The Southend and District Table Tennis League Championship finals came to fruition on Friday night and new Men’s and Ladies Champions were crowned as Dan Young overcame reigning champion Mark Mulley and Barbara Chabior beat Dawn Baldry.
No less than seven finals and two semi – finals were played at host club Hockley TTC and, not surprisingly, even though the event started at 6.30pm it was gone 11.00pm by the time it finished. There were some long and very evenly contested matches throughout the evening.
The final of the Vets Doubles set the tone as Duncan Taylor (Rayleigh Mill) and Kevin Read (Rawreth) took on the Jacob brothers (Brand Identity), Simon and David, which eventually saw regular partners Taylor and Read come back from 2-1 down to win 10/12 11/7 10/12 13/11 12/10. A five set match turned out to be the last thing Taylor wanted as he still had four, possibly five matches still to play!
Next on court was the Mixed Doubles final between Debbie O’Neill (Matchpoint) and Les Hoey (Basildon) and Stanford pairing Tina Hutchinson and Mitchell Jones. This turned out to be one of the shortest matches of the evening as Hutchinson and Jones won easily 11/4 11/5 11/8.
The Vets Over 40’s final pitched seasoned doubles partners Taylor and Read against each other and the script was probably pre-written here as they produced a long and intriguing five set encounter eventually won 15/13 10/12 12/10 8/11 11/9 by Read. There were some intense rallies throughout as Read sought to impose his attacking game on Taylor’s staunch defending and the final set saw even more drama as Taylor had a spectacular fall with the score at 6/7. Whilst he soon recovered, without apparent injury, it would have been the last thing he wanted at such a crucial time.
The first of the Men’s Singles semi – finals came next and this turned out to be a very straightforward affair as Mark Mulley (Hadleigh Forum) beat Ian Wall (Thorpe Bay) 11/7 11/3 11/8.
Not much time to rest for Taylor as he took to the floor against Dan Young (Rawreth) in the other semi final and another long four set match ensued. Taylor’s firm defence came out on top in the first set winning 11/9 but Young showed he can play the waiting game too probing steadily for an opening to enable him to unleash his big hitting game. It couldn’t have been much closer as he won the next three sets 11/9 17/15 14/12.
The Ladies Doubles final saw Barbara Chabior (Wakering) and Tina Hutchinson (Stanford) take on Matchpoint pair Debbie O’Neill and Hannah Harbour. Yet another five set match saw Chabior and Hutchinson come back from two sets down to take the title 12/10 in the decider. They were even behind 7/3 in the final set so quite a comeback! Final score 5/11 7/11 11/8 11/9 12/10.
Taylor stepped up for his third final of the night, this time partnered by Daniel Bronziet (Rawreth), in the final of the Men’s Doubles against Mulley and Wall. It turned out to be a successful partnership as well as, after exchanging the first two sets 12/10, they edged the next two 11/7 11/8.
Just the two main singles finals left and it was the ladies turn first with first time finalist Barbara Chabior taking on the experienced and former winner Dawn Baldry (Mapledene). The bookmakers would probably have put their money on Baldry for this one but Chabior got off to a winning start taking the first set 11/6 and then successfully came through a tight second set edging home 16/14. Baldry got her attacking game going in set three and won another close set 11/9 but, unfortunately, she couldn’t maintain this recovery losing the fourth set 11/6. A great night for Barbara taking home two trophies on her finals debut!
The Men’s final completed the evening between reigning champion Mulley and 21 year old Young who had actually appeared in the final four years earlier but finished runner up. It featured some tremendous hitting but, in the end, it was Young’s steadier defensive play that made the difference. He couldn’t have had a better start winning the first set 11/3 with Mulley making far too many mistakes in his attacking game. He recovered in the second to push Young all the way but just lost 14/12 to put Young in a very strong position. Not one to surrender his title easily, Mulley came back brilliantly in the third set taking it 11/4 and leaving the crowd with high expectations of another five set match. It proved not to be however as Young played steadily, returning Mulley’s attacking shots confidently and waiting for an error or a chance to hit his own attacking shots. He triumphed 11/7 to take his first Men’s Singles title.
All in all the evening produced some thrilling matches with great hitting, stubborn defence, amazing rallies and even a fair share of outrageous nets. Thoroughly enjoyed by the crowd even though the finish was past some of their bedtimes!
Congratulations to all the winners, commiserations to the runners up, and thanks to all those who helped organise and run the event.
Reportby Paul Strutt
