BASINGSTOKE Gymnast Poppy White finished in the top 25 in the Level Three British Championships held recently at the Guildford Spectrum.

The nine-year-old competed very well with few mistakes and her best result was finishing in the top 15 on the floor. She was also part of the southern region team which came sixth.

David-Roy Wood, head of artistic section at the club, said: “Poppy competed very well, with great confidence. A very talented girl with great success at such a young age.”

White qualified for the national event in Guildford, thanks to a great showing at the Southern Region Championships held in Aldershot last month.

She produced the highlight of the day for the Basingstoke club, as she finished in third place overall at level three.

She was not the only gymnast in action at Aldershot and the best result for the level five girls was Yasmin Hamilton-Giles achieving medals on vault, with a silver, and a bronze for the floor to finish overall eighth.

Other good performances saw Holly Curran, Lydia Doyle and Skye White finish in the top 15 on the vault, while Ashley Preston and Shanice George made the top 15 on the floor.

In the level four age group, Amy Lee-Sui, competing for a chance to qualify for the British Championships, did not have the best of days but still finished in 18th overall to gain great experience for next years national competitions.

The 2010 regional squad was selected from this Southern Region Championships and the results of selection saw two girls from Basingstoke – White and Hamilton-Giles – selected.

Wood added: “For such a young squad of girls the success is coming very fast, with two girls being selected for the southern region elite squad. I think we can look forward to more success for 2010.”

Before that six Basingstoke gymnasts were in action at the Hampshire levels, held in Hamble.

Hamilton-Giles was the floor champion and also won a bronze on the bars, while George took silver and Curran achieved the same medal for the vault.

Skye White and Preston finished in the top ten on the floor, while Doyle made the top 15 for the bars.

In the level three age group, Poppy White won a bronze medal on the bars, before being crowned floor champion.