Colin Fyles is new club champion!

Colin Fyles holding the Bertrand Travis Cup after beating Paul Lunan in the club championships
Colin Fyles holding the Bertrand Travis Cup after beating Paul Lunan in the club championships

Colin Fyles holding the Bertrand Travis Cup after beating Paul Lunan in the club championships

With no time to play the last match on Sunday, Colin Fyles and Paul Lunan had to play the final of the club championship competition on Thursday evening.

On a very warm evening, each player needed only 15 minutes warm up before squaring up to each other. After a very cagey start from both players (the first set lasted almost 7 minutes and finally went to Colin 11-9), Colin found his backhand flick/smash to be the most effective way to win points and Paul had no answer as Colin raced ahead to take the next two sets 11-5, 11-7.

The win was a true reflection of Colin’s form throughout the competition and confirms his number 1 rank in the club.

His name has now been added to this illustrious list of previous winners:

1960 - 61 - D Gunson
1961 - 62 - D A Ashby
1962 - 63 - P G Longhurst
1963 - 64 - D A Ashby
1964 - 65 - D A Ashby
1965 - 66 - D A Ashby
1966 - 67 - J Watts
1967 - 68 - J Watts
1968 - 69 - D A Ashby
1969 - 70 - D A Ashby
1970 - 71 - P R Beatham
1971 - 72 - P R Beatham
1972 - 73 - P R Beatham
1973 - 74 - F W S Smith
1974 - 75 - J M Davidson
1975 - 76 - W J Evans
1976 - 77 - M D Cray
1977 - 78 - N A Cray
1978 - 79 - J M Cray
1979 - 80 - L Linforth
1980 - 81 - J M Cray
1981 - 82 - M R Pearson
1982 - 83 - M R Pearson
1983 - 84 - S Baker
1984 - 85 - M Fletcher
1985 - 86 - A Clark
1986 - 87 - J D Killip
1988 - 89 - C Ford
1989 - 90 - J Quirk
1990 - 91 - A Clark
2009 - 10 - C Fyles

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Club Championship

Pat Boylett, winner of the Handicap Plate, with Oliver Cox, the other finalist.


We had a very successful competition day on Sunday, 4th July, with 19 people entering the main event. This started at around 2.15pm, with four Groups of 4 or 5 players, each person playing all the others in the group. The top 2 in each group then progressed to a knock-out stage. The final was due to be played between Colin Fyles and Paul Lunan, but we ran out of time. This match will therefore be played on Thursday, 8th July during the usual practice evening.

Those who were unsuccessful in the main event could then enter the Handicap Plate competition. Seven people entered for this, and handicaps, which had been decided before the main event started, were applied at the start of each game. Each match consisted of the best of 5 games, each game being played until one person reached 11 points.

The eventual winner was Pat Boylett.

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Formby youngsters take 3rd Division championship

Formby TTC F

Formby TTC F before winning the 3rd Division

Formby TTC F pulled off a remarkable victory against division leaders Southport D to take the 3rd division championship by 1 point. Needing to win 8-2 at Southport, the visitors quickly went into a 5-0 lead, though Andy Hickey got one back for the home team to restore some hope. After a break for some quality refreshments, Formby extended their lead to 7-1 with fine wins by Matthew Cranny over Alan Nolan, and Tom Miller over Tom Banton.

With just the doubles to play, and Southport needing to win both, the scene was set for a thrilling finish. Both teams had reversed their doubles order, and Tom Taylor and Andy Hickey easily saw off father and son duo Gareth and Tom Miller to make the score 7-2.

That left Alan Nolan and Tom Banton to try to save the day against Matthew Cranny and Robert Barker. This was always going to be a long shot, as Alan and Tom had lost all their singles and Matthew and Robert had won all theirs. However, the home pair got off to a good start, edging the first set by 11-9, but the Formby lads evened it up winning 11-3. The 3rd set narrowly went to Matthew and Robert, 11-9, and they managed to hang on to win the 4th by the same score. Result: 11-9, 3-11, 9-11, 9-11, and a well deserved championship win for two rapidly improving lads.

So congratulations to Formby, and a sincere thank you to them (and their army of supporters) for a match played in a most friendly spirit. We wish you all the best in the 2nd Division!

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Undefeated run ends!

The club’s run of two consecutive matches without defeat ended spectacularly when the D team lost ignominiously on Thursday. A bit OTT?

Maybe so, but North Meols ‘C’ did claim a 6-4 victory, with the experience of Les Lord and a good performance by Andy Stuart forming a solid foundation for their win. Southport’s Tom Banton got his money’s worth, coming back from 2-0 down to beat Bill Dawson 11-2 in the fifth set. Andy Hickey had an easy win over John Hepple, but John and Bill steadied their nerve to take an unexpected doubles win off the visitors. Southport left wondering where it had all gone wrong!

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Southport ‘D’ victorious

The juniors of Southport ‘D’ celebrated their win over Formby Holy Trinity ‘C’ in Tuesday’s Gunson Plate final, pictured here with coach and manager, Paul Lunan.

