NORTH Yorkshire’s Tom Hildreth continues to rule the world, writes Mat Robinson.

He became the first player to retain the V2 World Cup after beating Scott Snowdon 89-79 in an all-English final.

VX, formally known as Rock-it-ball, is a sport that was created in North Yorkshire eight years ago.

The idea of the fast-paced sport is to throw a ball using a Rock-it, a bar with net at both ends – one for throwing the other for catching – with the aim of trying to hit the body of your opponent.

Points are awarded for catching an opponent’s throw and for hitting your opponent.

For the first time in the sport’s history, the V2 World Cup final was dominated by English participants with Hildreth of Ripon VX Club up against York’s Snowdon.

The fitness coach for the England squad, Helen Mackenzie, said: “We have worked very hard on the national programme and the impact the players have had shows we are getting things right.

“All our players have performed superbly. We are delighted for Tom he has retained his title.”

Hildreth cruised through the group stages of the World Cup beating the 2012 Youth World Champion Meghan Plummer 102-100.

The reigning champion then saw off Gordon Archibald from Scotland 73-58 followed by an 89-52 conquest of Denmark’s Matti Chasan Bergstein.

Hildreth’s determination in his last two games saw him ease to victory against the USA’s Jessica Antonio by a 58-21 margin, he then defeated England team-mate James Foster 64-56 for a spot in the final.

Snowdon had to rely on other results as Scott MacMichael defeated Jack Brown 63-60 to push Brown into third in the group stages and send Snowdon into his first final.

Snowdon started the competition in fine form beating USA’s Tony Nortarianni 75-25, followed by a 75-70 win against the 2011 champion and last year’s runner up Scott MacMichael.

Snowdon’s undefeated form didn’t look like stopping as he gained an 89-80 victory over Aiden Campbell Hodge, but the Englishman found the later stages difficult. A 79-79 draw with Jack Brown meant he had to beat Craig Dickinson to make the final, which he did by 81-42.