23/03/08

Burnham & District Table Tennis League Closed Tournament 2008

Saturday

Day one of the tournament was full of shocks throughout the events but none more so than the superb triumph of Craig Foster (Fambridge) in the mixed open singles, and he did it the hard way with five set wins over Andrew Hull (Woodham), Neil Want (Cold Norton) and Dave Calleja (Mapledene). He then beat Babul McLeod (Mapledene) 11-6, 6-11, 11-7, 12-10 in the semi-final to set up the final with pre tournament favourite Paul Grant (Mapledene) but nothing was going to stop Craig who was playing the best table tennis of his life and he triumphed 11-6, 11-9, 6-11, 11-8 to record the biggest upset for many a year.

James Anderson (Cold Norton) won the junior singles as expected beating Ross Boddy (Woodham) in a rather one sided final but Ross got his revenge in the junior doubles when he and Mark Richardson (Woodham) overcame James and his partner Bradley Smith (West Maldon) in the final. Mark Richardson had earlier secured the cadet singles title, beating Jack Cornford (Woodham) in the final. The junior girls event was won for the fifth year in succession by Emma Dadswell (Woodham) who once again beat Stephanie Davies (Woodham) in the final, this time in straight sets 11-9, 18-16, 11-7.

The Fambridge Trophy, for division three players was won by Tom Elder (Maldon)  who beat Andrew Hull (Woodham)11-7, 11-3, 8-11, 11-6 in the final, but this was not before some surprises in the group stages where Stefan Oliverio (Woodham) upset number four seed Roy Davis (Woodham) to set up a semi-final meeting with Andrew Hull. Chris Hancox (Woodham) recorded an excellent win over junior champion James Anderson in the group stages but then lost to Stefan Oliverio in the first knockout round.

The restricted singles progressed pretty much as seeded until the semi final stage with Norman Hayes (Maldon U3A) the only seed not reaching the quarter finals as Andrew Hull upset his progress. The first real upset came when Peter Mynard (Fambridge) scored an excellent 11-8, 2-11, 13-11, 11-13, 11-9 win over number one seed Tom Elder. In the other semi final Neil Want (Cold Norton) won in straight sets against Chris Buer (Fambridge). With Peter involved in the later stages of every event he played in by the end of the day he was visibly wilting and Neil took full advantage to take the final in straight sets and secure his fourth restricted singles victory.

The handicap doubles was at least a little consolation for Peter Mynard as he and his partner Chris Hancox won through to the final with little trouble off their handicap of plus two and found themselves up against Neil Want and James Anderson playing off minus three, Neil and James managed to win the first game 21-19 they lost the next at 17 and then Peter and Chris ran away with the decider 21-7.

Chris Hancox playing off a handicap of plus 12 proved to be too good for anyone in the handicap singles although Peter Chasmer (Woodham minus six) pushed him to a deciding set in the semi final before Chris let rip with a few big forehands to take the decider 21-5. Chris then met the wily old veteran Bill Smith (Mapledene minus 11) in the final but the handicap just proved too much for Bill as Chris ran out a 21-10, 21-17 winner.

Sunday

After all of the drama and shocks of Saturday the Sunday play went much more with the seeding although their were some surprises along the way.

The under 25 singles proceeded with little excitement to the predicted final of Peter Mynard meeting Peter Chasmer and it was a little surprising that Peter Chasmer ran out an easy straight sets winner, 8,8 and 6.

The over 50’s singles saw the top four seeds reach the semi final stage with very little trouble, but then number four seed Peter Saunders (Fambridge) scored a fine five set win over third seed Hamish Innes (Maldon) 11-9, 11-13, 11-7, 6-11, 11-4. Peter’s decision not to play in the veteran singles seemed to pay off in the fifth set as Hamish was looking a little tired by then as this event was played at the end of the day. In the other semi final Peter Ballard (Fambridge) saw off the challenge of John Cleasby (Maldon) in straight sets 5,10,7. The final was the last of 393 matches played over the weekend and Peter Saunders showed how picking his events really paid off as he beat a very weary Peter Ballard in straight sets.

The veteran doubles produced a few surprises which were to be expected with several quality pairs in the field. The number one seeds Eric Green (Stow Maries) and Peter Ballard went out in the second round to Nigel Lamb and Andrew Halling (both Mapledene) who were then beaten impressively by Babul McLeod (Mapledene) and Hamish Innes 11-1, 15-13,11-9 at the semi final stage. Meanwhile the number two seeds Peter Saunders and Marko Jovic (Fambridge) made their way to the final largely untroubled and then turned on a superb display of attacking doubles play to absolutely demolish Babul and Hamish 5, 2, 5.

The veterans singles final to be played on the finals night will be between the top two seeds, George Reeves (Mapledene) and Marko Jovic, as expected but the earlier rounds saw some surprises, notably Bill Smith’s excellent first round win over fourth seed Hamish Innes which opened the way for Andrew Halling (Mapledene) to make his way to the semi final where he went down in straight sets to the impressive George Reeves. Third seed Peter Ballard was made to work in his quarter final against Eric Green but got through in four sets only to meet the in-form Marko Jovic in the semi, Peter made a real fight of it but was always just a little behind and eventually went down 9-11, 10-12, 11-8, 8-11.

