Closed Championships
Tournament report - by Dave Murphy
The Milton Keynes Table Tennis Club held it's annual closed championship on Sunday January 25. There were over 20 entries in the competition, which was quite disappointing considering there is over 70 members. Despite that, there were some very exciting matches, which went close to the wire.
The Championship singles saw 4 groups of 4 with the top two players going through. Group A consisted of Andrew Misseldine, John Wong, Matt Garner and Daniel Andersson. The favourite of the group, Andy Misseldine didn't disappoint as he won all his matches fairly comfortably. Daniel Andersson could have come runner-up but he lost to John Wong in the fifth 11-7 to see Wong go through.
Group B was Mark Purcell, Kelvin Choong, Johan Andersson and Craig Brown. The first match was between group favourites Purcell and Choong, which could determine the group winner and runner-up. Purcell went two games up but Choong turned it around and won the next three 7-11, 6-11, 8-11. Choong won his group and Purcell came second after winning the remaining of his matches.
Group C had one of the hot favourites to win the competition, Alan Cherry, joined by Bernard Green, Ray Harwood and yours truly Dave Murphy. Cherry played Murphy first and won quite comfortably, relying on Murphy to make the mistakes. Harwood and Green went to five in their match, even though Harwood went two games up. Green battled back well, but couldn't contain Harwood and lost 4-11 in the match. Cherry finally went through as group winner with Murphy as runner-up.
Julian Adams, Dave Wackrill, Simon Green and Neil Carruthers made the final group up, which saw Adams and Wackrill face each other in the first match. Adams took the first two games, only to see his fellow team mate win the next two to force a fifth game. Adams had the better start and maintained the lead to beat Wackers 11-7 for the match. Both players went on through to the quarter finals without problems, with Adams being the group winner.
Andrew Misseldine of MK Stormers faced MK Kingpins' Mark Purcell in the quarter-final. In form Misseldine took the first game comfortably 11-6, but Purcell wasn't going to lay down and took the second and third 6-11, 9-11. The two left handers had some fantastic rallies but Purcell took the fourth 7-11 to seal the match and progress to the semi-final against the winner of the second quarter between Alan Cherry and Dave Wackrill. Wackrill of MK Stormers won the first game 12-10, but he needed to keep up the standards in the second to stand a chance of going through. Cherry went into another gear and slowly pushed Wackrill out of the game and won the next three games 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 to meet Purcell.
Kelvin Choong and John Wong of MK Sasaki were in Group C of the quarter final, which saw Choong win 11-8 in the first. Unfortunately Wong did not have the power to go through Choong and made too many mistakes and lost 11-8, 13-11 to go out of the competition. Julian Adams met Likely Lad Dave Murphy in the final quarter-final and saw himself lose the first 7-11. Adams made some big shots in the second and only just prevented himself going 2-0 down, winning 13-11. Murphy managed to up the tempo and forced Adams away from the table to secure a semi-final place against Choong winning 4-11, 5-11.
Mark Purcell was playing some of his best table tennis for a while and unfortunately Alan Cherry was on the receiving end of it in the semi-final. Purcell won the first game, which could have gone either way, 12-10 and made it look easier in the second by smashing through a bemused Cherry, winning 11-4. So many times Purcell has lost matches despite being in a commanding lead but on this occasion he remained calm and finished the job winning the third 11-8. The other semi-final saw Choong win the first against Murphy 11-7. Choong, who hasn't got a good record against Murphy, only just lost the second 14-16, which would have put a different complexion on the match. Murphy, who was now playing with more confidence, looping too well for Choong, won the next two 5-11, 5-11.
The final saw Purcell and Murphy go head to head and league statistics show Purcell has won the most. Putting statistics aside, Purcell was feeling the exhaustion before the match started due to other matches he was in. Murphy took full advantage of his tiredness and came out with big shots to prevent Purcell from counterhitting and won the first two games 11-8, 11-8. Purcell played the better in the third and won 8-11. Murphy came out out in the fourth stronger and steamed ahead 9-3 up. Despite the lead, Purcell came back to 9-8, but it was quickly stopped and Murphy finished off to win 11-9, to win the Anchor Shield after a years absence of the competition.
The championship doubles consisted of eight pairs and the first semi-final was between David Wackrill/ Julian Adams and Dave Murphy/ Daniel Andersson. Wackrill and Adams, who won their group, took full advantage of their experience together and beat their opponents 11-8, 11-8, 11-9 to progress to the final. John Wong/ Kelvin Choong faced Mark Purcell/ Johan Andersson in the second semi-final, which ended up in a five game thriller. MK Sasaki pair Wong and Choong won the first two games with ease 11-5, 11-6 and looked as though they were going all the way. Purcell and Andersson, who were runners-up in their group, played some fantastic shots, with Andersson winning vital points to win the next three games 7-11, 9-11, 7-11 and advance to the final against Wackrill and Adams. Adams had insisted the main reason he turned up for the club tournament was for the doubles title, but their opponents had different ideas. Purcell and Andersson won the first, but their opponents were adamant that the title belonged to them and won the third and fourth 5-11, 7-11 to win the title.
The first semi-final of the Veterans competition had Andrew Misseldine facing Dave Wackrill. Misseldine, who won Group A, was too strong for his old team mate Wackrill and beat him in straight games 11-6, 13-11, 11-5 to advance to the final. Alan Cherry, who won group B, faced Mark Purcell again in the other semi-final and saw himself lose the first two games 9-11, 9-11. Cherry won the third 16-14 but went out of the competition in the fourth losing 10-12. Purcell beat Misseldine 11-8 in the first but Misseldine came back in the second to win a close 15-13. Misseldine carried on his good fortune and won the third 12-10, but Purcell absolutely murdered him in the fourth to force a fifth game. The two premiership players played some great table tennis, with the crowd clapping at every point, but it was Misseldine of MK Stormers, who won the match 11-6 for the Veterans title.
Daniel Andersson won the Junior event beating his brother Johan 11-4 in the fifth, Neil Carruthers in straight games, Matt Garner in three, and beating Craig Brown in four, Johann came second.
The first semi-final of the restricted singles was Neil Carruthers beating Simon Green 13-11, 11-7, 11-8 to face the winner of the other semi-final between Craig Brown and Julie Pethick. This was going to be an entertaining match with Pethick winning the first 10-12, but Brown won the second 11-6. Pethick came back in the third 9-11 but Brown picked up the pace and thrashed Pethick 11-1 to force a final. Pethicks experience couldn't help her in the final, but it was the pure determination of Brown that secured the game 11-8 and the title.
With only two ladies in the tournament, the ladies singles final was between Hilary Warton and Julie Pethick. Pethick who got 36% in Division Three last year, was too strong for Warton and beat her comfortably to win the Ladies title.
The mixed Doubles saw Julian Adams and Julie Pethick beat Ray Harwood and Hilary Warton 11-2, 11-2, 11-9.
Many thanks to Nick Warton and Andy Smith for organising and running the event.
View pictures taken from the event