On the 9th October last year a young man called Mitchell Jones made his debut for Stanford A in Division 1 of the Southend and District Table Tennis League. Not much was known about him in the local area but he soon made his mark winning all his games and not dropping a set in the process. A good start which soon turned into something special as, 10 games later, he was still unbeaten and still not dropped a set!
Whilst obviously a class above his Division 1 counterparts could he continue this form into the Southend Championships where he would be up against Southend’s top Premier league players? The answer was a resounding yes as he proceeded into the semi – finals and final which were held at Plumberow Primary Academy, the home of Hockley TTC, last week. Needless to say he dismissed his semi -final opponent Liam Squirrell in straight sets and then repeated the feat against Duncan Taylor in the final. A remarkable performance from the young man who added an extra title to his name by teaming up with Jo Hills from Canvey TTC to win the mixed doubles.
Finals night didn’t turn out to be the best night for men’s runner up Taylor as he lost to his doubles partner Kevin Read in the Over 40’s singles and, together, they were beaten in the doubles by Liam Squirrell of Matchpoint and Reece Seddon of Irons. Seddon had lost to Taylor in the semi – final of the men’s singles.
There were new names on the cup in the Ladies Doubles as Hannah Harbour of Hockley and Debbie O’neil of Matchpoint teamed up to beat Caroline Cole of Rawreth Megazone and Lucy Elliot of Matchpoint.
In the under 21’s final Lucy’s brother James beat Alex Bowden both also from the Matchpoint club.
Finally, in the only final which went to five sets, Lin Roff of Mapledene beat Jo Hills to win the Ladies Singles coming back from two sets down.
Apart from the matches played on finals night there were a number of other finals played over the preceding weekend. These are detailed below.
O50s John Poysden bt Sanjay Saptarshi 11-7, 11-4, 7-11, 11-5
O60s John Poysden bt Keith Willett 8-11, 14-12, 11-9, 11-3
O70s Ian Sangster bt Bill Smith 11-13, 11-8, 11-9, 11-7
080s Douglass Brown bt Ken Field 11-3, 11-6, 11-3
O40s Doubles. Colin Chatfield & Babul McLeod bt Kevin Read & Duncan Taylor 4-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-7
Over 40s Plate Richard Kidd bt Anthon Ranjit-Singh 8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5
Over 50s Plate Richard Riebold bt Peter Moxham 5-11, 11-6, 13-11, 12-10
Over 60s Plate Trevor Hayes bt Steve Kemp 11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 11-4
Over 70s Plate Paul Strutt bt Steve Walter 13-11, 11-4, 6-11, 11-3
Vets Doubles Plate Debbie Oneill & Caroline Cole bt Jenne Seibolt & Randy Santiago 11-7, 6-11, 11-9, 11-5
Premier Restricted Kieran Skeggs bt Sanjay Saptarshi 11-8, 11-8, 11-5
Div 1 Restricted Barrie Delf bt Jo Hills 11-9. 8-11, 11-6, 10-12, 11-7
Div 2 Restricted Jamie Elliott bt Arun Joy 4-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-8
Div 3 Restricted Alex Bowden bt Trevor Hayes 11-9, 11-6, 11-13, 11-8