The major surprise in the ladies singles came at the semi final stage when Janet Pannell (Cold Norton) overcame Jean Chasmer (Woodham) to set up a final meeting with Linda Murray (Mapledene) who had a comfortable run to the final. In the doubles Val Board (Fambridge) came from her sick bed so as not to let down her partner Linda Murray and she certainly didn’t as they won through to the final where they will meet Janet Pannell and Diane King (Woodham) on the finals night.

The mixed doubles final will be contested by number one seeds George Reeves and Linda Murray and the unseeded pairing of Peter and Jean Chasmer who progressed to the final without dropping a set.

We saw some excellent doubles play during the men’s doubles this year and the final, to be played on finals night at Fambridge on Thursday night, will be between the defensive pair of Peter Ballard and Eric Green and the attacking Peter Saunders and Marko Jovic. Peter and Marko only just made the semi finals as they came from two one down to Babul McLeod and Paul Grant (Mapledene) to win through 12-10,7-11, 10-12, 11-7, 13-11 in a match that truly could have gone either way, they then despatched the number one seeds Kevin Read (Mapledene) and Andrew Halling in straight sets 12-10, 11-8, 11-9. Peter Ballard and Eric Green had to come back from two sets down to win their classic semi final encounter against George Reeves and Hamish Innes 9-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-8.

In contrast to the excitement of the doubles the men’s singles saw the top four seeds all make it through to the semi final stage by winning their quarters in straight sets so on Thursday night Marko Jovic will meet George Reeves and Kevin Read will face Peter Ballard. Not everything went the way of the seeds in the group stages as Paul Grant upset number five seed Hamish Innes and then progressed to the quarter finals where he came up against Peter Ballard, John Cleasby recorded an excellent four set win over number eight seed Peter Saunders to take that group but then lost to Charles Sweeney in the first knockout round.

Finals Night

The finals night kicked off with the men’s singles semi finals, the first match being the much anticipated meeting of Marko Jovic and George Reeves, unfortunately the match itself was not a great spectacle, dominated as it was by quality serving and the opposite returning of serve both players feeling that they had to be the first to attack and consequently the game was littered with errors and although it was close throughout George always seemed the most likely winner and so it proved as he won 11-9,9-11,14-12,11-7. The other semi final saw Peter Ballard score a surprisingly comfortable three set win over top seed Kevin Read 11-7,11-9,11-7. Peter kept things tight, returned brilliantly and hit the occasional stunning winner to never really allow Kevin to settle into any sort of rhythm.

The mixed doubles final followed, George Reeves and Linda Murray won in straight sets against Jean and Peter Chasmer, 11-8, 13-11,11-5,fairly comfortably as Jean and Peter failed to find a way to stop George dominating with his attacking play.

The men’s doubles final was next up and this proved to be one of the best matches of the evening with the attacking pair of Pete Saunders and Marko Jovic playing the more defensive minded Eric Green and Peter Ballard, the conditions slightly favoured the attackers as I am sure that Eric and Peter would have liked a little more room. The first three sets were as close as could be with never more than a couple of points in it but Pete and Marko were 2-1 up taking them 12-10, 17-19,12-10 then Eric and Peter forced a series of errors from their opponents to take the fourth set 11-4 and looked to be in pole position but the fifth set was a complete reverse as Pete and Marko found their range to totally dominate and take it 11-4.

Holders Lin Murray and Val Board then took on Diane King and Janet Pannell in the ladies doubles final and the challengers established a 2-1 lead but then Lin and Val upped the pace and took the last two sets 11-2,11-3 with Val’s backhand attack dominating play.

In the veterans singles final George Reeves and Marko Jovic met for the second time and this was a much better match than the first with both players hitting some great forehands throughout and some stunning rallies. In the end it was George’s greater consistency that won through in five sets, 15-13, 14-12, 11-8, 5-11, 11-5.

Linda Murray then retained her ladies singles title with a comfortable three set win over Janet Pannell 11-8, 11-6, 11-4, Linda was in no mood to give Janet a chance and she got more dominant as the match went on.

The men’s singles final rounded off the evening and really the best was saved for last as Peter Ballard and George Reeves played the classic attack versus defence match which thrilled the disappointingly small audience. The first set was always close but George just had the edge throughout to take it 11-9, he then raced into a big lead in the second set and although Peter came back a little George took it at 11-6. George again built a lead I the third set and at 10-8 up it looked all over for Peter, but you should never count Peter out and he came back to take the set 13-11, this gave Peter heart and he always had the edge in the fourth set to take it 11-8. by this time more of George’s loops were being returned by Peter and George was making a few more errors than during the first two sets as he found himself under more pressure in the final set Peter built a good lead, then George made a valiant effort to come back but just fell a little short as Peter ran out winner at 11-9. The match was a credit to both players and a fitting end to the evening.

Thanks are due to Fambridge Table Tennis club for providing the venue and Val Board and Linda Murray for looking after the refreshments.

This event was produced and directed for the Burnham Table Tennis League by Keith Mays.

Other Credits

Lighting by Craig Foster

Scaffolding by Lee Foster

Sound supplied by Kevin Briggs engineered by Brian Ellis

Food Production by Jan Dadswell and June Knights

Canteen service by Bob and Marina Partridge and Murial Wiltshire

Raffle by Val Board and Peter Ballard

Tables and dividers by Martin Knights, Roy Davis, Brian Ellis (man of many talents), Trevor Williams, Dave Goody (well he took some down), Alan Dadswell.

Gofer - Emma Dadswell

To those who paid and played thank you to those who did something extra a big THANK YOU!