Gunson Plate winners - Southport D enjoying the limelight

The match was keenly contested, but played in a very friendly atmosphere, and both teams had plenty to smile about afterwards. First Division team Formby HT ‘C’ gave away a 180-point advantage to their Division 3 opponents, and such a margin proved too great for the more experienced team against the agility and confidence of the youngsters.

Gunson Plate finalists - Southport D and Formby HT C

At the half way stage, Formby had clawed back only 70 points and still needed to recover a further 110 from the remaining 4 games to draw level. Southport ‘D’ had not looked like dropping this many points at any stage, and indeed dropped only another 40 points to give a winning margin of 70.

The match was played throughout in a great spirit, and it was a treat to see so many of the parents there to support their lads.

Ray Hibbs kindly gave up his evening to officiate and to umpire all the games. Both teams were indebted to him and to St Teresa’s for once again allowing the use of their club for the venue.

2009 Southport Closed Finals

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.

2009 Closed finalists

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.
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Quick learners, those Argyle youngsters!

It’s only a week since the juniors of Argyle ‘C’ held the ‘old men’ of Southport ‘C’ to a draw in the first round of the Gunson Cup, but they haven’t half improved since then. Last night, with an early start so they could get home to bed at a reasonable hour (school this morning!), they showed just how much they have learned in 7 days. The teams were exactly the same as last week, so there could be no excuses by playing substitutes, etc.

It was Andy Hickey’s misfortune to be the one who arrived first and had to face both Nathan Thistlethwaite and Tom O’Malley in quick succession. Whether they had been given special coaching lessons, or eaten a double helping of porridge, we’re not sure, but they certainly showed they meant business, with Nathan improving by 15 points and Tom by 11 points compared with the previous week. This was no fluke, though, as first Mike McCormack (+12) and then Paul Jervis (+13) consolidated the Argyle fight back against Alan Nolan and Tom Banton respectively and by half-time, Argyle had improved by an astonishing 51 points!

Another steady game by Mike McCormack retained his single point advantage over Southport’s Tom Taylor, and then Nathan showed once again how much he likes the home conditions with a gain of 18 points against Tom Banton. We thought we might still miraculously save the game if Tom and Alan could win by 100 points difference; Tom Taylor did his best to that end, with a very tense 55-10 victory. However, on recalculating the scores it was clear that Argyle had already won the tie, and the final game was now academic, much to the relief of all concerned! The final scoreline was Argyle ‘C’ 467 points, Southport ‘C’ 402.

The match was once again played in an excellent atmosphere, and we would like to thank Angus Taylor and his juniors for their warm welcome and hospitality, and wish them all the best in the remainder of the competition.

Details of the replay can be downloaded from here.

Hats off to the Handicapping committee!

Tonight’s Gunson Cup match between Southport ‘C’ and Argyle ‘C’ (+180pts) finished in a Draw, and will be replayed next Wednesday at Argyle.

Beginning with an advantage of 180 points, the young division 3 team needed to stay within 4 or 5 points per game, on average, of their division 2 opponents to have a chance of winning the match. Angus Taylor, the Argyle captain/manager chose the two number ones for the first encounter and it was soon clear why. Star of the show was young Mike McCormack, doing much more than staying close – in fact beating Alan Nolan by 46 points to 45. What a start!

On the other table, Tom Banton, after losing the first game 9-11 to Nathan Thistlethwaite, woke up and eventually won by 53 points to 26 to restore some semblance of normality. Most of the other games went more or less as expected, and we were then left with the final match – Tom Taylor against Mike McCormack. This was already in play as we added up the scores, and although we knew the scores were going to be close, we hadn’t told Tom and Mike. Mike finally won this contest 49 to 48, and a last reckoning produced a final result of 419 points each.

Never having been in this position before, we looked up the handbook (rule 32c) to find that the only way of deciding the winner was to replay the match at the opponents’ venue, and if that is also a draw to continue replaying matches until a winner emerges (rule 32d). We could be in for a long winter!

Details of the match can be downloaded from here.

Thanks to Angus Taylor for bringing a very friendly team of promising juniors and well done to Argyle – we look forward to the [first?] replay next week.

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‘C’ team struggling

The ‘C’ team finds itself in a completely different league this season, or at least a different Division!

After 3 league matches and the first round of the Anon Cup, the record is not one that stands much scrutiny: played 4, won 0, drawn 0, lost 4. In the league, we have won only 3 sets out of 30, with Tom Banton involved in all three of them (2 singles wins and a doubles). And we haven’t even played any of the top teams yet!

In the Anon Cup, a 6-0 result was again a fair reflection of the strengths of the 2 sides, with Formby HT ‘D’ making good use of the net cord and table edges! Seriously, though, if they get more nets than their opponents, it’s probably because they are able to play the ball closer to the net in the first place, so good luck to them.

One consolation, though not much of one – at least we’re in the Plate competition!