Results - Knockout Cup

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After the Christmas and New Year break table tennis has re-started with the annual handicap knockout cup.

The handicap cup competition is a great leveller for all teams and individuals. Each player receives a personal handicap based on their match performance in the current league season to the end of 2018 and this handicap will remain with the player for the following 12 months. The effect is to equalise every Cup game so that every player should stand an equal chance of winning if they play to their current ability. The first phase of the competition is the group stage. Four groups fight it out, with the top two teams from each group progressing to the next stage, when the knockout starts with the quarter-finals.

Three of the groups played this week. The first match saw current division 1 champions, Wiveliscombe entertain Barn Boys from division 2. The handicap system did it’s job and led to a net win for Wiveliscombe but by a modest 18 points. Standout player for the home team was David Woodland with a net gain of 42 points. Paul Nutkins also had a gain of 14 points. Barn Boys put up a good fight and took advantage of their handicaps, but it was only Steve Palmer who could manage a net gain with 23 points. 

The second match saw the junior team of Hawks, in their first competitive season, taking on last year’s division 1 runners-up, Basement Dwellers. Quite a daunting task for the juniors but good match experience. It was Hawks’ team captain and coach, Mark Scyner, who managed a net score of 23 points – the second highest of the match. Basement Dwellers played hard to overcome their handicaps and all players made net gains – Vince Court with 32, Mike Vickery 10 and Paul Rees 6 points. This gave the winning margin of 48 points to Basement Dwellers. 

Third match this week was junior team House Martyns who took on Allsorts. There were two star players on the night. For the home team it was captain Scott Milton with a net gain of 36 points. For Allsorts the only gain was achieved by Mike Lawrie with 30 points. When all the scores were totted up the honours went to House Martyns by the narrow margin of 12 points.