Ben Taylor and Tori Dunn won the open male and female categories as part of South West Sport’s annual awards function at the Lighthouse Theatre.

Taylor earned recognition for captaining the Victorian under 21 table tennis squad, which won a silver medal at national championships in Brisbane.

The Warrnambool Table Tennis Association gun also won the Albury Open, one of several tournaments he contested throughout the year.

Dunn, who was unable to attend the function, received her honour for national and international success in archery.

Her major accolade was silver in the bowhunter recurve section at International Field Archery Association world championships in the United States.

Dunn, whose home town is south of Horsham, also won silver at North American championships and gold at Australian championships. Her Australian championships peformance included setting national records in the field, hunter and animal disciplines — the three elements of the sport.

Taylor, a commerce student at Deakin University who has played table tennis since he was eight, said he was proud to take out the award.

“I guess it’s hard to know who’s done what and who’s nominated who. I wasn’t expecting much but I’m very happy I’ve won,” he said.

He said table tennis had become a passion since he followed his father Mark into the sport in the early 2000s, when the family lived at Melton.

“It’s an individual sport so you’ve got to put a lot of pressure on yourself and work hard,” he said.

“There are good people involved. Achieving really helps as well but I just love the sport. I love pressuring myself to try and achieve.

“Last year was a pretty good year, silver medal, hopefully it was going to be gold but it didn’t turn out that way. Last year was one of my better years.”

Taylor will take his table tennis talents to South Korea, where he will represent Australia at World University Games in July.

He is the only Victorian in the four-strong squad heading to Gwangju City. Long-term, he hopes to join the elite ranks in the country.

“It’s probably hard from down here to really reach that level but if I work hard enough I can go wherever I want,” he said.

“I’ve got good support behind me here. Even if I need to move and get extra training, I’m sure there’s ways and means of getting to that level.”