Two brothers from Broadstairs who learned to play table tennis at home during the Covid lockdown have won gold medals at the Kent County Championships.

Ben and Ollie Willis, aged 11 and seven respectively, started playing regularly three years ago after the family squeezed a table into their kitchen as a way of passing the time.

The pair made rapid progress and earlier this month enjoyed county success in the under-13 age group when Ben won the main boys’ singles and Ollie landed the second-tier plate competition.

“They liked table tennis, and played occasionally, but we didn’t have a table tennis table, just a kitchen table that we put a net over,” said dad Russell, who took a coaching qualification so he could help the boys.

“The big difference was to get a real table during Covid and practise regularly, because you had time to practise.

“I played on one side and I’d have a foot or so behind me in order to give them as much room as possible on the other side, which still wasn’t very much. I couldn’t move; they could move a bit.

“We’d move the kettle when we played but you had to avoid the fridge.

“I saw a quick improvement in the boys.

“Like most things, if you practise something a lot, and you enjoy it, the better you get.

“We weren’t doing anything serious at the beginning, just hitting balls and having fun, but you could see the progress.

“In the early days of lockdown we were having teabag-throwing competitions to have fun, and then table tennis became a more elegant replacement.”

Since then, Ben and Ollie have trained in Japan - their place of birth and a country where table tennis is a major sport - visiting a club in Tokyo on three trips.

They also attend weekly sessions at Thanet Vikings in Margate and Chestfield Warriors in Whitstable and are coached three times a week by their dad at the family’s new home (the table is no longer in the kitchen).

Ben began to ask about table tennis rankings and was soon accruing points at various tournaments, with Ollie following suit.

As well as county success for the pair, Ben also competed at the National Championships - another important step in his development.

Long-term, the boys have Olympic ambitions, with Ben setting his sights on the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

“It’s a very big ambition, but why not?” said Russell.

“In Japan, for example, one of their top players was the No.1 player when he was 15 or 16, so it’s possible by that age to beat people a lot older at a variety of sports, including table tennis.

“Ben was at the National Championships and did well.

“We didn’t expect him to win, because he hasn’t got a high-enough ranking in the under-13s, but next year is a target for him.

“We think he’s on the verge of being able to win a medal in the National Championships.

“He’s already one of the top players in England in his age group but he could be one of the top three.”