A TOP national table tennis tournament will be coming to North Ayrshire this weekend - for only its second ever edition.

The Senior British League (SBL) Premier Cup will be taking place at the Inverclyde Sports Centre in Largs on Saturday, June 1 and Sunday, June 2 ,and will see the top eight sides in the UK compete for glory.

The teams which typically compete in the SBL Premier League will be in the running for the title - though this time they will compete in a knockout format.

Clubs have been drawn into quarter final matches with winners earning a place in the semi-finals, while losing teams will go on to compete for positions five to eight.

After the semi-finals, the losers play off for third and fourth positions and the winners go into the final to determine who lifts the trophy. Once all the play-offs are complete, a final finishing order from one to eight is known.

In each team match, there are up to seven individual matches – six singles and one doubles – the doubles match is the third one to be played.

The matches will be played to a result, i.e. the first team to win four matches. Each team consists of four players, three of whom will compete in the singles. Any two players can play in the doubles.

Amongst the teams in the running is host-side, the North Ayrshire Table Tennis Club, who will be hoping to get their hands on the trophy for the first time.

A tough task lies ahead however, with North Ayrshire drawn to face top ranked side, and league winners, Brighton in the quarter-finals.

But club founder Billy Main is hopeful that, with the crowd behind them, North Ayrshire can pull off the desired result.

He commented: “North Ayrshire Table Tennis Club are delighted in being awarded the second ever SBL Premier Cup.

“Bringing the top eight teams together from all over the UK will make it a special event for table tennis on the West coast of Scotland.

“We’ll be hoping home advantage and a home crowd will inspire us to victory.”

Matches will begin at 10am on Saturday, June 1, with action taking place across four tables. The second session of play will begin in the afternoon at 2.30pm.

On Sunday, June 2, games begin across three tables from 10am, with the final match played across only one table from 1.30pm that day.

Games will also be streamed online at https://tte.tv/home.