The annual closed championships were held at The Radclyffe Sports School
in Chadderton and attracted sixty eight entries. In the larger events there
were group stages which advanced to a straight knockout.
Open Singles
There were twelve groups with winners and runners up progressing to the
knockout stages. In the first round
knockout Veterans over 60’s Champion from last year Tommy Ryan beat an out of
sorts Steve McNicholas. Second division Peadar McKinstry beat first division
Ian Quinn in three straight games. Division three top of the averages player
Graham Daniels beat division one player Ken Hayes. In the last sixteen Tony
Smith had a tussle against Gary Newton and won through to the last eight and
five in the fifth. Khamal Hussain came up against defending champion Graham
Jeffries and lost at six in the forth. Mark Ramsbottom played his club mate
Martin Wyatt and though winning in three straight it was at eighteen in the
third! Mandy Winskill got the better of Derek Watmough and progressed to the
next round at six in the forth. Tommy Ryan’s run came to a halt when he faced
Andy Jackson who won comfortably at eight in the third. Tony Bates proved too
consistent for Peadar McKinstry and won in three straight. It took four games
for Wayne Renton to progress though when he beat Ben Armstrong at seven in the
forth. The final match in this round saw Graham Daniels good run come to an end
when division two player Andy Evans won nine, nine and
seven.
The quarter finals saw some excellent table tennis and defending
champion Graham Jeffries was taken all the way by Tony Smith who eventually
lost at eight in the fifth. Club mate Mark Ramsbottom proved too strong for
Mandy Winskill and her excellent run ended at four in the forth. Perhaps the
biggest upset in this round was top of division one’s averages, Andy Jackson
having only lost one set all season found Tony’s Bates too steady and went out
at seven in the fifth to continue Tony’s fine run. Andy Evans put up a fine
struggle against Wayne Renton who eventually won through to the semi finals at
two in the fifth. In a tremendous match Graham Jeffries three year reign as
Bury Champion came to an end when Mark Ramsbottom won through to the final at
nine in the fifth. Graham held a two sets to one
advantage but Mark continued in the hard hitting match to win the next two
games at eight and nine. Mark will face Wayne Renton who ended Tony Bates fine
run when Wayne lost a very close first game at ten but won the next three to
put him in to the final which he won in 1996 and was runner up in 2009 to the
outgoing champion Graham Jeffries.
Over 40’s
There were no surprises in the last sixteen and only three players came
from outside division one which showed the strength of this event. Graham
Jeffries lost no time in his quarter final match against Steve Barber and
progressed to the semi final winning eight, five and three. Ian Quinn played
team mate Gary Newton and had to go to five games to eventually progress
through for Ian to meet Graham Jeffries. Tony Bates eased through to the semis
when he beat Dave Poytress four, four and seven. In another match of team mates
Andy Jackson faced current and five times Veterans champion Mark Ramsbottom and
it needed five tough games for and to progress through to the semis. Mark was
in no mood to let the title go and won the first two incredibly close games.
Andy however was able to pick up his game and win the next three fairly
comfortably. The score line for Andy was twelve fourteen, seventeen nineteen,
eleven six, eleven six, eleven nine. 2009 Veteran champion Graham Jeffries was
too good for Ian Quinn on the day and made it through to the final by a nine,
nine three score line. Andy Jackson had an equally comfortable score line
against Tony Bates when he won five, seven and six to put him in the final
against Graham Jeffries.
Over 60’s
With a lower number of entries this event was a straight knockout.
League Vice Chairman Rodney Hall drew a preliminary round against John Foster
and came through a very close contest at seven in the fifth. 2009 Champion
Derek Watmough had a generous draw against Peter Helmn from division five and
progressed through to the semi final at four in the third. League Chairman Ken
Crimes eased past division five player Jack Nesbit at
six in the third. Rodney Hall’s run came to an end when he faced current
champion Tommy Ryan whose continuous attacking play proved too strong and won
through to the semis at eleven in the third. Having a walk over in the last
round Joe Redikin faced Derek Watmough and the latter won five seven and five.
Ken Crimes lost his semi final against Tommy Ryan at four in the third to leave
a repeat of last years final between Derek Watmough and Tommy Ryan.
Doubles
A strong entry of doubles required six preliminary rounds to progress to
a quarter finals stage.
Division five pairings Tom Warburton and Callum Stott took a game off
division two players Andy Evans and Steve Hathaway who won through to the
quarters at nine in the forth. An all division five match between father and
son Jack and Alan Nesbit proved too strong for Brian Philip from division four
and fifth division Scott Fleming. The Nesbit pairing won ten, seven and four.
