DaveR
04-09-2008, 03:25 PM
April 5th-6th at the Cheltenham College Sports Complex.
With some of the top juniors away at the Blackpool Grand Prix, one would anticipate that the standard of play at the Cotswold 4 star would be lower than normal, not so. Play on both Saturday and Sunday had it all – superb table tennis, upsets, high drama and nail bighting five setters.
A strong contingent from Wales saw a Welsh presence in no less than 6 of the 10 finals, including 5 finalist in the 4 Junior events played on Sunday.
In the Cadet events on Saturday, Vicky Smith from the Warmwell club in Devon produced the goods by taking both the Cadet Banded 3* title and the Under 13 Girls title, whilst the fast improving Yolanda King from Sussex took the Cadet Girls Open 4*. In the boys’ events, Middlesex provided winners for all the events. (They must be doing something right in Middlesex.)
In the Junior 4* events on Sunday, the first upset was in the Boys, when the no 1 seed Chris Doran went out in the third round to the unseeded Kim Daybell from Yorkshire. Kim was then beaten by Richard Marshall [S5] who went on to beat Alim Hirji [S4] in the semi final, to set up a thrilling final against unseeded Patrick Thomas from Wales.
The second upset was in the semi final in the lower half of the draw. Unseeded Patrick Thomas comfortably beat Darren Reed [S2] in three straight sets with powereful forehand and backhand topspins.
The final did not disappoint. Richard Marshall had the edge over Patrick Thomas in the first end, but Thomas came back strongly in the second. With both players playing tremendous table tennis that had everyone in the hall watching, Marshall won the 3rd end. Thomas was by this time feeling the pressure and was unable to stop Marshall from pressing home his advantage and winning the 4th end to run out a 3-1 winner.
In the Junior Girls 4 *, the first semi-final saw an all Welsh clash between Hannah Avery and Natasha Rees [S4], won by Rees in five sets using a racquet with long pimples on one side and short pimples on the other and her own brand of table tennis. In the other semi-final, Joy Whitehorn, having disposed of Martha Travis [S2] in the quarter-finals never got to grips with the long pimples of Megan Phillips, also from Wales. The all Welsh final resulted in a tactical battle between two players using long pimples, eventually won by Natasha Rees.
The Junior 3* saw Patrick Thomas [S2] on fire again. He moved fairly comfortably through the card and then beat Ryan Collins [S4] in the semi-final after what can be described as a topspin slugging match. In the other semi-final, Zak Zilesnick [S6] from Middlesex (who also reached the semi-final of the Cadet Boys Open) had a titanic battle with Chris Smith from Devon. With superb shots from both players, this match was a real spectacle. After this, the final was a bit of an anticlimax. An exhausted Zak Zilesnick fought bravely but was easily overpowered by Patrick Thomas in four sets.
In the Junior Girls 3* first semi-final, unseeded Sophie Neil (Ng) played a superb tactical battle to put out the no 1 seed Natasha Rees 11-8 in the 5th end, whilst in the other semi-final Megan Phillips won a very close contest against Kirsty Wilson. In the final the long pimples of Megan Phillips combined with devastating forehand smashes proved to be too much for Sophie Neil.
In all, a thoroughly entertaining weekend. Thanks to Cheltenham College who once again provided superb facilities for table tennis.
Results:
Sataturday 5th April
Cadet Boys 3*
Damilola Thomas [S1] (Mi) bt. Huw Jones [S14] (Wal) 11-3, 11-5, 11-13, 11-4
Cadet Girls 3*
Vicky Smith [S2] (Dv) bt. Abbie Milwain [S1] (Dv) 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-5
U 13 boys 3*
Igor Morais [S4] (Mi) bt. Ross Wilson [S2] (K) 11-3, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8
U 13 Girls 3*
Vicky Smith [S1] (Dv) bt. Charleigh Kirby [S2] (Mi) 11-5, 11-4, 11-8
Cadet Boys Open 4*
Sean Cullen [S2] (Dy) bt. Ping Ho [S4] (Mi) 14-12, 11-2, 11-8
Cadet Girls Open 4*
Yolanda King [S5] (Sx) bt. Megam Phillips [S6] (Wal) 11-8, 11-9, 11-5
Sunday 6th April
Junior Girls Open 4*
Natasha Rees [S4] (Wal) bt. Megan Phillips (Wal) 11-7, 11-7, 11-9
Junior Boys Open 4*
Richard Marshall [S5] (Dv) bt. Patrik Thomas (Wal) 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8
Junior Girls Banded 3*
Megan Phillips (Wal) bt. Sophie Neil (Ng) 11-13, 11-9, 11-2, 11-9
Junior Boys Banded 3*
Patrick Thomas [S2] (Wal) bt. Zak Zilesnick [S6] (Mi) 11-5, 13-15, 11-5, 11-9
ETTA Article by Mike Smith
With some of the top juniors away at the Blackpool Grand Prix, one would anticipate that the standard of play at the Cotswold 4 star would be lower than normal, not so. Play on both Saturday and Sunday had it all – superb table tennis, upsets, high drama and nail bighting five setters.
