Table tennis world cup final umpire from Guernsey

Mr Foote was one of four non-Chinese referees at the tournament

A Guernsey table tennis referee was chosen to umpire the final of the Mixed Team World Cup in China.

Ben Foote was personally invited to officiate at the International Table Tennis Federation's ( ITTF) Mixed Team World Cup in China, which took place between 1 and 8 December.

Mr Foote was umpire for the final, which saw China beat Korea Republic in front of TV cameras and a packed 7,000 seater stadium in Chengdu.

He said officiating the final was a "real honour" and he was most nervous about not dropping the coin used to decide which team served first.

Mr Foote officiated a match involving the highest ranked table tennis player in the world, Wang Chuqin

Mr Foote qualified as an umpire in 2010 before taking his international umpire exam in 2013.

He was one of only four non-Chinese referees to officiate the tournament.

"It was fantastic. It was a really global end of season world cup event of 16 countries," he said.

"This was a real honour, because normally you apply and you hope to be selected for a tournament but this one was a direct invite from the ITTF, saying 'would you like to come to china?'

He added: "I was lucky enough to get selected to do the final along with two others.

"I had to lead them out and do the coin toss.

"That was a real privilege, to be able to say I've officiated a world cup final."