Sunday, 27 January 2008.
Eight of our members represented Southport Table Tennis Club in this year’s closed championships. The full complement of 5 juniors (Danny Houghton, Danny Woods, Jamie Wordsworth, Jonny Cummins and Ollie Valentine), well supported by parents, plus Cummins senior (Jeff), Colin Fyles and Alan Nolan, spent a gruelling day from 9 o’clock in the morning until well into the afternoon, with Colin’s last match finishing at 5.30pm. This was our best representation for a number of years and is a good indication of the resurgence of table tennis in the club.
All events this year started with a mini-league of 3 or 4 people who played each other, with the group winner and runner-up going on to the next round, so you were guaranteed to play in at least 2 contests per event. In some of the events, the second round also had a mini-league. After that it was a straight knock-out competition.
I entered 5 events, not with the hope of winning any, but so I could get lots of games. In the end, I played 14 games (including 4 victories), which seems pretty good value for my £13 entry fee. All of us who took part seemed to enjoy the experience, not least Colin Fyles, who is through to the final of the Over 55′s after a very hard fought match against Brian Crolley, a 1st division player with a 75% record. I imagine Danny Houghton (not yet 13) might just be feeling a little bit elated too, as he is through to the final of the Division 3 Restricted event. Finals night is on Tuesday, 29th January at St Teresa’s CMS Club, when Colin will play Dave Evans (100% in Division 1) and Danny will play Lung Yu (83% in Division 3). Whether they win or lose, they will have done us proud to reach the finals.
Finally, I must pay tribute to Roger Neal, the organiser, for a well run competition, and thank Formby High School for the use of their table tennis facilities.