Division five pairings and team mates Olivia Wallis and Domonic Siddall put up
a brave fight against division one players Brett Haslam and Lee Devenport and
eventually lost four, five and ten. Last minute pairings because a couple of no
shows were Wayne Renton from division one and division two player Peadar
McKinstry. In a very tight match against Division one’s Dave Poytress and
division three Paul Carter the late pairings proved too strong in the end and
won at four in the fifth. The last match was non League players from Ramsbottom
Academy Rory McNicholas (nephew of Steve) and William Moppett who drew a tough
pairing from division one Martin Wyatt and Dave Kay and they won through at
four three and five. Andy Jackson and Mark Ramsbottom took four games to get
past John Dodd and Jim Bollard. With the help of division one player Ian Quinn
division two player Dave Bolton beat Andy Evans and Steve Hathaway at eight in
the forth. Two father and son pairings met and the strength of division one
player Gary Newton who helped his son Adam into the next round when they won a
five game tussle against Alan and Jack Nesbit at five
in the fifth. Graham Jeffries and Steve McNicholas looked over whelming
favourites for their match against division three pairings Graham Daniels and
Martin Nicholls but were taken all the way and did eventually win at six in the
fifth. Club mates Khamal Hussain and Mandy Winskill eased past Mick Dore and
Andy Kaye and eight in the forth. What looked like to be a long match Wayne
Renton and Peadar McKinstry edged the first game seventeen fifteen only to win
the next two at three and nine against Lee Devenport and Brett Haslam. In a match swinging towards one team then the other
Martin Wyatt and Dave Kay eventually got the better of Ben Armstrong and Steve
Barber at seven in the fifth. The last match in this round saw defending
champions Tony Bates and Tony Smith prove too strong for late pairings Ken
Crimes and Mark Craven to put themselves through to the quarters.
Mark Ramsbottom and Andy Jackson headed the quarter finals stage and
took five games to get past Ian Quinn and division two’s Dave Bolton. The
father and son pairing of Gary and Adam Newton came to an end when they met
Graham Jeffries and Steve McNicholas. Late pairings Wayne Renton and Peadar
McKinstry found themselves in the semi finals when they beat Khamal Hussain and
Mandy Winskill at eight in the fifth. Current champions Tony’s Bates and Smith
won through to the semis against Martin Wyatt and Dave Kay at eight in the
forth. Top of division one pairings Andy
Jackson and Mark Ramsbottom didn’t have things all their own way against Graham
Jeffries and Steve McNicholas and it took five games before Graham and Steve
edged their way into the final at eight in the fifth. Holding two games to one
lead Andy and Mark lost the next two games at ten and eight to go out of the
event. A visibly tiring Wayne Renton could not hold his good form with Peadar
McKinstry and had to give away to the Tony’s Smith and Bates who booked a place
in their second final in three straight.
Juniors
For the second year running, to encourage a junior presence in the
championship the League allowed juniors from Ramsbottom Table Tennis Academy to
‘compliment’ this event. Though the club has two teams in division five not all
players who entered actually played league matches. There were four group
stages and winners and runners up progressed through to the quarter finals. Nat
Molyneux-Mannyng did well to progress to this stage but division four player Adam Newton was too strong for the non league player
and booked his spot in the semi finals. Last year’s finalist Callum Stott faced
Rehan Udwadia and eased his way into the semis by a five, three and four score
line. Academy ‘A’ team player Nick Kroll faced his club mate from the B team
Domonic Siddall didn’t have the match all his way and eventually won through at
four in the fifth. The last spot in the semis was taken by Tom Warburton who
faced Olivia Wallis from the Academy’s B team and won six, eight and two.
Callum Stott put himself into the junior final for the second straight year
when he beat Adam Newton three, eight and five. In the other semi team mates
Tom Warburton and Nick Kroll faced each other and the constant top spin
attacking game from Nick won him through to his first final by a four, twelve
and nine score line.
Division 1 Handicap
This was a straight knockout and there were four preliminary rounds
before the last sixteen. Tony Smith drew his team mate and doubles partner Tony
Bates and they both had three handicap. Tony Smith won through with forty three
points to thirty seven. Mandy Winskill drew Ken Hayes and only two points
difference in handicaps however Mandy won through comfortably sixty five points
to forty three. Wayne Renton found the nineteen handicap of Brett Haslam too
much to compete with and Brett ran out the winner by six points.
Into the last sixteen Dave Poytress won through against Gary Newton who
had to concede a twelve point start and finished five behind to put Dave
through. Steve Barber started five points behind Dave Kaye but managed to wipe
out the deficit and win by thirteen points. Steve McNicholas unfortunately had
to withdraw in his match against Ben Armstrong because of injury. Tommy Ryan
made best use of his seven start against Mick Dore and
finished a comfortable ten points in front at the end of the match. Tony Smith
was twelve points behind Andy Kaye at the start of their match. In the tightest
finish so far Tony was one point behind with the last game to play; whether he
knew that he certainly judged his finish just right by taking the last game
eleven points to nine and finished the winner by one point. With a ten point
advantage over club mate Martin Wyatt Mandy Winskill made best use of it and
ran out a comfortable winner by a clear twenty two point margin. Ian Quinn was
fifteen points behind Brett Haslam at the start and closed the gap to win by
just three points. In the final match in this round Lee Devenport started three
points ahead of Derek Watmough and managed to increase that by the end of the
match to twenty one points.
