 |
|
Press Report #23 Entries are being invited for the Basingstoke Table Tennis League’s annual Closed Championship which is being held on 20th March at Richard Aldworth Science College. The championship is open to junior players by invitation and all senior players in the Basingstoke league. For an entry fee of only £5 for adults and £3 for juniors, players can register for a range of events including open singles, Division 1 singles, Division 2 singles, open doubles, sub-veterans (under 40), veterans (over 40), super veterans (over 55) and handicap singles, as well as the just-for-fun mini-bat event. Entry forms are available on the web site and must be submitted by 14th March. Can Sean Pickin retain his veteran’s title? Can Tony Palaczky hang on to the open single’s cup? Will Paul Rattue make it 3 mini-bat wins in a row? Can you stop them? Prove it by entering now. In Division 1 of the league, Hannington were in action twice this week. First at the home of Oakley A, a real seesaw match in which the lead changed regularly only to end up with a draw. Hannington’s Tony Brown notched up a fine treble, and Oakley’s Sarah Whithorn was also in fine form, beating both Steve Rollason and Paul Robinson. Later in the week saw Hannington visiting St Peters B, with the reliable Tony Brown scoring another maximum. St Peters’ Steve Armstrong pulled off a great double, beating both Peter Henderson and Paul Robinson. St Peter’s Simon Kiefer also added a point to their tally, but otherwise the matches all went Hannington’s way who ended up 3-7 winners. St Peters B were also away to Winklebury this week, but they had a wasted journey as Winklebury, pushing for 2nd spot in the division raced through the card for a comfortable victory and 10 valuable points. KG B were grateful to be given 3 points as a two-man Minitec A side of Steve Murgatroyd and Andrew Parker managed to walk off with a maximum 7 points when they hosted KG B. Only KG’s Roger Bielby came close to having any impact on the result. Queens B v Minitec B was an incredibly close match that could have gone either way but for a few key points. Only Minitec’s Norman Swift was unbeaten on the night, despite being pushed hard by the opposition. Minitec’s Louis Conlon was also in great form and he picked up two points of his own and paired up with Swift to take the doubles as well for a 4-6 victory. KG A started very badly against Alpha Cars as KG captain Dave Kimberley lost the first game of the evening against Paul Rattue without gaining a point. If KG thought that things could only get better, then they were only partly right. Kimberley redeemed his first match loss by winning his next matches over Alpha Cars regular Ron Powell and new signing John Goodyer, but his team mates Peter Millie and Sue Tompsett failed to win a match as they slumped to another heavy 2-8 defeat. In Division 2, a local derby between KG D and KG C went very much to form with both teams taking an equal share of the points. The D team’s Holly Edwards was unlucky not to take the scalp of Jared Binner, taking the 2nd and 3rd games of their match, only for Binner to scrape a victory in the decider. Later in the week, KG D hosted an Oakley B side of Jamie Cole, Teri Allison and Chris Smith, when KG’s Josh Manson scored his first maximum in the league. Longest game of the year award goes to Cole and KG’s Mike Wood who managed to drag their first game out to 22-20. Wood eventually went on to beat Cole for his only win of the evening. Another doubles win for Manson and Wood was enough for a final score of 5-5. Queens D turned the tables on their club-mates Queens C in a very closely fought match that saw the D team’s Celia Hooker and Nigel Cooper both winning a well deserved 3 points. The C team’s Frank Lii and Mike Chamberlain both managed to score a point each, but had to settle for a 2-8 loss. KG E’s Steve Ng scored a great treble, including a particularly fine win over John McLarty, when his side hosted AWE this week. KG’s Pete Millie scored a useful 2 points, while Zoe Blagborough was unlucky to not win a point of here own although she did share a doubles win with Ng to help KG E to a 6-4 win. Catch up on all the latest table tennis news in Basingstoke by visiting the league website: www.basingstokett.co.uk |
