27/03/11

Tournament Review

The tournament got off to a great start with the Junior events on the Saturday morning bright and early but this did not seem to dampen the enthusiasm of the competitors. It was no great surprise that Sam Lowman (Cold Norton) took the cadet singles (under 14) with some ease, George Ashley (Woodham) was runner-up. The junior singles (under 17) went very much with the seeding as all of the four seeds made it to the semi-finals without dropping a set, then the upsets started. First top seed Mark Richardson (Woodham) was beaten reasonably comfortably in straight sets by Ryan Sanderson (Maldon) and then second seed Jack Cranfield (Woodham) was beaten 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 11-4 by Sam Lowman (Cold Norton). The final was one of the matches of the day and Sam and Ryan can take great credit from the show they put on which was eventually won 4-11, 13-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-9 by Sam. The junior doubles was a little easier for the holders, Jack Cranfield and Mark Richardson as they did not have another established pair to compete against and ran out comfortable winners. One of the best matches of the event came at the semi-final stage when scratch pair Sam Lowman and Tom Bowers (Woodham) overcame the more regular Woodham pair of Scott Perry and Jake Allsop 12-14, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9,11-9 as Sam Lowman managed to dominate with his forehand loop.

The Fambridge Trophy for division three players was a real family affair as John Sanderson (Maldon) met his son Ryan in the final although their journey to the final could not have been more different as John breezed through every round in straight sets without any bother at all. In contrast Ryan just got the better of Mike Burton (Woodham) 11-8, 11-2, 8-11, 9-11, 11-5 in the first round and later just got the better of Bradley Smith in a four set semi-final. The final itself was a real see saw match with Ryan winning the first two sets at 5 and 9 then John hit back taking the next two 11-5 and 11-8 and Ryan coming back to win 12-10 in the decider.

The restricted singles (div 2 down) provided all sorts of upsets, the first of which was the exit of third seed Dick Wyman (Stow Maries) in the first round at the hand of John Marshall (Stow Maries) in straight sets, Mike Burton upset his Woodham teammate Chris Hancox in a thrilling first round five setter 11-5, 6-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-9 and Dawn Baldry (Maldon) got the better of Brian Ellis in four sets. Another seed, Norman Hayes (Maldon U3A) made an exit in the second round beaten 11-9 in the fifth set by John Sanderson and in one of the biggest surprises of the day second seed Steve Cheeseman (Stow Maries) was well beaten 11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6 by Ryan Sanderson who went on to beat his dad John in the next round. Top seed Hector Rogers (Stow Maries) came through a tough five set quarter final with Terry Hyland (Cold Norton) only to lose in straight sets to Tom Elder (Maldon), meanwhile Mick Robinson (Stow Maries) had quietly and without much trouble made his way to a semi-final meeting with Ryan Sanderson and Mick used all his cunning and know how to edge past young Ryan in four sets. The final was won fairly comfortably by Tom Elder (Maldon) 11-6, 11-3, 6-11, 11-8 which just goes to show what a shame it is that he plays his table tennis in division three when he can do more than just compete at a higher level.

The under 25s event went with the seeding but not without some memorable games, especially the Chris Hancox, Sam Lowman quarter final which Chris won by the narrowest of margins 13-11, 11-13, 9-11, 11-9, 12-10 and the semi-final which saw Graham Briggs defeat Adam Morrison 11-13, 11-9, 6-11, 11-5, 11-6 to set up a finals night meeting with Lee McHugh.

The mixed open singles (open to all except the top eight men seeds) once again proved a popular event with over fifty entries. Although the early rounds produced some excellent matches shocks were few and far between, while it was not a major shock for Trevor Carter (Stow Maries) to beat Peter Mynard (Fambridge) he could not have expected such a straight forward 11-3, 11-9, 11-8 win. John Cleasby (Maldon) just edged past Dave Hancox (Cold Norton) only to find himself meeting Dave’s son Chris in the next round who proved to be a much easier proposition. Brian Riedling (Maldon) got the better of Tom Elder to set up a quarter final meeting with John Cleasby which Brian won in four sets. With wins over Nigel Lamb (Mapledene) and Trevor Carter, Glenn Johnson (Mapledene) moved into a quarter final meeting with Steve Buer (Fambridge) which proved to be a really close encounter in which Glenn just came out on top 11-3, 10-12, 11-3, 10-12, 11-9. Glenn then had a comfortable win over Brian in the semi-final. In the bottom half of the draw Matt Rolfe (Mapledene) won a tough five setter in the first round against Neil Want (Cold Norton) but was then beaten 14-12, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9 in the third round by Dave Calleja (Mapledene) who was then himself beaten in four sets by Lee McHugh (Woodham). The best match in the third round was the encounter between Eric Green (Stow Maries) and Babul McLeod (Mapledene), a classic defender versus attacker match of excellent quality which ended in a win for Babul 11-13, 11-8, 6-11, 11-5, 11-6 who then went on to the final with straight sets wins over Graham Briggs and Lee McHugh. By this time Babul was playing superb attacking table tennis and it was no surprise when he won the final against Glenn 11-4, 9-11, 11-5, 11-5.

