Perfect finish for successful event
After 14 hours of continuous play the Kettering Closed Tournament was brought to an end by a men's singles final of outstanding quality.
It had all the essential ingredients of a perfect game with the immaculate defence of John Fuller pitted against the sustained and accurate attacking play of Chris Ross.
Fuller started well and looked in control when he took the first end 11-2. But Ross found his rhythm to take the second end 11-8. The third game was close with Fuller clawing his way back to win 12-10.
Fuller fought back in the fourth to hold a match point at 10-9 but Ross saved this and three further match points before levelling the match 15-13.
In the decider the former Norfolk number oneestablished a 10-4 lead and, though Ross saved two further match points, it was not enough.
After ending as runner-up last season, Fuller had won his first men's
title.
Richard Elliott was beaten by Fuller at the semi-final stage where Ross had eliminated Jack Coleman who previously knocked out Miles Chan.
However these were low points for Elliott and Chan who otherwise had very successful tournaments.
The Elliott/Mark Nannery partnership, unbeaten in the league this season, last won the men's doubles in 1996.
But seeded number one they always looked likely winners and took the title when they beat second seeds Kevin Bird and Jack Coleman after dropping the opening game.
With Elliott now in his first season as a veteran, the Higham pair took
the Over-40 doubles at the first attempt but only after a pulsating encounter with Ross and Kevin Bird which ended at 12-10 in a fifth-end
decider.
Ross and Elliott also went the full distance in the veteran singles before Elliott took control to win the final game 11-3.
Partnered by Rachel Thompson, Elliott also took first place in the mixed doubles after dropping the opening end to Helen and Martin Watts.
After four title successes there could yet be a fifth as both Elliott and Chris Gibbons reached the final of the Hard Bat singles. But with
time called, it was decided to postpone the final to a later date.
In the early stages the holder and hard bat specialist Simon Jarvis had been ousted by another Corby player, newcomer Adam Bendyk.
Playing in the Kettering League for the first time this season, 12-year-old Chan – showing maturity beyond his years – lived up to expectation by winning the Under-18 singles with an 11-9 fifth-end finish against Jack Coleman and the corresponding doubles in tandem with his opponent.
Three other junior events were easily negotiated but he encountered stiffer opposition before taking the Under-30 event with Sam Wildman his final opponent.
Helen Watts claimed the ladies singles for the eighth time to take second place to Ann Lenton who won the title 11 times in the 1960s and early 1970s.
It was a familiar face that Watts faced in the final of the 30 to 40s event but her resolve didn't waver as she finally got the better of her brother Martin 11-9 in the deciding game, one of three events in which he ended as runner-up.
Matt Horrocks was another player to excel in the later stages, winning the Premier Division Handicap against Chan and also becoming the 34th winner of the Consolation Singles in the 36 years in which the event has taken place.
Vaughan Allington won the Second Division Handicap, beating Kelvin
Marshall in three close games, after easing out his team-mate Steve Crook on two deuce games at the semi-final stage.
Not to be outdone his son James not only took the Third Division Handicap but also added the Under-15 doubles when paired with Aiden Smith.
Another Harborough success came when Barry Thompson and Smith were drawn together to form a winning partnership in the Mystery Doubles.
Other winners included Fuller in the Over-50 singles, Ken Philipson in the first Over-60 singles, Michael Edwards and Chris Gibbons in the Over-50 doubles while Adrian Ellmer beat Martin Watts in the final of the First Division Handicap.
Rachel Thompson took the Girls Singles after coming from two games down against Beth Tyler. But with the help of Becki Tyler, Thompson added the ladies doubles in straight games.
At the end of another well-staged event at Weavers Table Tennis Centre in which more than 330 matches were played on 10 tables, tournament organiser Phil Slade and his team of helpers can again look back on a
job well done.
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Weather for Kettering
Monday 13 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 4 C to 7 C
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Wind direction: North west
