Ifield, the top club in Sussex, are through to the semi-finals of the national club Ormesby Cup.

They crushed Chippenham and Aldershot 5-0 in the second stage played at Slough.

The Crawley club have won the cup three times in recent years.

But since London Progress arrived on the scene four years ago, Ifield have only reached the final.

Ifield fielded their strongest trio, Ritchie Venner, Terry Haley and Mayur Majithia. The semi-finals are due to be played on May 26-27 at a venue yet to be decided.

At Slough, Venner was top scorer with four wins, and there were three for Haley, who is now the Sussex No.1 veteran and ranked No.24 on the England veterans list.

Haley may play the European Veterans Championships at Denmark in June.

Certain to be there is Eastbourne-based international umpire Derek Baseley. This will be his first assignment abroad, a year after passing his final test for his international badge.

When asked if he had ambitions to umpire in a future world championship, he said: "The chance would great, but there is a new system. Each nation has to nominate an elite list of ten umpires. If I could get on that list I might stand a chance of being nominated."

Baseley is also making progress as a referee. He made his Sussex debut as a referee at the recent all-Sussex junior championships in Hove.

Alan Ransome, chairman of the English Table Tennis Association thinks the 11 points scoring system will get the go-ahead next week. England will vote against and apply for 21 points to be continued in local leagues and tournaments in England.