The day finished with the handicap singles and doubles, the doubles with partners drawn is a good fun event and was certainly enjoyed by the winners, Bradley Smith (West Maldon) and Jack Cranfield who took the final against the much more experienced pair of Matthew Brown (Stow Maries) and Lee McHugh with some ease. As ever the handicap singles was hard fought throughout and although there were some excellent performances notably from Jake Miall (Woodham), John Knights (Stow Maries), Peter Mynard the semi-finals saw Sam Lowman edge out Chris Hancox 21-19, 17-21, 21-14 while Dawn Baldry beat Steve Buer 22-20, 13-21, 21-14 in another close match. The final was another close match with Sam just edging it 21-19, 23-21 once again showing how good the handicapping was.

Day two started with the groups of the mens singles and with three players in each group and only one qualifier the seeds had to be on their mettle from the off. While generally most groups ended with the expected result mention must be made of the group involving Hector Rogers, Dave Calleja and Keith Adams which ended with each player winning one match and to make things even more difficult all matches were won 3-0. The group was finally decided on points difference which came out in favour of Keith Adams. The person most upset with that must have been Dave Calleja who managed to lose one game to Hector Rogers from 9-1 up and winning that game would have given him the group! In the first knock out round Charles Sweeney (Mapledene) scored a great 12-10, 8-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9 win over Peter Ballard (Fambridge) but then went out to Kevin Read (Mapledene) in another five setter and after surviving his group Keith Adams (Fambridge) just edged past Lee Prentice (Mapledene) 9-11, 13-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8 but then found the power of Marko Jovic (Fambridge) too much. Stuart Gibbs (Mapledene) eased his way into a semi-final with a straight sets win over George Reeves (Mapledene) and the semi-final line-up was completed when Duncan Taylor (Mapledene) overcame the challenge of Dave Bowles (Mapledene) 10-12, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7.

It was no surprise that the ladies singles will be contested on finals night by the top two seeds, Lin Attridge and Dawn Baldry who were both rarely challenged on their way to the final.

The mens doubles event produced some excellent matches and none more entertaining than the demise of the second seeds Stuart Gibbs and Duncan Taylor at the hands of Bill Smith and Nigel Lamb (Mapledene) 11-8, 7-11, 11-6, 8-11, 14-12, who then met their match in Lee Prentice and Charles Sweeney in the next round as Lee and Charles made their way to the final without dropping a set! They will meet holders Kevin Read and Andrew Halling (Mapledene) on finals night after they had scored an impressive straight sets win over Peter Ballard and Marko Jovic in their semi-final.

The ladies doubles was played as a round robin event to a conclusion with top seeds and holders  Lin Attridge and Val Broad (Fambridge) coming out on top with Dawn Baldry and Emma Dadswell (Woodham) runners-up.

The mixed doubles final to be played at the finals night will be between holders Stuart Gibbs and Lin Attridge who saw off the challenge of Peter Ballard and Val Board 9-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-7 in their semi-final against Kevin read and Emma Dadswell who got past Tom Elder and Dawn Baldry 10-12, 12-10, 11-3, 12-10 in another close semi-final.

The veterans singles event produced a few surprises along the way, in the first round Bill Smith came from behind to beat Dave Bassett (Maldon) 6-11, 3-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-8, their were second round wins for, Nigel Lamb 11-5, 4-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7 over Peter Ballard and Glenn Johnson 11-5, 5-11, 11-9, 11-7 over Dave Bowles, while Trevor Carter (Stow Maries) pushed top seed Stuart Gibbs close going down 12-10, 4-11, 10-12, 11-13. This proved to be Stuart’s toughest challenge on his way to another finals night appearance where his opponent will be George Reeves who scored a surprising straight sets win over Marko Jovic to secure his final place.

The over 50’s singles again produced some good matches including a marathon between Dave Bassett and Nigel Lamb which Dave just won 7-11, 19-17, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8 and that was in the first round! Hamish Innes (Maldon) removed top seed Dave Bowles in the second round 9-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-5 and then swept past Babul Mcleod in straight sets to set up a semi-final with Peter Ballard which he won 7-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-7. Second seed George Reeves who had a somewhat easier run to the final dropping just one set. George and Hamish put on an excellent quality final which George just edged 10-12, 11-9, 11-6, 12-10.

