Essex Press Office

Reported by Steve Kerns
Press & Publicity Officer
Essex County Table Tennis Association

Arthur Clark reports on the BATTS 1 Star event.

The second BATTS One Star Open Tournament was held at the home of BATTS Table Tennis Club, the Norman Booth Centre, Old Harlow on the middle weekend of May with players as far away as Dorset and Lincolnshire travelling to compete. In all events every player proceeded from the Group Stages into the Main or Consolation event KO stages.

With the exam period in full swing the U18 events suffered from reduced entries in comparison with the first Tournament back in April, indeed there was no Girls event. With withdrawals late the previous Friday afternoon the Boys event was hastily reconstituted into Groups of six on two tables keeping all the players involved all morning and giving some excellent matches in the Group as well as the later KO stages. However top seed Daniel Moses (Bk) eventually won a fluctuating final over Alex Holland (E) 11-3, 4-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-9, having scraped through his semi final against Aaron Marche (Nk) 9, 12, 10. Alex had also endured a tight semi final over Tom Baines (He) -11, 12, 9, 6 after Tom had defeated second seed Brandon Crouchman (E) in the Groups.

In the U13 Boys event in the afternoon top seed Alex Holland put aside his U18 final defeat winning every match 3-0 on his way to the final against Hilkiah Adebanjo (E), Hilkiah having only dropped one game in the Groups on his way to the final. In the final Alex always had the edge despite dropping the second game before winning 11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8. In the U13 Girls event Estelle Purkis (E) only dropped the first game in the final before beating club mate Jessica Whealy (E) 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 12-10.

For the early risers Sunday morning, it was for Dorset’s Hugo Pang, the U11 events started the day. With number one seed Peumal Thilakaratne failing to appear Daniel McTiernan (Bk) was promoted to that position. He progressed comfortably to the semi finals before meeting a determined Oliver Gunns (K), only winning 9, 9, -10, 6 to reach the final. In the other half Hugo had had to come back from 2-0 down to beat Oliver -6, -9, 5, 11, 3 to win his Group and thence progress comfortably to the final. In the final, however, Daniel confirmed his higher ETTA Ranking running out an 11-7, 5-11, 11-7, 11-8 winner. In the U11 Girls event it was not a good day for Eda Aydin (Mi). Seeded one on the strength of her event win last time she could only finish fourth in her Group. Group winner Lara Esquivel (E) went on to reach the final where she met the runner up in her Group, Amaka Okafor (E). This time Lara won 11-7, 11-9 12-10 whereas in the Group she had to come back from 2-1 down to win.

The weekend’s largest entries were the U15 events and, particularly in the Boys event, not everything went to form with four of the eleven Group seeds failing to win their Group, most notable being Alex Holland, defeated by Charlie Baines (He). However, he then took full advantage of being in the bottom half of the draw defeating Tom Baines (He) 3-0 in the quarter final and second seed Brandon Crouchman (E) also 3-0 in the semi to reach his third final of the weekend. Meanwhile top seed Liam McTiernan progressed comfortably in the top half to the final beating Charlie Baines 3-0 in the semi final. Liam went on to win the final against Alex 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7. In the U15 Girls event Evangeline Collier (E) was never extended on her way to the final, defeating twin sister Lucie 3-0 in the semi final. A round earlier Lucie had just managed to beat Ella Patel (E) 8, -11, -4, 6, 9. For Connie Hodges it was a much tougher task to reach the final. Having lost to Ella in the Group she beat number two seed Estelle Purkis 3-1 in the semi but Evangeline showed her dominance winning the Final 11-6, 12-10, 11-3.

RESULTS OF CONSOLATION EVENTS

Under 18 Boys: Shane Underhill (Nk) bt Charlie Baines (He) 7-11, 12-10, 5-11, 11-9, 11-4.

Under 13 Boys: Daniel Chen (K) bt Thomas Fox (Nk) 11-5, 11-5, 12-10.

Under 13 Girls: Olivia Churchill (Li) bt Emily Hodges (E) 11-6, 13-11, 11-6.

Under 11 Boys: Anthony Close (He) bt Oliver Hicks (E) 11-8, 8-11, 11-4, 13-11.

Under 11 Girls : Olivia Hossack (E) bt Eda Aydin 11-7, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-3.

Under 15 Boys: Scott Wilson (E) bt James Denyer (E) 15-13, 6-11, 4-11, 12-10, 11-6.

Under 15 Girls: Lara Esquivel (E) bt Emily Hodges (E) 7-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8.

Arthur C. Clark
Essex Junior Match Secretary