No Surprises On First Finals Night

The first of the Annual Championships Finals night threw up no surprises with all of the finals going according to the form book. The first final of the night was the Boy's Under 12's which featured Division One player Tom McIntosh who was playing in the first of his four finals and defending the title he won last year. He was up against Josh Nelson of Division Three and despite the gap of two divisions Nelson put up a spirited display but couldn't stop McIntosh winning in straight sets.
Lea Dickinson and Daniel Cutts featured in the Handicap Singles Final with Cutts being awarded 8 points start which proved too much of a deficit for Dickinson to claw back finally losing 21-10, 21-11.
Tom McIntosh's second final of the night was the Junior Singles final where his opponent was his club team mate Peter Cowburn and once again the match went with the form book with Cowburn defending the title he won last year in straight sets.
The final of the 2nd Division Doubles was between four players from the same team! Stanley Street 'B' players Kyle McIntosh and Jack Kirkland probably started as slight favourites against Paul Linfield and Matt Williams but soon found themselves 1-0 down in the best of 5 sets but recovered well to level at 1-1. The third set was a close affair with Linfield and Williams finally winning it 15-13 which gave them the momentum going into the next game which they also won to clinch the title.
The next final featured Richard Wesley who was going for his 5th straight Open Singles title against Peter Cowburn who was going for his first. Wesley soon raced into a 2-0 lead before Cowburn managed to pull a set back but he couldn't sustain it and lost the next to lose the match 3-1. The win for Wesley equals the five straight wins of previous winners Craig Gascoyne and Paul Clarke but three short of the record eight straight wins for Philip Spencer set from 1969 to 1976.
Despite retaining his Cadet Singles title in straight sets Tom McIntosh didn't have it all his own way against Jack Kirkland with Kirkland putting up some stubborn resistance with some great table tennis but couldn't stop the attacking prowess of McIntosh despite getting close in every game.
The closest match on the night was the Over 60's final between Steve Lyon and Peter Eyre which went to a deciding set. Eyre won the first with Lyon taking the next two before Eyre won the fourth set to level at 2-2 and take the match into a deciding 5th set. Lyon soon stamped his authority on the deciding set racing into a 5 point lead, a lead that he didn't surrender finally winning it 11-6 to once again be crowned Over 60's Champion.
The last final of the night was the Open Doubles which again featured players who had already featured earlier in the night. In an intriguing looking match Richard Wesley teamed up with his brother Tom and they were up against Peter Cowburn and Tom McIntosh who despite taking a set off of the Wesley brothers couldn't stop them winning their fourth straight Open Doubles final.
Back to league matters now and the race for the 2nd Division title could not be any closer after the latest round of matches as both DTH Redlands Joggers and Stanley Street 'B' are now level on points and sets with only two matches each left to play. Street 'B' had the misfortune to be up against Manton Tigers strongest team in Paul Allison, Bill Bateman and Dave Bowns with all three winning two games each and the doubles to inflict a 7-3 defeat on Street 'B' and along with it a dent in their title aspirations. For Street 'B' Paul Linfield won two, Matt Williams one whist Kyle McIntosh surprisingly had an off night losing all three of his games.
Whilst Stanley Street 'B' were licking their wounds DTH Redlands Joggers were taking advantage by beating bottom side Manton Sports with Lea Dickinson once again winning all of her games making it 37 out of 39 wins for the season so far. Team mates Matthew Mudd and Lewis Comley both won two games each but couldn't take the doubles set but the Joggers still went on to win 7-3.
Other Division Two Result: Global Marble 'B' 3 Ryton Park Eagles 7
Division One Result: DTH Redlands Roosters 3 DTH Redlands Fluffy Toys 7
The final of this year's Handicap Shield will be between DTH Redlands Rookies and Ryton Park Falcons after both came through their respective semi finals. The Rookies defeated Ryton Park Cougars by 45 points after the handicap was added at the end 365-320. Ryton Park Falcons won their semi final by an even closer margin with only 27 points being the difference between themselves and Stanley Street 'C'. Street 'C' won the match on the night 361-266 but the Falcons were awarded 162 handicap points which made the score line in their favour 388-361.
Can I remind everyone that the deadline for this years' Summer League is this Saturday the 5th of April.