Fabulous Turn Out For Annual Closed Championships

There was an impressive turn out for this year's  Worksop & District Table Tennis Leagues Closed Championships which were held at Ryton Park School with some great table tennis played by all who took part. It was very encouraging to see so many younger players being involved and the future of table tennis in Worksop looks very bright indeed. Two names that kept cropping up on the draw sheets were those of McIntosh and Wesley and it will come as no surprise to learn that Richard Wesley who is defending his Open Singles crown once again reached the final after defeating brother Tom 3-1 in the semi finals. In the final he will meet fellow team mate Peter Cowburn who had a good day capped by a terrific win over Steve Lyon in his semi final.
Richard Wesley then teamed up with his brother Tom to progress to the Open Doubles final but not after a couple of very entertaining matches in the earlier rounds! In the Quarter Finals they went to a deciding game against the very plucky duo of Lewis Comely and Matthew Mudd and then again in the Semi Finals they were taken all the way by Father and Son pairing Andy and Jack Kirkland before finally making it through. In the Final they will meet Tom McIntosh and Peter Cowburn who had an easier time of things not dropping a set in a very straightforward campaign to set up what will be one of the most intriguing matches on Finals Night.
Richard Wesley will also have chance to defend his Draw Doubles title after he reached the Final and I'm sure all of his fellow finalists in Jack Kirkland, Kalpesh Bhatt and Lea Dickinson will all be hoping to get the luck of the draw and that their names will be drawn out with Wesley's!
Tom McIntosh and Peter Cowburn may be fighting for the same cause on Finals Night in the Doubles but they will have to put that to one side as they have both made the Final of the Junior Singles. Cowburn who is the defending Champion didn't drop a set throughout and eased his way into the Final with a 3-0 defeat of Kyle McIntosh whilst Tom McIntosh overcame Lea Dickinson 3-1 to set up what should be a terrific Final.
Not content in reaching the Final of the Open Doubles and the Junior Singles Tom McIntosh will also feature in the Finals of the Cadet Singles and Boys Under 12's. In the Cadet Singles he didn't drop a single set in reaching the final where he will be up against Jack Kirkland who also had an untroubled route to the Final which included beating Kyle McIntosh at the Semi Final stage in straight sets. In the Boys Under 12's competition Tom McIntosh didn't even have to lift his bat to reach the Final as due to a low number of entries had a bye straight into the Final where he will meet Josh Nelson who had a terrific match to watch against Regan Langley who he finally defeated 3-1.
Kyle McIntosh who also had a fabulous day carried on where his brother Tom left off by reaching two finals himself, the first of which was the 2nd Division Doubles. He teamed up with fellow team mate from Stanley Street 'B' Jack Kirkland and they were subsequently involved in an absolute snorter of a Semi Final match against the X-Youth pairing of Clive Eden and Mark Bloomer finally beating them 3-2. Not to be outdone, the second Semi Final match was equally as good as the first as Paul Linfield and Matthew Williams also of Stanley Street 'B' had a right grueller with Lewis Comley and Matthew Mudd and as in the first semi they eventually came though by the same 3-2 scoreline.
After reaching the Final of the 2nd Division Doubles Kyle's attention turned to the 2nd Division Singles and once again came up against Clive Eden who he dispatched 3-1 before then sweeping past Paul Linfield 3-0 in the Semi Final. Kyle will be up against Lea Dickinson who all day also played some great table tennis and reached the Final herself after a really tight match against Jack Kirkland which she finally edged by a 3-2 scoreline.
Kyle couldn't repeat his previous achievements by reaching his 3rd Final as he went out of the Plate Singles against Adam Hamilton at the Semi Final stage. Hamilton who also impressively added the scalp of Paul Linfield in the Quarter Finals will meet veteran Alan Wilson in the Final after he overcame a spirited Jayden Budworth 3-2 in another great match.
Budworth carried her good form from the Plate Singles into the 3rd Division Singles competition and made it all the way to the Final after defeating both Keiran Tutter and then Andy Kirkland who were both amongst the favourites to win this year's title. She will meet Daniel Cutts who also hit form to reach the Final defeating the likes of Adam Hamilton and Martynas Riauba along the way.
Tutter who couldn't quite make it all the way to the Final of the 3rd Division Singles made up for his disappointment by teaming up with Jack Tarr to make the 3rd Division Doubles Final where they will play the Riauba brothers Martynas and Orestas who in their first ever season in League table tennis have done remarkably well to reach a Final at their first Championships.
Lea Dickinson and Daniel Cutts will contest this year's Final of the Handicap Singles with both of them enjoying victories against some notable players such along the way which culminated in Dickinson beating Jayden Budworth 31-28 whilst Cutts enjoyed a much more one sided affair beating Matthew Williams 31-13.
Kalpesh Bhatt and Steve Lyon are two other players who had a great Championship and will contest two Finals against each other after they both made it through to the Finals of the Over 40's and the Over 50's Singles and despite them both being team mates at Global Marble I'm sure there will be no quarter given on the night!
Lyon also made it through to the Final of the Over 60's Singles where he will play Peter Eyre who had a quiet tournament compared to recent seasons and Lyon will be looking to go one better than last year where he won two of the Over Something's titles and add the Over 40's to his list of achievements.
David Hooton Trophy Result: Stanley Street 'A' 477 DTH Redlands Roosters 566
Reg Wilcox Trophy Results: Ryton Park Eagles 492 Manton Sports 490, Global Marble 'B' 468 DTH Redlands X-Youth 477
MBE Trophy Results: On-Line Elks 574 Ryton Park Dragons 540
Division Three Results: Stanley Street 'C' 8 DTH Redlands Rookies 2, Stanley Street Rascals 7 On-Line Elks 3, Stanley Street Cypriots 4 DTH Redlands Tarr Babies 6, Ryton Park Dragons 1 Ryton Park Cougars 9