Download North Open 2022-23 Complete Results
Article by Donald Pirie
The North of Scotland Table Tennis Open took place at Aberdeen Sports Village on Saturday 7 January.
There was an excellent attendance at the event, with close to 100 entrants across all male and female categories, and players from Shetland to Dumfries, and Inverness to Ayrshire taking part, creating an excellent atmosphere on the day.
The two main events, the Men's Open and the Ladies Open were both very competitive and a high standard of table tennis was on show.
By the semi-final stage of the Men's, it was former semi-professional player Danny Bajwa from Dumfries against Dundee's David Hay, with the second match seeing 2-time commonwealth player Niall Cameron against last year's winner Dylan Curry, from Aberdeen but now based at Strathclyde University in Glasgow. With all 4-players being attack minded, both matches made for exciting and spectacular play, and the watching supporters were treated to some fantastic play.
When the dust settled it was Danny and Niall left to contest the final, where the fantastic play continued. Danny took an early 2 sets to 1 lead and was looking favourite when leading in the fourth set. However determined and positive play saw Niall pull back the deficit and take the match to the deciding set. As expected, this went all the way, but it was Danny who held his nerve, eventually taking the final set 11-9. An excellent win for Danny.
The Ladies Open event was dominated by West of Scotland players, in fact the semi-final stage saw 3 players specifically from the Drumchapel Club in Glasgow, with Joy Daniels, Alisa Kahlid, and former Champion Lucy Elliot, all making it through. Hoping to spoil the Drumchapel party was Aberdeen based Polish national Ilona Obst-Wocicka. Again some fantastic attacking table tennis was on display, but despite the best effort of Ilona, it was Drumchapel pairing of Lucy and Alisa making it through to the final. Even with Lucy's No.1 seeding this could have gone either way, with both clubmates knowing each other's game very well and every point having to be fought for. In the end it was Lucy who emerged victorious and picked up the title for the second time in 3 years.
The age group categories didn't disappoint either, with players taking success in those after close defeats in the open events. Niall Cameron and David Hay made up for the close losses they had in the Men's open, by taking wins in the Over 40 and 19-39 mixed age categories respectively. And it was Glasgow South player Derek Lundie who took the title in the mixed 60+ age category.
The U19 Boys and girls event both witnessed excellent finals, with enough tension to rival the main events.
In the Boys event it was Aberdeen's Harry Blackhall up against Nathan Hogg from North Ayrshire. Excellent attacking play saw Nathan take a 2-1 lead, and was up 6-1 in the fourth set. Harry looked all but down and out, but somehow managed to find some of his best form and clawed back the deficit to take the set 11-8 to level the match. As expected the final set went all the way, with Harry taking an 11-9 win to secure the title.
The Girls event followed in almost identical fashion, with Nichole Lee (Edinburgh) Maja Wojcicka serving up a fantastic match. It was Nichole who was leading 2-1 with a slim lead in the fourth set, but like her clubmate in the Boys event, Maja found some excellent and consistent form, taking the fourth set and a close deciding set to grab the girls U19 title, and a double for the Aberdeen players at this age group.
Joe Mulhern, a rising star from the Drumchapel club in Glasgow had fantastic day's play, securing both the U13 and the U15 Boys titles, defeating highly rated Ben Hart from Stirling in the U15 event, and Aberdeen's Victor Chen in the U13's.
The talent in the Mulhern family continued, with Joe's older sister Megan making it through to the U15 final. However, it was not to be a sibling double Gold, and it was Nichole Lee who took the U15 title, making up for her disappointment in the U19 final earlier and ensuring the title went back to Edinburgh.
The girls U13 event was dominated by Aberdeen, with team-mates Kiishi Adekola & Nikki Mo contesting the final. In keeping with the standard of play across the day, the girls served up an excellent match, and another 5-set, deuce win decided the title in favour of Kiishi.
Well done to not just the finalists, but to all the players taking part in the event, travelling from across the country to support the North Open in Aberdeen, and for contributing to the overwhelming success of the event. We look forward to seeing everyone again next year.
Download North Open 2022-23 Complete Results
