A great turnout of players contested the annual Hastings Closed tournament at the Hollington Community Centre on the 3rd of June 2024. A total of 34 players played in the tournament across 9 events. I would like to thank all the players for their patience and support on getting the tournament done.
The first event of the day was the junior mixed singles event which had 10 players enter. This was a brilliant improvement on recent years and something to build on for the future. The event was played in 3 groups, two of three and one of four. The top 3 seeds in the event all successfully made it through their respective groups to a triangular final. In the triangular final, first up was group three winner Oli Matthews played group two winner Matthew Davies. All three sets were competitive with Matthew coming out on top 3-0. Second match of the group was Oli taking on group one winner Arthur Bracken. Oli made the faster start winning the first set 11-7. Arthur then regrouped winning the next three sets to win the match 3-1. The final match of the group was the top two seeds Arthur and Matthew going head-to-head for the title and it was Matthew that came out on top with a 3-0-win. The standard of play from all three finalists was exceptional and a testament to the leagues efforts to get more juniors playing in league table tennis.
Arthur did not let the disappointment of the singles affect him as he teamed up with Amalina Gorridge to triumph in the Junior mixed doubles event. They topped in a round robin group of four pairs with Thomas Porter and John Quintos coming runner up in the event. The match between the top two pairs ended was a 3-1 win for Arthur and Amalina, despite Thomas and John winning the opening set 11-3.
The next event of the day was the Division Three singles which had only six players enter. This was a slight disappointment but something to improve on in future years. The event was contested in two groups of three, with the winners of each playing in the final. Top seed John Quintos made it through to the final despite having to come through an epic battle with fellow Tackleway player Phil Talbot in the group winning 11-8 in the deciding set. The other group in the event had a surprise winner as Cheng Liu prevailed beating second seed Peter Harding 3-1 in a winner takes all shoot out. In the final, Cheng battled hard however John had just a bit too much, running out a 3-0 winner, retaining his title from last year.
Division Two singles were the next event to be played with ten players entered. The players were spilt into three groups with the winners of the group playing in a triangular final. Group one had a surprise winner with Dimitar Pachev coming out on top, beating top seed Bob Lowe 11-7 in the deciding set in the group. Group two was the group of four and had to be decided on a count back basis as three players all won. Second seed Paul Hyland went through to the final having the best average of the three. Group three, third seed Tina Beaney had to come through a great battle with Alison Jordan. Tina winning 11-9 in the deciding set to make it through to the final. The triangular final was a comfortable one for Tina, winning both her matches against Paul and Dimitar 3-0 to take the title. Paul Hyland was runner up after beating Dimitar 3-1.
The mixed doubles event was played with six pairings across two groups of three with the top 2 pairings going through to the semi-finals. In group one, top seeds Rose Rainton and Dave Butler topped the group, winning both their matches 3-0. Paul Barry and Sheila King joined them through in the semis after a 3-1 win over father daughter pairing of James and Amalina Gorridge. Group two, Tina Beaney and Nathan Darby topped the group beating Lewis Mayhew and Sue Pingram 3-1 into second place. The first semi-final was Rose/Dave against Lewis/Sue, and it was Lewis and Sue that raced into a 2-0 lead, winning the second set 13-11. However, the match was not over as Rose and Dave found their stride and won the next three sets to make it into the final. The second semi-final was a bit more straight forward with Tina and Nathan winning 3-0 over Sheila and Paul. In the final, Rose and Dave started better winning the first set 11-8. The second set was settled at deuce with Tina and Nathan winning it 13-11. The next two sets were again shared between the pairs setting up a one set show down to win the title. It was Tina and Nathan that came through winning 11-5 to retain their title from last year.
The women’s doubles followed this with the title being decided in a round robin group of three pairings. Tina Beaney and Sue Pingram came out on top, winning both their matches 3-0. The runners up of the group went to Alison Jordan and Sheila King after they won a close match against Rose Rainton and Amalina Gorridge 3-1 after winning a close third set 13/11. This was Amalina first outing in a senior women’s event and is one to watch out for in the future.
