London Open Butterfly [Archive] - Table Tennis Forum

Dave Robson

28th April 2008, 11:12 AM

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Table Tennis that was simply out of this world from London Progress resident player Jiang Chang Hong was witnessed by an appreciative and spellbound capacity audience at the Redbridge Sports Centre on day two of the Tees Sport Butterfly London Open Grand Prix.

Taking the Men’s Open title and the winners cheque for £300, the twenty four-year-old ex China National team member, was a world apart from all of his rivals. His unexpected final opponent Norbert Gofalvi from Hungary and presently playing professionally in the German League, gave the Chinese superstar a contest, taking one end although the outcome was never in doubt. The packed crowd around the finals table went ape over the awesome display of top class table tennis these two players treated us to, with surely one of the finest matches ever seen at a Butterfly Grand Prix event.

It turned out to be a Men’s Open full of surprises with top of the list, Damien Nicholls recording a career best win over top seed Gavin Rumgay at the last sixteen stage. This clash was full of fantastic rallies of precision accuracy covering all parts of the table. Damien managed to read the Rumgay serve very well, and in doing so controlled the early exchanges with some superior blocking up at the table. After a dream start for Nicholls going two sets to love up was there an upset on the cards? News spread quickly and soon the gallery area was packed to the brim. The Rumgay fighting machine had returned in full flow and it seemed as though the pendulum had swung back in the Scottish player’s favour, levelling the match at two sets all. Damien continued where he left off in the earlier sets and to his credit kept his cool with once again some pinpoint blocking from all that Gavin could throw at him. The last few points in the final set had everyone enjoying this marvellous contest, with magnificent counter topspin rallies and nerve tingling moments for the crowd to savour. Damien soaked up all that Rumgay could finally muster, just shading it to record a great victory.

The Hungarian Gofalvi, had also raised a few eyebrows creating shocks on the way to reach the final. He registered a hard fought win over the in form Damien Nicholls in five sets, following up with a superb display of controlled table tennis to defeat Ireland’s Colum Slevin seeded three, at the semi final stage.

Jiang Chang Hong was made to work in his semi final match meeting his London Progress teammate Jiang Zhi Tao. Once again these two dynamic Chinese marvels put on a super display of top-drawer table tennis, to once again enthral the spectators, with Jiang Chang Hong coming through 14-12, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9.

It is certainly a huge boost for any aspiring young wannabe to watch in awe of these giants of the table, and entering a Grand Prix event gives them this chance, with the possibility of even playing one of the Chinese superstars. Thirteen year old Zak Zilesnick turned up on the day managing to get a scratch entry and although his dream was shattered of the chance to exchange blows with one of the top players, at least he recorded an excellent five set win saving four match points in the process against Tom Maynard in the group stage.

The Women’s Open event also turned out to be a cracker. With the appearance of Peniel players Xu Shuying and Lui Meihan, together with Ireland’s Na Liu, you knew that there would be table tennis of the highest order to enjoy. As expected top seed Xu Shuying occupying the top half of the draw made easy work of brushing aside Stephanie Donnelly and Lauren Spink in the earlier rounds. Nice to see Lauren back on the circuit again having enjoyed group wins over Caroline Linz, Claire Nelson and Lindsey Armstrong, and a first round winner over Sally Smith. However Lauren found Xu Shuying too hot to handle and bowed out gracefully. Shuying then went on to outplay her team-mate Liu Meihan in the semi final to await her finalist opposition.

Second seed Na Lui from Ireland was steadily making her presence felt in the lower half of the draw. Her early round opponents Ayonija Sundararajan and Sanja Clements both to their credit took a game off the Chinese player, with earlier Sanja recording a hard fought victory over Sarra Wang. Third seed Egley Adomelyte had a close four set win over Melissa Wright, but then lost out to Rachel Jamieson, in a five set thriller. Rachel had earlier endured a titanic five set struggle against Claire Nelson in the first round, after going two sets down, to then show tremendous resolve to win the next three games 11-7, 18-16, 11-6. Rachel then found Na Lui just too powerful losing in straight sets.

