Deadly Davies Takes Open Singles Title

In his first season playing in the Worksop Table Tennis League John Davies was crowned Worksop Open Singles Champion on Tuesday night at Stanley Street Club. In the first of the Leagues Finals Nights, Davies who plays for Clowne Table Tennis Club defeated the current holder of the title in Ernest Mpundu in an entertaining final. Davies took the first game 11-6 before Mpundu hit back to take the next game 11-5 to level the contest. In a very close third game Davies just managed to win it 12-10 before going on to take the 4^th set 11-7 and with it the Open Singles title.
Mpundu soon got over the disappointment of losing his Open Singles crown by successfully defending his Over 40’s Singles title. In the final he was up against Chris Cattell who he has beaten in the previous two finals and he was soon into his stride taking the first two games 11-6, 11-7 before Cattell upped his game to take the third game 11-5 but Mpundu wasn’t going to be denied and he sealed the win by taking the fourth game 11-5 which was the fourth time in a row that Mpundu has now won the Over 40’s Singles competition.
Another player defending his title was Mick Bell who was up against Alan Wilson in a repeat of last years Over 70’s Singles final. Last year was the first time that the Over 70’s Singles was played and in last year’s final Bell defeated Wilson in straight sets and he repeated that feat again winning it comfortably 11-6, 11-4, 11-8 to make it two in a row.
The final of the 18-40’s Singles always looked like it was going to be an entertaining match and it didn’t disappoint. Both finalists in Richard Element and Peter Cowburn are capable of beating each other which made for a very close match. Element took the first game 13-11 and then followed that up by taking the second 11-6 but Cowburn wasn’t going to lie down and he took a tense third game 12-10. The fourth game was equally as close and as tense but Element managed to hold his nerve to win it by the tightest of margins 12-10 and with it the title of 18-40’s Singles.
The Junior Singles crown has been won by a Riauba for the last two years and this year would be no different, the only difference being that it would be won by a different Riauba! Valentinas who had won it for the last two seasons was not involved this year and it was left to his two younger brothers Orestas and Martynas to battle it out in the final. It was Orestas who came out on top and not only claimed the title but also the bragging rights in the Riauba household. Orestas took the first two games 11-6, 11-7 but Martynas gave himself hope by winning the third 15-13 before finally succumbing to his twin Orestas losing the fourth game 11-3.
Another final that looked like it would be a close game was the final of the Division Two Singles between George Makrakis and Mark Sansom. Makrakis went into the match slight favourite only losing one of his 36 singles games so far this season with Sansom losing six of his 42. Sansom took a tight first game 11-9 before Makrakis started to take control of the match by winning the next two games 11-4, 11-7 to move into a 2-1 lead and Makrakis wasn’t going to be denied and he sealed the win by taking a close forth game 11-9.
Despite losing in the final of the Division Two Singles, Sansom still had a chance of glory in the final of the Division Two Doubles where he and his partner Andy Kirkland were up against Simon Hooley and Mark Bloomer and this time he made no mistake in coming out on the winning side. He and Kirkland controlled the match from the start and never looked back as they won it in straight sets 11-6, 11-9, 11-7.
The outcome of the final of the Draw Doubles competition can sometimes come down to the stronger players being drawn with each other and this season it proved to be the case as Richard Element and Terry Emmerson where paired together against the pairing of James Wormwell and Kalpesh Bhatt. Element and Emmerson took no time at in racing into a 2-0 lead winning 11-7, 11-8 to look like they would comfortably win but to their credit Wormwell and Bhatt never gave up and ended up winning the third game 13-11 to give themselves a glimmer of hope. Element and Emmerson soon put the disappointment of losing the third game behind them as they clinched the Draw Doubles title by comfortably winning the fourth game 11-3 to pull the curtain down on a great nigh of table tennis.
The next Finals Night is on Tuesday the 26^th of March at Stanley Street Club with a 7.00pm start and spectators are more than welcome.
With a blank week in the league because of the Championship Finals Night it gave some teams the chance to catch up on their cancelled fixtures. One such team was DTH Redlands Fluffy Toys who are well and firmly in the hunt once again for the Division One title. The Toys were up against Sparken Hill Starlings who are at the wrong end of the table and the Toys never looked in danger of dropping points to their opponents. Hat tricks for both Peter Cowburn and Farrel Anthony were more than enough to earn their side all three points, Jeff Reay added a single win and Cowburn and Anthony took the doubles to wrap up an 8-2 victory.