REIGNING Lincolnshire Young Sportswoman of the Year Emily Bates insisted she could finally rest easy after claiming table tennis gold at the UK School Games in Sunderland.

The 14-year-old Kesteven Grantham Girls School pupil was making her third appearance at the Games but a silver three years ago was the closest she had come to individual gold.

Bates started as she intended to go on by disposing of Tressa Armitage before going on to beat Karian Le Fevre en-route to a medal showdown with Yolanda King.

And after piling pumping up the pressure on herself ahead of the trip to the north-east, the Grantham Tornados member was delighted to see off King and finally land the gold.

"We had high expectations for this event both as a team and as individuals and I am so glad I managed to get individual gold," said Bates.

"This is an event that I really thought I had a great chance of winning and it is such a relief to come through and do just that because I put a lot of pressure on myself.

"I love coming to the UK School Games it is such an exciting environment in which to play your table tennis.

"This time around I just I wanted to come home with a medal and you can't ask more than gold.

"This is a brilliant tournament and I have really enjoyed playing here and to be honest I am just delighted."

Bates' delight was doubled when the Midlands team captured the team gold and after arriving as the top-ranked player in the Games, she was delighted to prove that statistics don't lie.

"I am the top ranked player in the tournament and obviously I would like to think that I have a big future in the sport," added Bates.

"I definitely want to keep playing the sport well beyond today and success is something I love. Fingers crossed, I can keep playing well and improving my game.

"I am still young to be honest and I know I can steadily improve my game. Who knows about the future but 2016 is an obvious target to aim for.

"It is brilliant representing your area but to pull on a GB or England vest at the very top level of this sport is something I definitely aspire to."

Elsewhere, there was success in the pool for Lincoln's youngsters as Hayley Williams finished second in the 50m freestyle but Oliver Bitowt agonisingly missed out on a medal – finishing fourth in the 400m medley.

The Sainsbury's UK School Games is managed by the Youth Sport Trust, a national charity that works with more than 450 school sport partnerships across the country to improve the PE and school sport experience for all young people. For more information visit www.youthsporttrust.org