This season’s Team Handicap KO Cup Final will go down in the annals of Burnham & District Table Tennis League history – it was an upset to match the Ryder Cup Miracle of Medinah in 2012, or the Liverpool FC Miracle of Istanbul in 2005.  Woodham B somehow defeated the recently crowned Division 1 Champions and Handicap Cup specialists in a dramatic comeback last gasp victory. 

The Team Handicap Cup is Burnham’s only team cup competition and the handicapping is applied to players starting points depending on their perceived ranking in the league – the better players are penalised and the lower ranked players are given a headstart in an attempt to create a level playing field.  Cold Norton B are the renowned specialists in this discipline having won the trophy for the past 3 seasons without ever dropping an individual match – yes you read that correct not a single match lost in 3 years!  This year was going along in the same fashion as they won all their opening rounds 5-0, but then a crack appeared as they dropped two matches in semi-final where they ‘only’ won 5-2.  Hope for their opponents from Woodham B for sure.  Woodham B also had the services of the two finalists from this year’s Handicap Singles competition – so some good handicap pedigree there.  An upset was unlikely but not impossible!

In the best of 9 Final, Cold Norton got off to a flyer winning the opening doubles match, and then Ian Wall followed up with a very tight win over Peter Harverson but only 22-20 in the deciding leg for a 2-0 early lead for Cold Norton.  Graham Briggs used his positive handicap to great effect for Woodham when he upset the apple cart by beating Sam Lowman in straight sets.  Cold Norton’s Eric Green then had to fight tooth and nail to eventually get past the dogged defence of Eamonn Hall over 3 long and hard fought legs.  So Cold Norton took a commanding 3-1 lead.  Woodham duo Harverson and Brigges then took the next doubles despite having given away 4 match points at 20-16 up in the second leg.  Green was next up against young Harverson and another marathon ensued and yet again a deciding leg was required to separate the teams.  This time Green’s accuracy and determination saw him through for his brace of singles wins, and Cold Norton now only needed one more triumph to retain their crown once more.  Lowman and Hall have very different styles and this next match-up was a proper game of cat and mouse as Hall tried to control the play and keep Lowman pinned on his backhand, knowing full well any forehand loops would just go straight past him.  It certainly worked in the opening leg where Lowman was a bit uncharacteristically wayward with some of his attacking, and Hall was dogged with his cat and mouse approach. This changed in leg 2 when Lowman began to come around his backhand and attack with his forehand from the backhand side – brilliantly executed and he took leg 2, 21-18. In the deciding leg Hall got off to a much better start with a tweak or two to his tactics and found himself 10 points clear by the time Lowman had cleared his handicap. This buffer was enough for Hall to take a few more chances and despite Lowman still rattling multiple forehands passed him the gap was enough for Hall to take another unexpected point. 4-3 to Cold Norton and we were now very late into the evening.  The next match was a belter. Cold Norton’s Wall had a determined glint and was dealing with Briggs’ attacks much better than anyone else all evening. The first leg saw some tremendous rallies but Wall was always just that little bit more in control and he won out 21-18. The second leg saw Briggs a little bit more controlled and not lashing out at hopeful shots. It was mighty close again and Wall caught up at 18-18, but Briggs went all brave and hit a couple of stunning winners in the next few rallies to take the leg. The final leg was epic and both players went full hammer and tongs on us. Brilliant table tennis and brilliant drama. Wall was on fire and he was the first to hit his halfway point. Despite changing ends Wall was relentless and caught Briggs very early at 12-12. At this point the Woodham players started to pack up, and the venue caretakers were preparing to lock up – it looked done and dusted. But Briggs became inspired, something deep inside had been stirred and he matched Wall point for point as they made their way to the business end of the deciding leg.  Briggs had the first match point at 20-19, and the second at 21-20 – but Wall snubbed both of those. Then Wall had Championship Point at 22-21 but couldn’t get over the line and the fat lady had to extinguish her cigar. At 23-22 Briggs finished with a fine winner – a truly epic match that had everything. So somehow it was now the next day already, and the Final was all square at 4-4.  The final and deciding doubles featured Green and Wall versus Hall and Harverson with a 12 point handicap. Of all the matches this one was surprisingly uneventful as Hall and Harverson took the majority of chances that came their way, didn’t make too many mistakes, and the handicap gave them license to attack when they could. Both legs finished 21-17, and Woodham were not only back from the dead but had triumphed in the face of adversity.

Despite an excellent display by Eric Green for Cold Norton, Player of the Match was undoubtedly Graham Briggs – but in truth the spectacle was the real winner. What a Final. 5-4 to Woodham B, although Cold Norton B had Championship Point in Match 8, with 5 of the matches going to a decider, with 4 legs going to deuce, and the amazing accurate handicapping was brilliant all night.

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Eamonn Hall, Press Officer

Burnham & District Table Tennis League

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Pic 1 – Burnham Team Handicap KO Cup Champions 2026 – Woodham B Celebrating (Peter Harverson, Graham Briggs, & Eamonn Hall)

Pic 2 – Burnham Team Handicap KO Cup Champions 2026 – Woodham B (Peter Harverson, Graham Briggs, & Eamonn Hall)

Pic 3 – Player of the Final – Graham Briggs

Pic 4 – Action from the final point of the epic match between Graham Briggs and Ian Wall

Pic 5 – Eric Green in winning action in the Final for Cold Norton B