Basingstoke Table Tennis maintained it's strong relationship with the Alencon Table Tennis Club, L'Etoile Alenconaisse during a long weekend twinning visit of sporting competition and friendship. The exchange that was brought forward to mid-April so as not to clash with a busy May period for the Alencon club that now hosts many events in their new purpose built table tennis centre that caters for at least 16 tables.

The twinning between Basingstoke and Alencon started in 1968 and Table Tennis enjoys the link that has been maintained since the start which equates to over 40 years of sporting competition

The exchange is in the legacy of the Festival of Sports that was in its heyday throughout the 1970’s and 80’s. The Festival of Sports which over the years saw 31 different sports participate such as Rugby, Athletics, Swimming, Cycling, Basketball, Gymnastics, Fencing, Karate ,Archery, Bridge and Fishing etc is still remembered by many people in Basingstoke .In 1978 the French sent over 180 sportsmen and women and in 1983 nearly 300 competitors ventured over to Alencon in a competition covering 13 events.

Alençon is a bustling market town surrounded by beautiful countryside dotted with picturesque villages where you can sample locally-made Camembert and cider. The town of Alençon dates back to the 4th century and is home to beautifully preserved historic buildings such as the Maison d’Ozé (15th century), the Notre-Dame church, the Halle au Blé (19th century Corn Exchange) and many more. Alençon is also very famous for its lace and the internationally renowned "Point d’Alençon", which was developed in the 17th century. Finest examples of this unique lace pattern can be seen at the local fine arts museum.

For this years competition a 12 strong party travelled to Alencon in minibus via the Dover-Calais ferry crossing and enjoyed 3 nights being hosted in a French families house and 2 days of hospitality.

The 10 players from Basingstoke formed 3 teams and were rarely troubled as each team recorded comfortable team wins.Basingstoke's current open champion and organiser of the twinning (Jumelage) and the Basingstoke team are looking forward to receiving the Alencon team with the club president Philippe DUGRAND and Laurent Gautier and other members of the Alencon team for the 45th exchange year on 2011.

The Basingstoke players were as below;

Sean Pickin, Patrick Garlick, Louis Webb,Sue Tompsett, George White, Steve Armstrong Sarah Whithorn Matthew Palaczky Terri Allison Martin Dawson