In the first match of the quarter finals David Poytress was never headed
against Steve Barber and his eleven point start ended up being increased to
eighteen to put him through to the semi final. Ben Armstrong had a one point
deficit at the start of his match against Tommy Ryan but Tommy proved too
steady and increased his lead at the end to fourteen points to face Dave
Poytress in the first semi final. Tony Smith could not quite get on to level
terms in his match against Mandy Winskill and managed to narrow the eighteen
point start to four points by the end of the match which was not enough to see
him into the semis. Ten points behind at the start of his match against Lee
Devenport and Ian Quinn found himself still seven behind at the end to put paid
to his hopes of a semi final spot.
Dave Poytress was six points ahead of Tommy Ryan and narrowed this to
just two points with one game to play. Dave Poytress won the last game twelve
ten to put himself into the final. His opponent will be Mandy Winskill who got
the better of Lee Devenport and it will be a very close match with only one
point difference in handicaps.
Division 2 Handicap
With eight players in this event the first match was a very close affair
between League Chairman Ken Crimes and Joe Redikin. Ken had a six point star
and with one game to play they were level. A thirteen eleven game for Joe
Redikin was enough to put him into the semi final. In a very even match John
Foster was three ahead of Steve Hathaway at the start of the match and finished
ahead by just two points to put him in the semi final against Joe Redikin. Andy
Evans proved too strong for Mark Reading and despite starting six points behind
at the start he finished a comfortable thirteen ahead at the finish to book his
semi final spot. Peadar McKinstry started level with his club mate Dave Bolton
and despite two very close games to start wins at five and zero in the next two
secured his semi final spot.
In a very evenly matched first semi Joe Redikin slowly clawed back his
five point deficit against John Foster to finish just two ahead at the finish
and put himself in the final against club mate Andy Evans. He turned his one point deficit against club
mate Peadar McKinstry to a three point winning margin to book his spot in the
final and will start seven behind Joe.
Divisions one and two handicap finals will be played on finals night 14th
April at Elton Vale Sports Club.
Division 3 Handicap
Eight players started in two groups of four and the winners and runners
up booked their place in to the semi finals. John Dodd started his semi final
two points behind Mike Charlton but finished a comfortable thirteen points
ahead at the end to book his final spot. Jim Bollard was winner of the second
group and took on Mark Craven with a five point advantage and comfortably
increases it to seventeen by the end of the match to book his final spot.
Though John Dodd started seven behind Jim Bollard his game was too good on the
day and he finished a comfortable twenty points ahead to be winner of the
division three handicap event.
Division 4 Handicap
With only four players in this event the round robin between them ended
with the two lowest handicaps, Steve Evans and Adam Newton winning through to
the final. Adam drew his match against Brian Philip but finished a comfortable
twenty points ahead of Ian McKenzie to make sure of his final spot. Steve Evans
finished five ahead of Brian Philip and six ahead of Ian McKenzie to book his
final spot. Adam Newton had a nine point start against Steve Evans in the
final. With one game to play that had shrunk to one point and Steve produced a
crushing eleven points to three final game to take the
title.
Division 5 Handicap
Four round robin groups were needed for the division five event. Five Ramsbottom TT Academy players were given
generous handicaps in the round robin. None had played previously in the
League. Despite the handicaps only Rory McNicholas could win his way through to
the knockout stages and he faced Jason Wild who was winner of group four. Rory
started five ahead of Jason and played a very creditable match to finish eight
behind at the end. David Bell, winner of group one faced Jack Nesbit and a
three point advantage which was extended to six points by the end of the match
to book his semi final spot. Runner up of group four Tom Warburton faced his
club mate Domonic Siddall and was giving him a twelve point start. With one
game to play Tom had only halved the deficit. He played a very strong final
game winning it eleven three and a two point winning margin. Scott Fleming
started ten points ahead of Alan Nesbit and with one game to play Alan was
still one point behind. Alan won the last game by two points and booked his
semi final spot by the narrowest of margins.
David Bell had a five point advantage over Tom Warburton but he finished
ten points adrift and the end of the match so Tom was through to the final.
With a twelve point advantage over Alan Nesbit, Jason Wild must have
felt confident in his match however Alan proved too strong and he finished
seventeen points ahead to book his final with Tom.
Tom started the final three points ahead of Alan and with one game to
play was four ahead. An eleven points to seven final game
saw Tom win the final by eight points.
