YORK table tennis fans were treated to a spectacular night of top class skills by two of the sport's big names.

Former European champion John Hilton and Italian international Fabio Mantagazza turned on the style for the audience of about 60 at Canon Lee School.

And York's top junior player Richard Moss, of Poppleton, managed to take a few points off the Italian ace in one of the exhibition matches.

"It was a super night," said Mark Smith, the York-based regional development officer for the English Table Tennis Association.

"It was good to see new faces in the audience, people who don't already play table tennis, and a lot of parents brought their children along."

The aim of the night was to encourage enthusiasts to join a new session for adults being run at Canon Lee School starting on January 8, from 6pm to 8pm.

The two stars demonstrated all the basic shots, including exciting fast loops, then played an exhibition match in which they let loose all the dazzling strokes in their armoury. The Italian is a student at Manchester University and as number one in Darlington's British League team is unbeaten so far this season.

"There were really good, long rallies and a lot of power play," said Smith. "When you see fast loop shots done by top level players it really is spectacular to watch."

Several members of the audience then took the opportunity to try their hand against the international experts.

Updated: 12:15 Tuesday, December 18, 2001