Brighton's Roger Chandler remains the greatest star of Sussex table tennis after he won the county crown with his fabulous brand of top-spin.

But it now seems the way is clear for a new legend to emerge, Ritchie Venner from Crawley.

Venner lifted his eighth singles trophy at Horsham last week in the All-Sussex championships, defeating his Crawley team mate Mayur Majithia 21-19, 21-10 in the final.

If Venner wins next year he will equal Chandler's record.

After his Horsham victory, Venner said: "I am now looking forward to overtaking Roger's record and then moving on to make it ten wins in 2003."

Venner remains top scorer for Sussex in the county championships and for Horsham in the premier division of the British League but he is still slipping slowly on the England ranking list. He is now ranked No.22.

The latest news on the moves coming up in Osaka on April 26 when the International Table Tennis Federation will attempt to force 11 point scoring world wide, instead of 21, is that the action could be passed.

But the ETTA is saying that if their annual meeting agrees local leagues and local tournaments will be able to carry on with the 21 point system.