A strong contingent from Wales saw a Welsh presence in no less than 6 of the 10 finals, including 5 finalist in the 4 Junior events played on Sunday.
In the Cadet events on Saturday, Vicky Smith from the Warmwell club in Devon produced the goods by taking both the Cadet Banded 3* title and the Under 13 Girls title, whilst the fast improving Yolanda King from Sussex took the Cadet Girls Open 4*. In the boys’ events, Middlesex provided winners for all the events. (They must be doing something right in Middlesex.)
In the Junior 4* events on Sunday, the first upset was in the Boys, when the no 1 seed Chris Doran went out in the third round to the unseeded Kim Daybell from Yorkshire. Kim was then beaten by Richard Marshall [S5] who went on to beat Alim Hirji [S4] in the semi final, to set up a thrilling final against unseeded Patrick Thomas from Wales.
The second upset was in the semi final in the lower half of the draw. Unseeded Patrick Thomas comfortably beat Darren Reed [S2] in three straight sets with powereful forehand and backhand topspins.
The final did not disappoint. Richard Marshall had the edge over Patrick Thomas in the first end, but Thomas came back strongly in the second. With both players playing tremendous table tennis that had everyone in the hall watching, Marshall won the 3rd end. Thomas was by this time feeling the pressure and was unable to stop Marshall from pressing home his advantage and winning the 4th end to run out a 3-1 winner.
In the Junior Girls 4 *, the first semi-final saw an all Welsh clash between Hannah Avery and Natasha Rees [S4], won by Rees in five sets using a racquet with long pimples on one side and short pimples on the other and her own brand of table tennis. In the other semi-final, Joy Whitehorn, having disposed of Martha Travis [S2] in the quarter-finals never got to grips with the long pimples of Megan Phillips, also from Wales. The all Welsh final resulted in a tactical battle between two players using long pimples, eventually won by Natasha Rees.
The Junior 3* saw Patrick Thomas [S2] on fire again. He moved fairly comfortably through the card and then beat Ryan Collins [S4] in the semi-final after what can be described as a topspin slugging match. In the other semi-final, Zak Zilesnick [S6] from Middlesex (who also reached the semi-final of the Cadet Boys Open) had a titanic battle with Chris Smith from Devon. With superb shots from both players, this match was a real spectacle. After this, the final was a bit of an anticlimax. An exhausted Zak Zilesnick fought bravely but was easily overpowered by Patrick Thomas in four sets.
In the Junior Girls 3* first semi-final, unseeded Sophie Neil (Ng) played a superb tactical battle to put out the no 1 seed Natasha Rees 11-8 in the 5th end, whilst in the other semi-final Megan Phillips won a very close contest against Kirsty Wilson. In the final the long pimples of Megan Phillips combined with devastating forehand smashes proved to be too much for Sophie Neil.
In all, a thoroughly entertaining weekend. Thanks to Cheltenham College who once again provided superb facilities for table tennis.
Results:
Sataturday 5th April
Cadet Boys 3*
Damilola Thomas [S1] (Mi) bt. Huw Jones [S14] (Wal) 11-3, 11-5, 11-13, 11-4
Cadet Girls 3*
Vicky Smith [S2] (Dv) bt. Abbie Milwain [S1] (Dv) 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-5
U 13 boys 3*
Igor Morais [S4] (Mi) bt. Ross Wilson [S2] (K) 11-3, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8
U 13 Girls 3*
Vicky Smith [S1] (Dv) bt. Charleigh Kirby [S2] (Mi) 11-5, 11-4, 11-8
Cadet Boys Open 4*
Sean Cullen [S2] (Dy) bt. Ping Ho [S4] (Mi) 14-12, 11-2, 11-8
Cadet Girls Open 4*
Yolanda King [S5] (Sx) bt. Megam Phillips [S6] (Wal) 11-8, 11-9, 11-5
Sunday 6th April
Junior Girls Open 4*
Natasha Rees [S4] (Wal) bt. Megan Phillips (Wal) 11-7, 11-7, 11-9
Junior Boys Open 4*
Richard Marshall [S5] (Dv) bt. Patrik Thomas (Wal) 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8
Junior Girls Banded 3*
Megan Phillips (Wal) bt. Sophie Neil (Ng) 11-13, 11-9, 11-2, 11-9
Junior Boys Banded 3*
Patrick Thomas [S2] (Wal) bt. Zak Zilesnick [S6] (Mi) 11-5, 13-15, 11-5, 11-9
ETTA Article by Mike Smith