(Picture Credit - Andrew Baggaley by Wiki)
It would be remiss for me not to say something about the table tennis season just ended. So here it is….
Now that most of the dust has settled, I had better summarise
the table tennis league season of 2013-14. At the start of the season the
Grimsby League was reorganised into five divisions, with up to 8 teams in each.
This was a radical departure from the old 12 team per division format. The top
tier became the new “Premier Division”, “Division 2” became “Division 1”, and
so forth. A new 4th Division was formed, consisting of many “novice”
teams. Each team would play every opposing team 3 times instead of the
traditional 2 times.
The Result? Most divisions were intensely
competitive and tight. My own team “Nemesis” unfortunately missed the “cut” and
were placed in the third tier. However, that “cutting” proved correct as the
teams that finished below us in the old D2 ended up above us in the new D2.
Specifically, Parkside C (Heys, T Roberts, Drewery) took the title, with Pete
Heys topping the “Averages” (87.10%). Pipefit (Pete Calvert et al) finished 3rd.
The division was so tight, however that we finished 5th yet only 8
points behind Parkside. And NALGO C only landed 2 points behind ourselves.
Sadly the exception to this competitiveness were
Clee Sports E who lost every match to finish rock bottom by a mile. They are a
decent side but couldn’t stand the more intense heat…
For the record the other League Champions were:
Premier – Parkside A (J Corry, Hancock, Heath), D1 – Urban Juice (Woodford,
Scott, Hanks), D3 – The Has Beens – (Appleton, Evardson, Daly, Ellis) and D4 –
The Green Horns (Pollard, Blackbourn, Smith, Hampson, A Walker).
Personally I had a good season, finishing with an
Average of just over 82% (2nd behind Pete Heys in D2). After some
early narrow defeats I put together a winning run of 29 singles victories. That
run was ended by the up-and-coming youngster Jack Murray, who overcame a big
deficit in the 5th to pip me. Jack later went on to take the D2
Individual Title in a “Round-Robin”: talented player Charles Cavernelis came 2nd
and our own Brian Lomas finished 3rd.
My big regret was how the season ended for me. A
virus gave me severe balance and dizziness issues so I had to miss all the
Grimsby Closed Championship events, including the “Divisionals”.
Earlier, however, I did enjoy the “Lincolnshire
Closed” (again in Grimsby). In my Veteran group I only lost 10-12 in the 5th
to big hitting Mick Dudman from the Lincoln top tier. Mark Donoghue gave me
something of a lesson in that group however. The Men’s Doubles saw Jack Murray
(a last minute entry) and myself take Lincoln D1 players Ian Sleight and Derek
Wood to 8-11 in the 5th. Jack, by the way, will play in our Premier Division
next season (quite rightly).
My Men’s Group was a “Group of Death” for me. I love
testing myself against the best, so I was not disappointed to face Andy Wignall
(Lincoln), Jonathan Corry (Grimsby) and John Aberra (Grimsby). Must have played
Andy about 5 times now, but this time he raced about 8-0 up against me before I
found some points. To be honest I felt better when John Aberra also struggled
with Andy. However, John did NOT struggle with ME!
I scored Jon Corry Vs Andy and kindly they both gave
me some playing tips before they played. Will combine BOTH of their
suggestions. Jonathan later went on to beat the legendary John Hancock to win
the Grimsby Closed Men’s Title for the first time (at long last). No doubt
playing me in the Lincolnshire Event gave Jonathan that extra competitive edge
later on **coughs**.
Talking of good opponents, another season-high was
playing Premier Division side “The Untouchables” in the Last Ten of “The Cup”.
Ian Pooler, Jack Blyth (my old team-mate) and Ray Simpson gave us a thorough
examination and beat us. “The Untouchables” then beat “Grimsby Mariners” in an
“El Classico” Semi-Final. Carrera Engineering (D4) made full use of their
handicap-start to eclipse them in The Final however.
More season highlights? The arrival of Ceri James
from Wales must be one, though I’ve not seen him play yet. When he cruised past
John Hancock in a league game, we all heard about it. However, John later won
the Grimsby Men’s Veterans Title (beating Mike Thornley no less), the Premier
Division Singles Title (defeating Jon Corry!) and the Men’s Doubles (WITH Jon
Corry).
Jack Murray beating Pete Heath as a reserve in a
league game was a shock, but Pete later won the Ken Chesman Memorial Trophy.
(Ken was my team-captain before he passed on). Youngster Chloe Lingard
defeating Dorothy Fuller for the Ladies’ Title sounds a major shock too.
Overall a good season then. Our Captain Brian Lomas
– Mr. Consistency – well he had to bed in a new bat this time round. And Dennis
Burgoyne continued to lob the ball high and play the game in a good spirit. All
the teams will be reshuffling their packs in the “Summer Season”. Roll on
September and October…
Paul
Butters
