Match Report
This encounter between two evenly matched teams produced some high quality table tennis and plenty of swings and turns before the draw was established in the 5th set of the 10th game.
It’s fair to say that man of the match, Darek, bamboozled his opponents with his excellent play and difficult rubbers.
Four of the games went to 5 sets with Satej triumphant in his game with Dave, but falling just short against Darek. As is so often the case, the doubles proved crucial with OLOP coming through a topsy turvey encounter 11-5 in the 5th.
Going into the 10th game, everything hinged on the result with Kingfisher 5-4 up. It looked as if Neil would secure the win as he raced into a 2 set lead against Chris and had 4 match points in the third, only to go down 12-10. That set up a tremendous rear guard action from Chris and the most entertaining match of the night, as Neil pushed Chris back with heavy loops, flat hits and neat drop shots, whilst Chris defended like a man possessed back from the table, charging in to play Neil’s drop shots. At one point Chris suffered a heavy fall, clattering into and knocking over no less than four court barriers and the scoring table on the adjoining table, grazing his back and arm in the process. There was concern that he might have done himself some serious damage, but once Chris established that he hadn’t injured himself badly and no limbs were broken, his principal concern was whether his return had landed on the table! It hadn’t, but he still managed to produce an epic comeback to win the 5th set, take the game and tie the match.