BURY's Andrea Holt hit out at the standard of women's table tennis after taking the English national title for the fifth time writes Neil Bonnar

The experienced former England number one, who learned the game in Bury and Bolton and lives in Ramsbottom, confirmed her dominance by taking the title in Sheffield at the weekend.

She beat Staffordshire's Helen Lower in seven matches to win the competition.

And she saw off the opposition despite not being able to move around the table freely because of injury.

She said: "I had pulled a muscle in my calf quite badly the previous week, and I was more or less playing the championships on one leg."

Andrea has been a harsh critic of the English Table Tennis Association in recent years, blaming them for falling standards in the women's game.

Now she has a chance to help improve the quality after taking on a top administrative post as North-west Development Officer for Table Tennis.

She was at the top of the national tree for around a decade before cutting back on competing and moving increasingly into coaching.

She is preparing to widen her experience in her new Bolton-based job, which she starts next month.

"I am going to be very busy promoting table tennis all over the North-west," she said.

"I will be getting people active and helping them work their way through the existing structure, from local leagues to the top, just like I did."

Andrea -- who first won the English title in 1991 -- represented Great Britain at two Olympic Games, as well as competing in the world's top events and Europe's best leagues.

But she became disillusioned with the poor standard of table tennis in England and took two years out of the game.

During this time, she did not take part in the English championships, which she had won three times.

She returned four years ago, reaching the semi-finals the first year back, the final the following year and winning the title last year.

After retaining the title last weekend, she said she would carry on as long as she believed she could win. Andrea does not play in ranking tournaments, but has no doubt how she compares with the country's other leading women players.

"I would probably be number one if I was still playing enough," she said.

"The standard is not as high as it was a few years ago when there were some really good players."