Sussex 16-year old Heather Olver teamed up with Charity Barnes (Norfolk) to become a national under-17s champion.

They claimed the girls doubles by beating Jenny Wallwork (Yorkshire) and Rebecca Fairhurst (Staffordshire) 2-1 at Slough.

Heather, from Heathfield, also reached the semi-finals of the singles, losing 2-0 to Wallwork.

The Heathfield Sixth Form College pupil was top seed in the mixed doubles but partner Raj Ouseph (Middlesex) pulled out with sickness.

Dean George missed a national boys' final because of illness.

George, 15, from Portslade, battled through to face doubles partner Andrew Ellis (Yorkshire) but was forced to scratch with a virus.

Jason Large, national under-15s coach, said: "He was up against it before the start because he was a year young, so to get through to the final despite not feeling too well was an even bigger feat."

He also reached the last four of the doubles with Ellis (Yorkshire) before being pipped 17-16 in the third set by Chris Wright (Buckinghamshire) and Tom Armstrong (Leicestershire).

George and Olver are to compete in the national under-19s championships at Milton Keynes next month.