240911 | bsmttc

News Release - BSMTTC News 178

Dateline: 11 September 2024

Finals Night

What a superb night of table tennis, with the very best saved to last totally enthralling the near capacity crowd who came to watch and take part. Thirty six members and guests gathered at Marine on Wednesday 11 September for the culmination of the Club Tournament 2024. Eight matches were on offer featuring some of the very best players in the club fighting for three trophies, including a brand new doubles trophy presented and sponsored by the family of the founder of the club, Mr Alex Gould. We were delighted to welcome his daughter, Mrs Marion Palmer to Finals Night, accompanied by her son Kevin. Club Secretary, Graham Turner acted as the Master of Ceremonies and Andrew Armstrong was the match Referee and Umpire. Refreshments were provided by our very own Social Secretary, Keith Hardman.

The Fun Doubles - for the Alex Gould Trophy

The evening started with the semi-finals of the 'Fun Doubles', so named because of the 'fun' of finding out on tournament day who you are partnering with and the 'fun' of players of often diverse standards learning how to play together and help each other! We were delighted that for the first time a trophy would be on offer for this event, generously sponsored by the family of the founder of our club - Alex Gould. The trophy appropriately named the Alex Gould Trophy.

The first semi-final brought together what looked like two quite even pairs. Dave Aimson & Bobby Blair against Graham Turner & Mark Evans. Mark appeared in the doubles final last year too! The evenness seemed apparent in the first two games, when first Graham & Mark took a comfortable win and then Dave & Bobby did the same in game two. It looked like the mid-game change of order in game three might prove decisive, but Graham & Mark were able to reverse the outcome of game 2 in the second half of the decider and went on to win the set 2:1. Mark would reach the final again this year.

The second semi-final featured Colin Turner & Jenny Givens against James Haskell & Liz Neild. And again this looked as if it should be a fairly even match. But it didn't play out that way. Colin & Jenny raced through the first game and then some solid play by Jenny in game 2, where she coped extremely well with the serves from James, enabled Colin to show his full quality as they narrowly pulled through the second game for a 2:0 win and a place in the final.

By contrast with the two semi-finals the Final itself, played later in the evening, was a rather one-sided affair! On paper Graham & Mark versus Colin & Jenny looked as if it should be fairly even. But the truth was that Graham & Mark simply didn't get started! In this encounter the star player was undoubtedly Jenny. She coped with everything her opponents tried to throw at her, and allowed Colin to apply the deadly magic of a first division player to secure a straightforward 2:0 win. A runners-up award again for Mark. But new and deserving champions Colin & Jenny.

Mrs Marion Palmer came forward and presented the brand new trophy in honour of her Father to the winners, Colin & Jenny, the first holders of the Alex Gould Trophy.

The Consolation Singles - Plate

The next match was the Final of the Consolation Singles or Plate. And it was very pleasing to see two junior players reach this final, Shamal Harave & Scott French. This was a terrific match up, very even and keenly contested. The first two games were honours even, then the third and fourth equally split. But at the end of the fourth Scott had a narrow advantage on points. And in the fifth he started extremely well and seemed to be heading for a narrow win. But somehow it all went wrong and against the run of play Shamal, who had never given up, snatched a run of six consecutive points to pull off an 11:10 win in the fifth game. This meant that after 5 games the points scored on the table were exactly even. But Shamal had a small handicap advantage to add on, and it was this handicap that took him across the line for a 50:45 win. A really good even match. Once again Marion came forward to present the awards to each player.

The Junior Singles - The William Clayton Trophy

Two 15 year olds contested the Junior Singles trophy, Kai Morgan & Ellis Haskell. And it has to be said that the standard of play in this match was high quality from both players. Both had senior players in their corner encouraging them and offering a brief word or two between games. Neither player seemed to show any nerves, and with Kai favouring the backhand and Ellis the forehand the slightly different styles made for a fascinating battle. From the off it was Kai who took the initiative, both players playing open aggressive modern table tennis but Kai's backhand seemed to be giving him the edge. Indeed he took some amazing winning shots with the backhand return of serve with Ellis only occasionally matching with clear forehand winners. It was a great match to watch, with Kai running out a clear 3:0 winner. It even brought a rare half smile to his face! And once again Marion came forward to present the trophies.

The Main Event - The Ron Georgeson Trophy

The Main Event is played as a handicap singles to give players of all standards a chance. But inevitably it is the best players who rise to the top, they simply have the skills, power and range of shots to overcome handicap deficits so it was no surprise to see three of the club's top players contesting for the trophy.

The first semi-final featured the No.1 seed, Lawrence Kenwright, against last year's winner, the No.4 seed, Julian Quirk. There was some outstanding play in this match which had the crowd in awe. Both players pulling out their very best. Honours were even in the first two games with Julian having a slight points advantage plus a handicap advantage in his favour. But this seemed to spur Lawrence to work even harder. He took the next three games to win the set 48:41 and so a place in the final.

The second semi-final featured the No.3 seed Colin Turner against the unseeded outsider Graham Turner. Even with a good handicap advantage Graham simply didn't have enough juice in the tank to counter Colin's superior play, he did steal game three and tried his hardest but was outgunned in every area allowing Colin to secure his place in the final 54:44.

What a sensational match the final was. It certainly thrilled the crowd, the first 3 games were each 11:10 in favour of Lawrence but Colin had a small handicap advantage meaning that honours were even. The decisive turn of events was in game 4 where nothing seemed to go right for Colin allowing Lawrence to take a significant lead into the final game. In fact Colin would have needed an 11:0 win in the fifth to lift the title. It just wasn't possible. The last game was much closer and once again some thrilling table tennis, but it again fell to Lawrence. Taking all 5 games was enough to give Lawrence the win 55:41 and so his first Trophy title. Marion Palmer again presented the awards to both players with great appreciation from the crowd. A new Club champion was crowned, Lawrence Kenwright.

The Master of Ceremonies thanked everyone for attending and especially Referee Andrew Armstrong, trophy presenter and sponsor Marion Palmer and refreshment king, Keith Hardman. Everyone seemed to agree it had been a very worthwhile evening out with some high quality and entertaining table tennis.