This week saw the culmination of the annual Burnham & District Table Tennis Closed Championships. Finals Night was held at Champions Manor Hall in South Woodham, and a baying crowd got to witness some superb sport across an evening that revealed the final five winners.
Dan Young was the big winner – taking the coveted Singles crown – adding this to several other league titles won this season.
Men’s Singles
There were no major upsets in the preliminary groups so all the big dogs were battling it out from the round of 16. The first upset of the day saw Simon Jacob take out fourth seed Kevin Read and then in the quarters Jacob continued his dominance of his draw as he got the better of John Poysden. On the other side of his half of the draw top seed Daniel Young came through unscathed.
Sam Lowman was a man on a mission at the weekend events and in the last 16 he faced multiple previous winner and No 2 seed Duncan Taylor. Lowman came out like a rocket and went 2-0 up in record speed with Taylor unable to counter any of his ferocious attacks. Taylor is no fool and he tightened up his play in the latter sets and forced Lowman into an over aggressive stance that did not pay dividends. Taylor, using all his nous, had recovered the match to 2-2 and looked the favourite going into the decider.
The final leg was a bit more considered and with a pinch of patience added to his play Lowman was connecting more effectively and eventually just edged this one to progress to the quarter-final stage. Lowman came up against team-mate Ian Wall but no favours were asked for or given and Lowman prevailed. Third seed Keith Adams came through his draw to set up the semi with Lowman by getting the better of Charles Sweeny and then Kieran Skeggs in a volatile encounter.
In the semis Keith Adams came through 3-1 against Sam Lowman. The match was tight with the tense third leg going to 15-13 after an unauthorised towelling down incident at 13-13 that clearly upset the Lowman focus. Adams then got a good start in the fourth leg and Lowman was unable to regain the focus required to compete.
The semi between Dan Young and Simon Jacob seemed closer than the scores suggest even though Young won in straight sets. Jacob was close in the first two sets but every time he got within a point Young would go through the gears to stay ahead.
So to the final where Young got off to a flying start as he took the opening leg 11-3 in record time. Perhaps it was too easy for Young as he relaxed too much and this allowed Adams to work his way not only back into the game but to take the lead winning the next two legs 11-7, 11-7. Young came out fired up in the fourth and quickly went to 6-0 with some rapid shooting, but again Adams retaliated and actually got back to 8-9, and then deuce before losing out 11-13.
The final leg was tense and points were shared tit-for-tat until Adams found himself 8-6 up and in touching distance of the Bob Cole Cup. But Young fired off the next five points with some aplomb to take back the crown he last held as a 17-year-old in 2019.
Ladies’ Singles
The preliminary groups brought the top four players together for the semi-finals but perhaps not in the predicted order, and with recent champion Dawn Baldry not in the field the bookies were at a loss for this one. Lin Roff had to face off her Mapledene team-mate Sue Body in her semi, whilst Tina Hutchinson had to battle it out with Debbie O’Neill to reach the final.
Roff was a firm favourite to reclaim the title but she didn’t have it all her own way in a final that saw plenty of attacking table tennis, mainly from Hutchinson on both forehand and backhand. Roff took the opening set 11-8 as Hutchinson had a nervy start. But in the second leg those nerves dissipated and we got to see the free flowing Hutchinson attack as she blasted her way to an 11-7 leg. The pattern of play was now established but Roff was defending well and over the next two legs was the most consistent and this culminated in a 3-1 victory.
Mixed Doubles
After a couple of years out through injuries the Duncan Taylor (Cold Norton) & Andrea Alleyne (Blackwater) partnership is back in full swing and in the early rounds everything went well as the top seeds overcame the tricky Mapledene pairing of Simon Jacob and Sue Body in the first semi-final that went to five legs. On the other side of the draw Ian Wall (Cold Norton) & Lin Roff (Mapledene) had their own tough five-setter with George Reeves and Tina Hutchinson.
The final itself was an enjoyable affair where Wall & Roff took an early 2-0 lead being the most consistent of the pairings. The third leg was awesome and a fitting finale to any match as Taylor & Alleyne found they needed to attack more and so the game opened up and we had a plethora of fantastic rallies – with Alleyne often hitting the winners. As we went past deuce and up to 14-14 the lead had switched several times until eventually Wall & Roff broke the defence of their opponents to claim the Kevin Briggs Trophy
Men’s Doubles
Sam Lowman & Charles Sweeny (Cold Norton) were a scratch pair establish by the seeding committee based on a desire to compete – even though seeded No 4 they played superbly, really complementing each other and looked a good bet to go all the way. In the quarters they bested George Reeves and Steve Muth and followed that by knocking out the top seeds Duncan Taylor & Kevin Read.
Their final opponents were the unseeded Simon Jacob & David Jacob (Mapledene) – affectionately known as the ‘Jacob Crackers’ – who had to come through the preliminaries before they faced No 2 seeds Ian Wall and Dan Young in a remarkable match where the Jacob brothers faced and rescued match points in both the fourth and fifth legs which they eventually won 14-12 and then 15-13.
After that drama they still had to face another tricky battle with No 3 seeds Keith Adams and Dan Zeffie – but again they triumphed. So, all top three seeds fell before Finals Night.
In the final, the scratch pairing of Lowman & Sweeny failed to catch up with the honed technique of the Jacob Brothers who have years of experience of playing together. The surprising element was the attacking prowess of David Jacob – we are all aware of how both of the brothers have great control around the table with superb defensive capabilities but it was the slapped forehands of David that made the difference in the first two legs where the Mapledene duo took an early 2-0 lead.
In the third set Lowman in particular was on fire and his low and forceful loops were hitting the back of the net more often than not and this turned the tide in favour of the chasing duo as they pulled back a leg. The fourth leg was a much closer affair and at 9-9 it looked like we might be in for a five-setter, but a couple of loose shots from Sweeny gave the Jacobs their first Burnham title – they went Crackers!
Veteran Singles
The Seeding Committee are pleased with this one as the top two seeds made the final but there was some drama along the way. In the round of 16 Eamonn Hall came back from a seemingly unassailable 0-2 deficit to score a notable scalp over Eric Green, and then in the quarter-finals Simon Jacob repeated his earlier antics when he upset the seedings by beating John Poysden again.
Jacob was now pitted against Duncan Taylor in the first semi, after Taylor had beaten George Reeves in the quarter-final. An appealing mismatch of styles saw Jacob unable to get to grips with the best tactic against the defence minded Taylor, and Taylor progressed.
On the other side of the draw Keith Adams came through getting past Steve Muth and then Kevin Read in the semi-final.
The final was one of the most anticipated matches of Finals Night and it didn’t disappoint. Taylor was out of the blocks very slowly and whippersnapper Adams had him locked down at 2-0 with some very aggressive shooting. Taylor had a word with himself and fought harder in the third leg taking it 11-9 to set up the match nicely. The fourth leg still remains a mystery to those who witnessed it. Adams went 6-0 up very quickly with masterful use of nets and edges, and even at 8-2 up it looked like the leg and title were his – but despite the ongoing influx of further nets and edges Taylor was not for the chop and he ground the most amazing leg victory with a very satisfying edge for an 11-9 win.
The deciding leg went point for point until we reached 9-8 to Taylor. Adams pulled backed to 9-9 and then forced an error from a Taylor retrieval to have the first match point – at which point Taylor decides to attack and his forehand smash caught the top of the net and sailed just beyond the back of the table for an Adams victory 11-9 in the fifth.