Tournament Heats Report 2009
The Tournament Heats took place on Saturday 28th March at Princes Mead School, and I think most of us had a very enjoyable time! Sorry there are no pictures - my camera broke before my first shot. Please send any digital photos you have to this email address !Highlights (see the links to the score sheets below, kindly supplied by Adrian and Martyn Reeves ):
- Chris Prince
's thriller with Glenn Wilshere
in the Singles Semis. Chris was 1-2 down but pulled through 14-12 and 16-14 in the 4th and 5th!
- Ed Slot
's 3 Finals (Juniors, 2nd Division and Handicap). Ed appeared in the Handicap Final two years ago with a +13 start against
Mark Knowles 
. This time it's +7 against Chris Prince , arguably a better player than Mark, so Ed has come a long way in a short time.
- The Division 3 Round Robin, where 6 matches required 28 games! A pity there were only 4 entrants (and incidentally none at all from the 4th Division), but it was a very close set of matches.
- Dave Menzel
, for reaching the Open Singles Final for the first time. Dave lost almost all of the 2007-8 season through injury, so
this marks a brilliant return to fitness and form. Two of his four League matches with Christos Hannides in the League this season have
ended at 11-9 in the 5th, so we could be in for a nail-biting Final!
Finals Night (Saturday 18th April at Itchen Abbas & Avington Village Hall) can be relied on to provide the usual high standard of table tennis and entertainment with the following clashes (order of play tbd):
| Division 3 Singles | Barry Dobson (Hursley E) | vs | Allan Bransgrove (Castle) | Full Division 3 results |
| Division 2 Singles | Andy Prince (Hursley) | vs | Ed Slot (Kings) | Full Division 2 results |
| Junior Singles | Ed Slot (Kings) | vs | Lewis Creighton (South Wonston) | Full Juniors results |
| Veteran Singles | Steve Robinson (IBM) | vs | Paul May (Hursley) | Full Veteran results |
| Doubles | Christos Hannides and Glenn Wilshere (both Hursley) | vs | Paul May (Hursley) and Steve Robinson (IBM) | Full Doubles results |
| Open Singles | Dave Menzel (IBM) | vs | Christos Hannides (Hursley) | Full Open Singles results |
| Handicap Singles | Ed Slot (Kings) +7 | vs | Chris Prince (IBM) | Full Handicap results |
Tournament organiser Antony Moore
ran the day with all of his usual calm efficiency and good humour, very ably assisted by Martyn and Adrian Reeves
.
Finally: the numbers playing were significantly fewer than previous years, particularly from the lower Divisions. None at all from Division 4! Was it because it was held on a Saturday rather than the usual Sunday? Would a weekday evening work better for most people? Do lower-division players feel they don't get enough games, because few of the events are in round-robin format and they get knocked out in Round One? Is the entry procedure too formal?
Possible alternatives might include single-evening Divisional events, entry via a Web form, payment on the night, use of a week during or after the normal League season, and so on. Your comments (to this email address ) really would be welcome! I'll publish a selection of any comments on these Web pages.
I hope to see as many of you as possible at Finals Night!
Scenes from Kings TT Club
Plenty of tables, plenty of action!
Every Monday (almost), from 7:15 pm
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