There were many close finishes in matches in both divisions in the last round of the open grade fixtures at the Leichhardt Park Table Tennis Centre. Most of the team matches were decided by a solitary rubber, and the number of individual singles and doubles contests that resulted in narrow finishes was both interesting and exciting.
In the top division, Relly Pingol survived a scare provided by Jakob Baker, winning 11-5 in the deciding fifth set after Baker won the first two games by a few points. Pingol put himself back in the picture with 12-10 victories in both the third and fourth sets. Dane Coughlan outlasted an incredible challenge by Leo Lai, who was subbing up a grade, to win 12-10 in the decider after being in quite a bit of strife in the fifth game. The first four games were shared by narrow scorelines. In this team match, Ann-Louise Stewart just made it to the finishing line when pitted against Shaun Pettett in a clash that went the full distance, with Pettett holding a two-game-to-one advantage early on.
In this section, the combination of Joel Coughlan and Erica Nolan has put themselves in with a chance to lead the field over the next few weeks as they currently enjoy a one-point cushion over teams consisting of Matthew Pettett and Nolan Hao, and Rayden Smith and Relly Pingol. However, the leaders have a match in hand, so even a couple of points from this outstanding clash will stand them in good stead in the countdown towards the end of the season, which will be decided on a first-past-the-post basis.
The second division leaderboard is still bunched, with three teams continuing to share the top spot after all recording the same points outcomes in the last outing. Teams consisting of Leo Lai and Linda O’Sullivan, Allan Clarke and Patricia Green, and Pam Clarke and Geoff Geddes currently share first place. It will be interesting to see if there is a separation over the next few weeks of competition in a very close fixture.
Oo Kyaw, who subs in the second-grade fixture when he can due to work commitments, had a big night out when he defeated Geoff Geddes 11-9 in the fifth set after being behind two-nil, bailing himself out of trouble with his pen-grip attacking style. He also had too many aces for Pam Clarke, winning by a couple of points in the deciding fifth set after a come-from-behind victory in the fourth set, 14-12.
The Rocky Club’s newest tournament-hopper appears to be Cooper Bulow, who attended the Sunshine Coast Open titles over the weekend, only one week after participating in the Brisbane Open Championships. Bulow, who resides in Gladstone and attends practice sessions in Rocky when possible, represented the city at the state junior titles in the under-17 age group in Brisbane during the Easter school holidays and also did well at the Rocky Open in April. In his latest outing, he played many matches across various events and returned some very positive results against some very good players.
The local club remains keen to produce more youngsters who can represent the city, and sessions for beginner juniors take place from 4:30 pm on Thursdays. As youngsters make progress in the sport, sessions are staged for advanced juniors. Details of all the city’s table tennis activities are always available on our Facebook and right here on our website homepage.
As always, if you would like to see up to date fixture results, click on the below link!