lkley table-tennis starlet Kate Nixon has made a bright start to the new season and is preparing for county duty.

The promising 13-year-old has been selected to represent Yorkshire at both under-15 and under-18 level over the coming weeks.

First up she will play alongside Nicole Finn in the Junior County Championships in Slough on November 10-11.

Then she will represent Yorkshire in the Junior National Champion- ships on November 24-25 after qualifying at Richmond Hill recently when she won all of her matches in the qualification event.

The Ilkley Grammar School pupil will also play for the Yorkshire under-15s team in the Cadet County Championships at Burton on December 1.

It promises to be a hectic schedule for Kate who us a member of the England Youth Development Squad and trains once a month at Lilleshall.

Locally she trains with Yorkshire Regional coaches Sally Shutt and Brian Birdeck as she looks to develop her game and she also plays in the Junior British League for Division Two side Draycott from the East Midlands.

She recently helped them defeat Munster, Ellenborough & Warring- ton, and Sussex and won seven of her eight matches.

And last Saturday he competed in the Stockton Four Star event, reaching the quarter-finals of both the cadet and under 18 events.

In the under-18 competition she beat the Yorkshire top seed Nicole Finn in five games. Kate led 2--0, was pegged back to 2-2, then won the final game 11-9.

Kate is now benefiting from spending two and a half weeks training in China this Summer. She stayed 200 miles from Beijing, ande played for seven hours every day.

This International training Camp attracts players from all over the world.

Kate learnt a lot about the work ethics of the Chinese girls which is second to none. An experience she will never forget.