Diss & District Table Tennis League

The U18’s, U14’s and U11’s indoor competitions were held at Dickleburgh Village Centre on Monday evening. We had an excellent turnout, 19 juniors in total, nearly double compared to last year.

U11’s

We only had two U11’s compete, so after a good hour of extra practice, Joe Crosby and Benji Filmer went straight into a final, with packet of fizzy cola bottles on the line!! Joe, who was the favourite for the new title, as his forehand has improved dramatically over the past few weeks, took the first set 13-11. However, Benji won the second in quite convincing style, 11-6, with some good returns. On to the final set and both players were tense, with players swapping points until it was 7-7. Then Benji pulled off a couple of great shots and pulled away from Joe, to win 11-7 and the all-important prize.

U14’s

The U14’s was again well attended, with 11 entries. We split them into 3 groups for an initial set of round robin games.

Group A: James Taylor, Kieren Eastick & Thomas Bloomfield

James            –          Kieren:           8-11, 11-9, 11-5

James            –          Thomas:        12-14, 11-8, 11-6

Kieren                        –          Thomas:        9-11, 6-11

 

Standings: 1^st James, 2^nd Thomas, 3^rd Kieren

 

Group B: Zack Green, Jack Bettinson, Harry Chenery & Toby Jacka

Zack               -           Jack:               5-11, 7-11

Harry              -           Toby:              9-11, 11-6, 11-2

Zack               -           Harry:             9-11, 8-11

Jack                -           Toby:              11-5, 11-3

Zack               -           Toby:              11-4, 11-4

Jack                -           Harry:             10-12, 11-3, 9-11

 

Standings: 1^st Harry, 2^nd Jack, 3^rd Zack, 4^th Toby

Group C: Marcus Cooper, Tom Jacka, Charlie Collings & Liam Clements

Marcus           -           Liam:              11-4, 11-6

Tom                -           Charlie:          11-7, 12-10

Marcus           -           Charlie:          11-5, 11-4

Tom                -           Liam:              4-11, 11-6, 7-11

Marcus           -           Tom:               12-10, 11-13, 11-2

Charlie           -           Liam:              3-11, 6-11

 

Standings: 1^st Marcus, 2^nd Liam, 3^rd Tom, 4^th Charlie

 

Quarter Finals

     

James                        -           Tom J:            11-6, 11-8

Thomas         -           Liam:              12-10, 11-4

Kieren                        -           Harry:             11-8, 10-12, 11-9

Marcus           -           Jack:               11-5, 14-16, 11-5

 

Semi Finals

James                        -           Kieren                        11-6, 11-5

With Kieren overcoming the odds against Harry in quarter finals, James was able to show a little too much quality on the night, to outplay Kieren. In was Kieren’s first time in the championship, so to get to the semi-finals is a great achievement.

Thomas         -           Marcus           8-11, 12-10, 11-9

The Shotguns F teammates met in a fast paced game, which went to the wire. Thomas hung on to get the all-important victory and a place in the final.

Final

James v Thomas     11-4, 11-4

Young James started off well and dug deep into his playing arsenal to frustrate Thomas’s game, using a bit of side and back spin. After Thomas’s ‘full on’ top spin semi-final, it was difficult to adjust and James won the first set comfortably, 11-4. Thomas took stock and started well in the next set, but James moved up another gear and in what seemed like minutes he had won the second set 11-4 and the game. Well done to James and Thomas who played great table tennis throughout the evening.

U18’s

The six competitors were spilt into two groups of 3.

Group A: Richard Chenery-Woods, Ben Wales & Angus Ledesma

 

Richard          -           Ben                 11-5, 13-11

Ben                 -           Angus                        6-11, 7-11

Richard          -           Angus                        11-5, 11-3

 

Standings: 1^st Richard, 2^nd Angus, 3^rd Ben

Group B: Natty Strange, Jamie Channell, Tim Simms-Baalham

 

Natty               -           Jamie             11-3, 11-6

Jamie             -           Tim                 4-11, 5-11

Natty               -           Tim                 11-3, 9-11, 11-6

 

Standings: 1^st Natty, 2^nd Tim, 3^rd Jamie

Semi-Finals

Richard          -           Tim                 11-3, 7-11, 11-6

Great comeback from Tim, to take the second set and put pressure on Richard.

Natty               -           Angus                        11-3, 11-9

League experience told here, as Angus in his first league season couldn’t quite get the upper hand.

Final (5 Sets)

Richard v Natty         5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9

A nice closely fought contest between the two club mates. Richard didn’t find his rhythm in the first set, so Natty took full advantage. Ultimately though, the Premier league player, was able to match Natty’s game to take the next three sets, although as you can see it was close.

Comments and Thanks

 The overall standard of play was much, much higher than last year, which was great to watch. We may have to stretch over two evenings next time, if we get any more juniors, as we just about got finished in time! It was brilliant that we had so many youngsters come through the doors.

I’d just like to thank Alan Connelly, David Mortlock, Martin Wilby and Pete Strange for scoring on the night. You’ll be amazed what people will do for a flapjack!

Finally, I think(!) everyone had a good time, which is just as important as winning, so we hope to see all the juniors come back next year.