Finals Night 2016

Over 60 people attended our Annual Finals Night held on Saturday 30th April 2016 at Rudford & Highleadon

Village Hall. These included present members and their families, past members and people who have been involved with the Club for many years.

Our Guest of Honour this year was Gill Smith, who, for many years has been heavily involved with the sport in an official capacity, becoming a National Umpire and National Referee in 2001. She has also recently become a Vice-President of Table Tennis England.

After introductions from Lee Bruton, the evening kicked off with the first of 5 finals to be played, the Handicapped Veteran Singles, in which Division 1 player Gordon Shaw faced Sten Salisbury of Division 3, with a handicap of 13 given to Sten. After a very closely fought match, Gordon just did enough to come away with the victory in the 3rd set, winning 21-18, 7-21, 21-19.

The second match saw Michael Pang and Kim Benson-Bunch battle it out in the Handicapped Junior event. With both players in Division 3 having similar averages, there was no handicap start. Again it went to 3 sets, with Michael just doing enough to clinch the match, winning 18-21, 21-19, 21-18.

The Handicapped Doubles was the next match with two division 2 players, Stewart Jones partnering team-mate Alan

Welsh against two Division 3 players, Sten Salisbury and Matt Clayton, with the lower division pairing starting with a 6 point advantage. This match also needed 3 sets to decide the winners, with Stewart and Alan winning 19-21, 21-15, 21-19.

The last of the handicap finals to be played, the Handicapped Singles, saw Division 1 player, Trevor Oliver, playing Kim Benson-Bunch, with a start of 7 for Kim. Kim had the advantage of playing earlier on in the evening and this start proved too much for Trevor to overcome, Kim winning in 2 sets, 21-9, 21-13.

The last of the Finals was the Open with a newcomer to the Club, Kyle Day, an up-and-coming Junior who played in Division 3 this season, up against the formidable Darren Griffin. Kyle beat 3 division 1 players to reach the final, however, Darren was too strong for the Junior to overcome, Darren winning in 3 straight sets, 11-1, 11-7, 11-5.

Other results from events played previously:

Novice Singles: Winner - Louis Clark, Runner-up - Heather Clark

Handicapped Ladies Singles: Winner - Margaret Pang, Runner-up - Ann Barnes

Consolation Singles: Winner - Gordon Shaw, Runner-up - Michael Pang

S. Quelch Award: Gold - Darren Griffin (99.21% Div 1), Silver - Kyle Day (90% Div 3), Bronze - Gordon Shaw (80.77% Div 1)

The Ann Barnes Award for Junior of the Year went to Kyle Day for his achievements throughout the season.

The Glyn Llyoyd Award for services to the Club was shared between Pete Humble and Gordon Shaw.