The veterans doubles saw a few more surprises before the final was reached, top seeds George Reeves and Gary Baker (Mapledene) lost a thrilling semi-final to the scratch pair of Keith Adams and Dave Bowles 10-12, 7-11, 11-4, 11-4, 9-11 while Babul McLeod and Eric Green did well to overcome the seeded pair of Stuart Gibbs and Bill Smith in five sets before losing in straight sets in the other semi-final to Peter Ballard and Marko Jovic who then went on to win the final 3-0 and prove emphatic winners of the event by doing so without dropping a set.

That brought the end of play at about 6pm on Sunday evening which saw over 20 hours of play on eight tables over two days, all of which could not happen without a lot of work by a few individuals without whom it would not be possible so please thank them when you see them they were; Richard Hiskey who did the scheduling, wrote all match tickets and organized the draw and control table and whose experience was invaluable to ensure the smooth running of the event, Dave Goody, Brian Ellis, Peter Ballard, Emma Dadswell, Lee McHugh, Martin Knights, Marina Partridge and Murial Wiltshire with a special mention to Jan Dadswell for the refreshments (with thanks to all the ladies who baked cakes etc. for her) and Val Board for the raffle. Thanks to Adam Morrison and Chris Hancox for helping load the tables. With thanks to Kevin Briggs for the pa system and Craig Foster for the scaffolding. We had 84 competitors, please note how many names are mentioned above and of those who helped 5 did not compete!

Finals Night

The finals night held at the South Woodham Ferrers Club on Thursday 24^th March was well supported and an enjoyable evening. The night started with the mens singles semi-finals, first up was Stuart Gibbs against Duncan Taylor and while the match was close their was always the feeling that Stuart had the edge and so it proved as he won 11-9, 15-13, 10-12, 11-5. In the second semi-final Marko Jovic started really well and took the first set 11-2 against Kevin Read who got more into the second set but lost it 10-12, he then took control of the third set and won it 11-8 and was looking good but Marko was not to be denied and got his attack going to good effect to win 11-8 in the fourth set.

The under 25 singles between Graham Briggs and Lee McHugh was an error strewn nervous affair with neither player being able to impose themselves upon the game as they were both experiencing the atmosphere of a finals night for the first time the occasion seemed to get the better of them. In the end Lee did go for a few more shots than graham and ran out a deserved winner at 15-13 in the fifth set.

The mixed doubles was an entertaining affair in which fortunes swung both ways, Kevin Read and Emma Dadswell looked to be in control as they took the first two sets 11-7, 13-11 but then Stuart Gibbs and Lin Attridge hit back to level the match by taking the next two 11-3, 11-7 and looked good to win but Kevin had other ideas as he managed to dominate the final set and with the assist of a couple of telling forehands from Emma they won the final set 11-7.

The veteran singles final between Stuart Gibbs and George Reeves saw some of the best attacking table tennis of the night especially from George who was in impressive form and ran out a very worthy winner 11-9, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7.

The mens doubles between holders Kevin Read and Andrew Halling and Charles Sweeney and Lee Prentice started with a close first set that Kevin and Andrew just edged 11-9, in the second set the challengers came back with some aggressive attacking play especially from Charles to win it with some ease at 11-5, but then errors crept in and Kevin and Andrew took charge with a measured display to take the next tow sets at 7 and 6.

The ladies singles final was a little disappointing as the experienced Lin Attridge won in straight sets against Dawn Baldry who having waited most of the evening to play never really got her attacking game going as Lin never let her settle in to the match and once again nerves played a part.

The mens singles final was another hard hitting affair with both players looking to dominate with their attack. In the first set Stuart Gibbs started on fire and Marko Jovic never got a look in as Stuart won 11-3 but then Marko go his trade mark forehand working and it was Stuart’s turn to wonder what was happening as Marko took both the next two sets 11-6. The fourth set seemed to be the one that decided the match with Stuart seemingly in control at 9-5 up Marko launched some tremendous forehands to level it at 9-9 only for Stuart to take the set at 11-9 and level the match, this seemed to take the wind out of Marko and they changed ends in the fifth set with Stuart 5-0 ahead and not about to give up such an advantage he eventually won the fifth set 11-5 to retain his mens singles crown.

Thanks to the Woodham club for the facilities and to Marina Partridge, Murial Wiltshire and Val Broad for providing refreshments.