St Teresa’s once again hosted the finals night of the Southport & District Closed Championships, and what a night it turned out to be. Four of the nine contests went to 5 sets, in each case the last set being won by only 2 points. Throughout the evening, there was a high standard of table tennis, mainly of the attacking variety, and we were privileged to witness some amazing rallies.
Here’s a quick run down on the matches played:
| Open Singles semi-finals | Jamie Hewitt beat Barry Crook 15-13 in the 5th set of what turned out to be the best match of the evening, both players putting on a tremendous display of attacking on forehand and backhand wings. In the end it was probably Jamie’s heavy loop that made the difference. |
| In the other semi-final, Rob Wylie comfortably out-hit Alec Buchanan to win in 3 straight. | |
| Junior final | Adam Choi had no answer to Ben Edwards, who won in 3 sets. |
| Over 40s final | Barry Crook’s second defeat of the evening, this time at the hands of all-rounder Matt Wilson. |
| 3rd Division restricted final | Last year’s runner-up, Danny Houghton, was narrowly beaten 12-10 in the 5th set, by the very experienced Derek Aitken. Danny, who won’t turn 14 until next month, gave a glimpse of what he might do in a few years time, and it was only with some great defence that Derek held on to win. |
| Open Doubles final | Sylvia and Cherith Graham almost pulled off the surprise of the competition by taking Jamie Hewitt and Rob Wylie to a close 5th set, the “boys” eventually winning 11-9. |
| Over 55s final | Barry Crook’s revenge: third time lucky on the night, Barry showed the difference between the 1st and 2nd divisions by easily beating Colin Fyles, who was appearing in this final for the second year running. |
| 2nd Division restricted final | Proof, if proof were needed, that hip replacements can work wonders was amply given when Mark Jagger “out-pushed” Warren Lee in 4 sets to become Argyle’s second winner of the night. |
| Open Singles final | Jamie Hewitt sure believes in getting his money’s worth, and finished the evening with another great 5-set performance to beat Rob Wylie 7-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9. Three times in the match at vital points, Jamie produced superbly disguised, fast down-the-line serves to leave Rob struggling out of position and defenceless – great tactics. The tense last set eventually brought a richly deserved victory for the 19-year old. |