 6-11 11-4 9-11 16-14 15-13 to successfully defend his Newcastle Open Butterfly Grand Prix men's singles title at Eldon Leisure Centre.

Billington, himself a former international and like Cooke a part-time national coach who plays professionally in Switzerland, and four match points, two in the fourth game and two in the fifth over Cook in an epic clash which was replete with spectacular, long range topspin to topspin rallies.

In a sense Billington was returning to home turf as he had studied Sports Science at the University of Northumbria.

In the semi-finals Cooke had been untroubled by Hertfordshire-based Hungarian, Gergely Urban, winning 11-4 11-8 11-3 while Billington had avenged his Clare Pengelly Butterfly GP final defeat by Middlesex University student Marco Essomba (Surrey) in September by hitting through the pride of British League champions London 10-12 11-3 11-4 11-4.

In the quarter-finals Essomba, a former Cameroon international, had put out 17-year-old Louis Rosenthal (Lancs) who once one of England's brightest young prospects, is making a welcome return to top flight tabble tennis.

The surprise winner of the women's singles was Chinese Na Liu, 19, who is studying English at Queens University, Belfast. In the semi-finals Na Liu, who plays a power topspin game using a shake hands grip, only just bettered the defending champion and England No 2 Helen Lowe (Wolverhampton) winning 11-7 9-11 7-11 11-6 12-10 and the penultimate point was achieved with an edge.

However, the final was one way traffic as she powered through South Bank Londron Unviersity student Barbara Kiss (Herts). Kiss had earlier beaten her Hungarian compatriot Dorka Nagy, also a student, 11-9 11-9 12-10.

Na Liu also won the under ban one women's singles beating Alice Howard from Prenton, the Wirral, but 21-year-old Howard had an excellent weekend lifting the under 21 women's singles and also with Barbara Kiss reading the women's doubles final.

One of the most exciting finals was the veteran men's singles when former England international Nigel Eckersley (Sussex) beat former European champion John Hilton (Lancs), who plays for Darlington in the British League) 11-8 11-3 8-11 6-11 11-9 from 6-9 down in the fifth game.

The North-East had success when Gateshead's Eddie Smith (Darlington British League) beat German Middlesex University student Christian Hundhausen (London Progress) 11-9 5-11 11-8 8-11 to take the band one men's singles. Cleveland's Jane Durham had a comfortable 11-4 11-1 11-3 final result over Judy Morley (Gloucs) for the women's veterans singles.

While talented Michael Marsden (Durham) demonstrated a return to form when he reached the Men's singles final before being dispatched 11-8 11-7 11-5 by Scotland's rising star Gavin Rumgay.

In fact, a contingent of 20 players had come from North of the Border picking up four titles.

Dominic Hall was very much the outstanding player at the South Of England Junior Three-Star open Jarvis Sport Grand Prix played at Trinity School.

The Croydon championship, over the weekend, easily saw Hall beat his Kent colleague Stephen Head 11-6 11-2 11-8 to take the junior boys singles.

The new starlet of London Progress Lithuanian hitter Egley Adonelyte won the junior girls singles, but she did not have it easy n her 11-5 11-7 6-11 8-11 11-3 victory over Welsh combination bat player Laura Hall.

Top seeded Brian Johns (Ches) and Jan Dunning Worcs) won the men's and women's super groups respectively in the first Mid Cheshire Veterans Open championships held at Egerton Youth Centre, Knutsford on Sunday