COUNTY CLOSED CHAMPIONSHIPS 2018 - 2019

The championships were held at the Kingfisher table tennis club on 3rd and 4th November 2018.
A small entry this year but some good matches were produced overall.

Veteran singles
A smaller than usual entry but some entertaining matches ensued in the group stages which were designed to be groups of 4 giving all players 3 matches before the knockout stage, but with only 4 players for seeding purposes in the first round these 4 players won through with the 4 runners up. The seeds of Martin Adams, Hari Gehlot, Ian Cole and Antony Baker made their way through to the semi-finals. The final between Martin and Hari was as expected a grand contest from two of the county's best veterans saw Hari come out on top.

Under 21 singles
A very disappointing competition with only 2 of 3 entrants there on the day so it was a final only of the diminutive Jamie Barlow facing Benedict Carless and which saw Jamie come out on top.

Men's singles
A reasonable entry but with several no shows on the day the original plan for groups of 5 had to be modified and rescheduling done. The seeds for this competition were the same as for the veterans competion, this eventually meant the same semi-final line up. However there were a number of very good marches during the group stages with in particular Roger Pritchard and his hard bat performing well. The overall outcome saw Martin Adams take his revenge on Hari Gehlot in a very close contest to take the title.

Graded Singles
This competition was only the second to have a reasonable entry and continues to attract some less skillful players who have a more even chance of progressing through the rounds as it excludes top division and county players. However there were a number of no shows so more rescheduling before the start. The competition produced a number of very tight "5" set matches before the overall semi-finalists came through. Ian Wu took on Celia Hooker and Roger Pritchard took on David Tant both very good matches with Ian and Roger making the Final . Roger Pritchard eventually came out on top in 4 Sets.

Men's Doubles
Due to the no-show of 1.5 pairs we started this with just 5 pairs after some last minute finding of volunteer entrants. There were 2 clear favourites for the seedings and they worked their way through to the final but not without a couple of "5" setters to settle matters. The final between Martin Adams and Hari Gelot versus Ian Cole and Julian Telford was won by Martin and Hari in 4 sets

Ladies Single's
We had 6 entries this year so started with 2 groups of 3 players with two from each group going through to the second stage. There were some close encounters before the semi- finalists were secure. Demi 1 saw Cath Venning take on Celia Hooker which Cath won in "5" sets and Sue Purton won semi 2, The final was won by Sue in "4" sets

Ladies Doubles
There were only 2 pairs entered in this competition and it saw Sue Purton and Louise Forster overcome Celia Hooker and Jenny Tanner.

Mixed Doubles
We had 6 pairs in this competition with a good mix of standards between Ladies and their male partners, two groups of 3 with the winners of each group progressing to the final. Martin Adams and Sue Purton took on Hari Gehlot and Jenny Tanner and it was to be Hari and Jenny's day in a very good final.

Overall a poor entry but my thanks to all those who did enter and I know that it was a championships that was still enjoyed. A new Organiser will be needed however for the continuation of these championships as the current Organiser is standing down, so if you think you would like to have a go at taking this task on please contact Allan Bruton the Chairman.

Allan Bruton