Men’s doubles were played in two groups of four with again the top two from each group making it to the semi-finals. In group one top seeds Andy Norwood and Lewis Mayhew stormed through the group without dropping a set. Runners-up in the group were Matthew Davies and Dave Butler. In group two, the winners were James Gorridge and Arthur Bracken after coming through a close four set win against father son duo Trevor and Nathan Darby with three being won by only two points. Trevor and Nathan did come runners up in the group after winning the remainder of there group matches. Semi-final one saw top seeds Lewis and Andy taking on Trevor and Nathan. After the top seeds raced into a 2-0 lead, the father son duo did not make it easy for them by winning the third 11-9 and it was edging towards a final set showdown, but Lewis and Andy had other ideas winning the fourth 11-7 to seal their place in the final. Semi-final two saw Matthew and Dave take on Arthur and James. James and Arthur battled hard but seemed to come out second best in the big points with Matthew and Dave winning 3-0 and booking their place in the final. In the final, the top seeds showed their class against Matthew and Dave winning 3-0.
The women’s singles event was contested over top groups of three with the top two going through to the semi-finals. Group one, top seed Rose Rainton raced through her group, winning both her matches 3-0. Runner up in the group was Sheila King who overcame Tina Beaney 3-1 to book her place in the semi-finals. Group two after both beating Cheng Liu 3-0, second seed Sue Pingram faced Alison Jordan to decide the top two placings. The match couldn’t be closer with Alison racing into a 2-0 lead, but Sue had other ideas taking sets three and four to set up a one set shoot out. The deciding set couldn’t be closer with Sue pinching it 12-10 to book her place as group winner and Alison runner up. Semi-final one saw Rose takes on Alison and it was the top seed that showed her class winning 3-0 to book her place in the final. Semi-final two saw second seed Sue take on Sheila for a place in the final. Sue prevailed 3-0 to face Rose in the final for a chance at the title. In the final, Rose made a fast start winning the first set 11-3, the second was a tight affair with Sue taking it 14-12 to level things up at 1-1. This only seemed to spur Rose on with her winning sets three and four to take the title.
The final event of the day was the men’s singles, and we were spoilt with a large majority of the top players being able to enter. The group stage of the event pretty much went to the seedings and no major surprised and the same could be said for all the round two matches. The quarter matches were some of the most drama filled and arguably best matches of the day. The best example of this was the Quarter final between Club and teammates Faldie Adams and Lewis Mayhew. Faldie raced into a 2-0 lead and was up 10-7 in the third. But back came Lewis winning the third 12-10, saving the three match points before closing the final two sets to book his place in the semi-finals. Whilst this was going on another titanic battle was being played out between Matthew Davies and Nathan Darby. The first four sets were shared 2-2 with three of them being won by two-point margin. The deciding set between the pair was some of the best table tennis of the day with a combination of Matthew’s spin and angles vs Nathans power and retrieving skills. It was Nathan that held his nerve and booked his place in the semis winning 12-10. Another close quarter final saw Arthur Bracken took on multiple time champion of the event Paul Barry. Arthur took a 2-0 lead going into the third set, but Paul wasn’t going to give up lightly by taking the third 12-10. The fourth was close with both players going point for point all the way through till Arthur got over the line winning the fourth 11-9 to make it through to the semi-finals. The last Quarter final saw top seed Andy Norwood take on Paul Hyland. This match had far less drama in it with the top seed showing his class, winning the match 3-0. The first semi-final had Andy Norwood taking on Arthur Bracken. Arthur made a positive start by taking the first two sets 11-3, 11-8. Andy then started his comeback by winning the third 11-4. The fourth again was highly drama filled with Arthur having a match point but couldn’t take it with Andy pinching it 13-11 to set up a one set show down for a place in the final.
The deciding set flowed one way then the other way, but it was Arthur who held his nerve winning 11-9 to book his place in the final. But who would he be facing? The other semi-final was between Lewis Mayhew and Nathan Darby. Both having had really tough and hard matches in the quarterfinals, but it was Lewis that booked his place in the final winning 3-0. Last match of the day... Men singles final between Lewis Mayhew and Arthur Bracken. Both had their fair share of battles to make it to the final and the first two sets were shared 1-1 leaving us with a three set shoot out to decide whom will take the title. It was Lewis that found that extra gear to take the title 3-1. A fantastic end to a great day’s table tennis.
It was an excellent tournament with some tremendous matches played and a mention must be made to the high level of sportsmanship throughout the day; the players were a real credit to their sport. Thanks must go to Hollington Community Centre for hosting the tournament, especially to all those who did the tea/coffee and the hot food. This was greatly appreciated by all the players. Furthermore, a big thank you is owed to all who helped make the day such a success.