So once again it was a Xu Shuying and Na Liu final and a repeat of the Doncaster Grand Prix epic, earlier in the year. After losing the first game of a spellbound final 8-11, Na Liu managed to force errors from her opponent Xu Shuying, with some great action packed hard hitting long rallies, to win the next three sets and become the London Open Women’s Champion, and collect a nice cheque for £175.

The under 21’s Men’s and Women’s events were soon under way with the groups being fought out. In the Men’s under 21 event after a brilliant display earlier in the day you would have to fancy the top seed Damien Nicholls to walk away with the trophy. However there were several other young men also with that same thought in mind. Damien placed in the top half of the draw, enjoyed wins over Garth Kinlocke in four sets, then Sam Hanley in straight sets to book his semi final spot. Seeded also in the top half at three, was Matt Ware who was also making good progress with victories over Gavin Maguire and Jonathan Crawford to meet Nicholls in the first semi final.

Meanwhile in the bottom half, Vytas Rybakas was in devastating form to gain wins over David Mcbeath and Ryan Collins to book his last four placing. Ireland’s Peter Graham seeded at two was successful over Umair Mauthoor and a five set victor over fellow countryman Paul McCreery to also be rewarded with a last four place. Earlier McCreery had a five set marathon contest against Alim Hirji, coming through to meet his team-mate, Peter Graham.

In the semi finals Ware came through in four sets to defeat Nicholls, whilst Rybakas had a straight set win over Graham. The final was a close encounter of the fourth kind, with Vytas Rybakas continuing in devastating form to take the title and deny Matt Ware in four close sets.

The Women’s under 21 Competition had a few shocks and upsets in the event. Unseeded Melissa Wright who was enjoying a great weekend made her way to the final, getting the better of Claire Nelson, then running into top seed Lauren Spink in a classic defender versus attacker that was a joy to watch. Melissa reaching the final with a superb 11-6, 5-11, 9-11, 11-9, and 12-10 performance to oust the top seed.

Once again Peniel’s own Rachel Jamieson was making headway in the other half of the draw to gain fine victories against Lindsey Armstrong and Sarra Wang to set up her final with Melissa. The defensive skills with a mixture of accurate hard hitting smashes proved successful for Melissa, coming home with her third title against a valiant Rachel in four sets.

Abdul Wuraola was crowned Veteran Men’s champion. Abdul was made to pull out all the stops against Ayo Ademakinwa and Costas Papantoniou, before a final match with Clive Carthy. Clive had endured a right old ding-dong against Nigel Eckersley going right to the wire. Wuraola proved just the stronger with a straight sets win over Carthy in the final.

The Men’s Restricted Singles winner went to the scratch entry of Osman Yildirim. He enjoyed good wins over Lee Dredge, and Dan Kolesnik to reach the final. Alain Choo- Choy was his final opponent. He too, had good victories over the combination bat super skills of Rory Scott, and Daniel Welsh in the semi final. Osman had to fight all the way against the determined challenge from Choo-Choy.

The Tees Sport Player of the Weekend award went to Myles Collins from Avon County.

Final Results From Day two.

Men’s Open.
Jiang Chang Hong (Chn) bt. Norbert Kofalvi (Hun)
11-6, 13-11, 9-11, 11-9.

Women’s Open.
Na Liu (Irl) bt. Xu Shuying (Cv)
8-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-9.

Under 21 Men’s.
Vytas Rybakas (E) bt. Matt Ware (Ha)
12-10, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8.

Under 21 Women’s.
Melissa Wright (Ys) bt. Rachel Jamieson (E)
13-11, 2-11, 12-10, 11-5.

Veteran Men.
Abdul Wuraola (Sy) bt. Clive Carthy (E)
12-10, 11-7, 12-10.

Restricted Men.
Osman Yildren bt. Alain Choo-Choy (Sy)
10-12, 12-10, 12-10, 14-12.

The Next Tees Sport Butterfly Grand Prix will be held at the Aldersley Leisure Village in Wolverhampton over the weekend of Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th May.
Look forward to meeting you there.

By Geoff Ware ETTA Butterfly Grand Prix Press Officer