The 2017-2018 table tennis season has now drawn to a close and the final places in the league tables have been decided.  On Saturday 21^stApril the tournament finals were played, followed by some excellent food provided by our secretary, Barbara Parker. The evening concluded with the presentation of awards. I am pleased to summarise the season’s results as follows:

Division 1– Congratulations go to Wiveliscombe who retained their title for the seventh consecutive year. Second place belongs to Basement Dwellers. Both teams were a considerable distance ahead of their nearest rivals.

Division 2 – This provided a nail-biting finale to the season with three teams holding the division 2 lead during the last week. The champions turned out to be the junior team of House Martyns who finished their last two games in style. They will be promoted to the 1^stdivision next year, so well done.... Tony’s Troopers also had a late run of success but missed out on the top spot by only two points.

Knockout Cup– The final of the knockout cup took place between Gnomads and Basement Dwellers. The first game started well for Gnomads with Martin Rant getting the better of Vince Court’s bat. Thereafter it was one-way traffic for the visiting team as Basement Dwellers stormed to a 70 point victory to take over as champions from last year’s winners Shooting Stars. All the gains for the evening came from ‘Dwellers’ Mike Vickery with 30, Paul Rees with 26 and Vince Court with 14.

Final score: Gnomads 269 – Basement Dwellers 339.

Juniors Under 13– This was a family affair between twins Alfie and Nathaniel Southam. It was a close fought match over four sets with Alfie winning the cup.

Juniors Over 13– House Martyns team mates Jack Lancaster and Joe Burt vied for this cup. Despite ever improving scores in successive sets Jack was unable to overcome the attacking game of Joe Burt. Joe wins the cup but both players will be appearing in division 1 next year. 

Handicap Veterans– This was another nail-biter on finals night with Liz Fletcher (+6) challenging Vince Court’s bat (-20). After two games it was a dead heat so a third game had to be played. In the end it was the steady play from Liz that managed to win the final by just 2 points. Well done Liz....

Handicap Singles– An intriguing match with experience versus youth, pace and spin with Barbara Parker (+5) playing Toby Kerslake (-17). The match ended with one game apiece. On count-back it was Toby Kerslake who was the victor by just 4 points. 

Handicap Pairs– Mike Lawrie and Jim Stiles (+4) faced division 1 players Eddie Ferris and Martin Rant (-10). Mike and Jim could not capitalise on their handicap as Eddie and Martin ground out a steady victory to win the trophy.

Non Handicap Singles– The grand finale of the night was the singles final between Martin Rant and Vince Court. Martin played immediately following his handicap pairs match but could not repeat his earlier success. From the second game onwards Martin seemed to have the measure of Vince’s bat but the match ended with a victory for Vince over four games.

Presentations on the evening continued with the Jerry Perry cup being awarded to Mike Lawrie for services rendered during the year to the West Somerset Table Tennis Association. A vote of thanks was given to the WSTTA secretary, Barbara Parker for putting on such an excellent finals evening at the Lawns. A bouquet of flowers was presented on behalf of the Association and the House Martyns.

Division 1

Division 2

Geoff Williams - Press Officer