Table-tennis
12th April 2013
Local youngsters excelled at the West Midlands regional tournament, a qualifying event for the Nationals later this year. Held at Wood Green, Wednesbury, over the weekend, Lillington Free Church’s Timmy Cooper won the under 14s in impeccable style. In his initial group he won all of his four singles 3-0 including the eclipse of England number 13 (U13) Lewis Acton. In the Final group he overcame George Allison of Eathorpe 3-0, Alex Tomlinson 3-0 and George Bradley 3-2. Club mate Adam Cofler finished second in the under 13s winning 6 out of the 9 matches he played. Church’s Lewis Singleton was impressive in reaching the final qualifying group and will be first reserve for the Nationals, finishing in 5th place. Twelve year old Jack Green (FC) was unlucky to narrowly miss out on the final group in the U 13s but had the satisfaction of taking the eventual winner, Daniel Searle, to 5.
Colebridge’s Sophie Rinnhofer finished 3rd in the under 11s and will hope to follow in the footsteps of sister Lisa who won the under 13 girls. Free Church’s Jenny Singleton and Katie Singleton (no relation) who finished second and third respectively.
Rugby’s Millie Bradshaw won the Under 14 girls with Lisa Rinnhofer 2nd and Church’s Olivia Fletcher in 4th. All of the aforementioned girls, along with Timmy and Adam, will take their place at The Nationals on 1st June.
Leaders Rugby A were held to a draw by a strong St. Georges C team in Division 1. Matthew Outhwaite won his three, Jesse Kendrick-Hill one and young reserve Niall Herbert notched a vital and highly creditable single. Georges’ Miles Chan and Gary Webb both won twice and combined for the doubles. Another reserve to impress was Free Church A’s Timmy Cooper who won twice to help his team to a 6-4 success at Rugby B. Luke Hobbins also won twice and Tom Brocklehurst once, Timmy joining his coach Tom to take the doubles. Ryan Lines and Sam Ricks replied. St Georges A came away from WCC B 8 points the better with Earl Sweeney posting a hat-trick and taking the doubles with Matt Jordan. Damon Fenton and Jordan both took braces. Colebridge A cemented their second place with an 8-2 victory over Potters Green, Ian Ferguson and Navinder Matharu taking trebles. Wellesbourne maintained the gap on the bottom two when forcing a draw with nearest challengers Rugby B. Alan Cotton starred with two and the doubles alongside Gary Stewart who won once, as did John Price. Ryan Lines hit back with a triple and Danny Ricks tasted victory twice.
Other results: St Georges B 5 (Matthew Man 3, Mark Jackson 1 +D) Free Church A 5 (Luke Hobbins 1, Chris Mulligan 1 +3 conceded); Free Church A 9 (Tom Brocklehurst 2, Luke Hobbins 2, Deepak Chandrababu 1 +D + 3 conceded) Colebridge B 1 (John Taylor); St Georges A 4 (Tristan Gretton 1 +3 conceded) St Georges B 6 (Man 3, Jackson 2 +D).
The top of the table clash in division 2 resulted in a draw. Free Church B’s Hugh Matthews and Luke Spencer won twice and Jeff Harris once. Enigmas bounced back with twos from Dong Wei and Gary Jackson , the pair taking the doubles. Rugby C took full advantage to close the gap on the top two, hammering St Georges E 9-1. Niall Herbert and Anshul Satsangi were unbeaten in singles and doubles and Paul Lilley secured two wins. The relegation clash between Free Church C and St Georges E went to the away side 6-4 with Jack Shardlow taking an impressive treble. Pete Harris (2) and Richard Grover(1) saw them home with Anthony Smith (2) Church’s star. Phoenix got the better of St Georges D 7-3 with Paul Calloway taking his customary triple. Richard Jardim emulated him and helped him to the doubles. Nomads A also had two hat-trick stars in Ian Beasley and Tony Thomas when they recorded an 8-2 triumph over Whitnash A.
