Samson too strong for his under-11 opponents - Amalina and Beau share the spoils in the under-16 competitions
Hollington Community Centre provided the venue for the East Sussex Closed and Invitation table tennis tournaments which were played on Saturday, 13th May.
Following on from the recent Hastings Circuit events, I was decided to extend the area from which players could enter the competition. This drew in players from Brighton, Hailsham and St. Michael’s (Lewes) Table Tennis Clubs. Additionally, two members of Worthing TTC made the journey to compete in the Invitation competition.
The Closed competition was played in the morning with eight players contesting the under-11 title and six the under-16’s.
Samson Koo (Hailsham) won all three of his Under-11 Group A matches 3–0, the closest he came to losing a game being when runner-up Sid Hughes (Brighton) took him to deuce in their third game. Hadrian Pain (Simply TT) won his match with Abdul Rahman (Brighton) to secure third place. All matches in this group finished 3–0. In Group B, Dylan Gorridge won all three of his matches with Vincent Ridley (St. Michael’s) winning two, having taken the first game against Dylan 12–10. Vincent was also involved in a four-game match with Cain Ide (Brighton) who won his match with club-mate Aaron Esayas to seal third place.
Based on finishing positions in the Group Stage the players were paired, first versus fourth and second versus third of opposing group, for the Knockout Stage. Samson and Dylan both progressed 3–0 while Sid started strongly against Cain only to lose the third game 10–12 before taking the fourth 12–10 to reach the semi-finals. The fourth quarter-final produced the first five-game match in the under-11 competition, Hadrian taking a 2–0 lead (11–9, 11–9) against Vincent only to see his opponent win the next two (9–11, 11–13) before taking the final game 11–7.
Both semi-finals were won by the Group winners, 3–0 in both cases, to set up the Final between Samson and Dylan. Samson had not dropped a game and, despite a close run first game, was in no mood to relinquish that record taking the title with a 3–0 victory.
The Under-16 Closed competition was played on a round-robin basis. Amalina Gorridge (Simply TT), as the only girl in this competition, proved to be “simply the best” by winning all five of her matches leaving the boys to contend for the runners’-up position. This was decided by “games won” when a three-way tie ensued. Beau Larkin emerged as the best of the three by virtue of winning one game more than Isaac Ellish (Brighton) who, in turn, won one more game than James Harrison (Simply TT). Rieon Vincent (Brighton) finished fifth after winning his match with Scott Richards (Hollington).
The afternoon session saw the Invitation title competed for.
Three players, Jasmine Pinna-Chapman (Hollington), Harry Novis and Hoy Wen Leung (both Worthing TTC), joined the proceedings. However four of the players from the morning session had commitments elsewhere and were unable to stay meaning the Group Stage had one group of three players.
Samson Koo continued his winning ways by finishing top of Group A without conceding a game. Harry took the runners’-up position winning 3–2 against Jasmine and 3–1 in his match with Cain Ide. Jasmine defeated Cain 3–0 to claim third place. In Group B, Hoy recorded victories over Aaron Esayes and Abdul Rahman to take first place while Aaron’s win against Abdul placed him in the runners’-up spot.
As with the morning session, the Knockout Stage pitted fist v. fourth and second v. third of opposing groups. This meant that Samson received a bye into the semi-finals. Harry and Hoy both won their matches 3 – 0 while Jasmine recorded a 3–2 win against Aaron. The semi-finals resulted in 3–0 victories for Samson and Hoy but whereas Samson’s match with Harry went 11–8, 11-6, 11–4, Hoy’s match against Jasmine ran 11–2, 11–5, 11–9.
So, to the Final. Contested by two players yet to drop a game it proved to be quite a spectacle. Although there were some amazing rallies and the final game being won 13–11, Samson completed the day without dropping a single game thus taking both Under-11 titles.
For the Under-16 Invitation competition the six players from the morning session were joined by James Lawler (Battle Abbey School). A Group Stage was played to decide positions for the Knockout. Group A was decided in the final match which saw Isaac take a 2–0 lead against Amalina only for her to level taking the match to a deciding fifth. This resulted in Amalina’s first defeat of the day when Isaac took the last game 11–5. Rieon finished third ahead of James L who, unfortunately, had to withdraw from the competition due to illness. The three-player Group B was also decided by a five-game clash. This time Beau took the first two, only for James H to level., before winning the decisive fifth 11–7. Scott finished third.
Isaac and Beau both received byes in the Knockout Stage. Amalina returned to winning ways but not before losing her first game with Scott after which she took the next three to secure a semi-final place. Meanwhile, in the other quarter-final, a steadily improving Rieon won 3–2 against James H to earn his place in the semis. In the semi-finals Amalina and Isaac faced each other for the third time. However, unlike the previous two encounters, this match did not go to five with Amalina winning 11–7, 11–3, 11–6. The other semi-final produced the most consistent scoreline of the day as Beau recorded victory against Rieon by 11–8, 11–8, 11–8, meaning that the winner and runner-up from the morning session would meet to decide the afternoon’s competition.
The Final saw a reversal of fortune as Beau won 11–7, 16–14, 11–8, against Amalina.
The day concluded with Mr. Mike Funnell, President of the Hastings & District Table Tennis Association, present trophies to the winners and runners’-up of both competitions.
Appreciation and thanks were expressed to Hollington TTC, especially Nick Demeza and Steph Sargent, for hosting the tournaments, the players for their sporting conduct and the players’ parents and families for their continued support.