Snitterfield A lead division 3 by more than 40 points and overwhelmed WCC C 9-1. Tim Fell and Robert Poole won all their singles and Stuart Ayres scored twice as well as aiding Poole in the doubles. Free Church E put recent struggles behind them to wallop Nomads B 9-1, Chris Blowey (3), Stuart Mills (3) and Kim Wong (2) plus a Blowey/ Wong doubles win. Whitnash B’s Len Coonan and Greg Swan shared 7 points between them when entertaining Nomads C whose 3 were collected by Steve Kurle, Christian McMorran and Richard Miles. Rugby D had an excellent win over one of the Division’s form teams, Free Church G. Danny Orr’s treble, two from Jo Outhwaite and the doubles gave them a 6-4 success. Free Church H held leaders Snitterfield A to a draw thanks to a Kit Turner maximum. Harry Purewal and Andrew McIlvaney had a win apiece with Rob Poole the visitors’ mainstay with two. County Council C defeated Flavels 6-4 despite a Roger Potts hat-trick. Derek Harwood, Cliff Jackson and Doug Lowe all won twice to clinch victory. Bottom team Free Church F were given 3 points by two player Nomads C and it inspired them to a 10-0 win, Lleryn Gardner, Pete Rourke and Tony Williams taking full advantage.
The Division 4 top of the table confrontation between Free Church I and J ended in an emphatic 8-2 win for J. Tom Harris was unbeaten in singles and doubles (with Adam Cofler), Cofler won two and so did Roger Palmer. Tom Meldrum replied with a brace. Free Church K had a thrilling draw with Ashorne A in a match in which no player remained unscathed. Olivia Fletcher (2), Jack Green (1) and Chris Soe (1) were Church’s scorers with Fletcher and Green inflicting a rare doubles defeat on their opponents. Steve Bolton (2), Chris Bowles (2) and Roger Kelley (1) ensured parity. WCC D had a welcome win, 6-4, against Rugby E. Mark Bridgeman had an eye-catching treble and steered David Dunn to the doubles. Dunn(1) and William Hung (1) saw them over the line with Graham Harvey (2), Karen Buckby (1) and Grace Newman (1) responding.
Leaders in Division A, Topspinners, surprisingly fell 2-3 to FISCC. Bradley Matthews won twice but the Farmers took the win with a single apiece, and the doubles, from Mark Jones and Brian Marston. Free Church L whitewashed Eathorpe C 5-0, Keith Knott and Tony Williams the destroyers. Eathorpe D fared better edging Snitterfield C 3-2, Richard Freeman (1), Dave Hawker (1) plus the doubles. Henry Lu won his two singles in reply.
Ashorne B are near the foot of division B but Steve Handsley’s pair plus the doubles with Tony Philpott guided them to a 3-2 win over Free Church P for whom father and son, Mark and Lewis Singleton each won once. Leaders Free Church N had a vital 3-2 success over their M team for whom Ben King won twice. Tom Fletcher and Jay Virdi each took a single and paired for the doubles. FC N then beat their R team 4-1 with James Robertson unbeaten.
Leaders St Georges F were given a scare by lowly Free Church T in Division C. Alex Wright won twice and Kevin Rose once but Leyna Stanton (1) and a season’s first doubles success for Stanton and Alice Todd made for a close contest. Free Church Q pasted Eathorpe F 4-1 with Joe Mills winning his singles and teaming with Katie Singleton, who won once, for the doubles. It was much closer between Free Church O and Eathorpe H with Church edging it 3-2. Ashley Knott won twice, brother Jeremy once, with George Miller having a fine win for the visitors and partnering Harvey Cleary to the doubles.
Eathorpe G lead Division D but fell 2-3 when visiting Free Church V. Jamie Sayer won twice for the travellers but Matt Hayes and Sundeep Virdi took a single each and the vital doubles. Free Church W were also 3-2 winners against their U team. Daniel Strand kept his 100% average and steered Elaine Bradley to the doubles. Hugh Doody and Milly Green scored for U.
