Sunday 23rd January saw this season’s County Veterans Championships held at Britannia Table Tennis Club in Ipswich. A total of 18 entrants competed for over 40’s men and women singles honours, over 60’s mens singles honours, over 40’s mixed doubles, the Restricted singles (top 10 ranked veterans excluded) and a Handicap Singles where all players are rated beforehand according to their ability and compete in games up to 31, where the players start on their rating.
The mens over 40’s event had a minor turn up when Steve Holland came through in two very close matches against 4th seed Andrew Dosher and Sean Gridley to win his group, eventually reaching the semi-final. All other groups and knock out matches went to seedings, with Andrew Warner winning a closely contested final in 5 legs.
The over 40’s Womens title and over 40’s mixed doubles both went to top seeds in the categories; Alice Flatman defeating Clair Westlake and Andrew Warner and Richard Hutchinson defeating Ian Brown and Ken Lewis.
Rob Wood had an excellent run in the over 60’s defeating Ken Lewis in his group and progressing to the final where he lost to top seed Andrew Holmes.
The restricted singles had many of the closest matches of the day, with 6 of the 9 knock out matches going down to the deciding leg. Derek Wood kept his nerve and composure the best prevailing in a tight final against Ken Lewis.
The handicap singles saw Rob Wood continue to thrive with a comfortable defeat of a labouring Ken Lewis in the final.
Summary of finals results
Over 40’s Men – Andrew Warner defeated Richard Hutchinson
3-11, 13-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-9
Over 40’s Women – Alice Flatman defeated Clair Westlake
11-8, 12-10, 11-6
Over 60’s Men – Andrew Holmes defeated Rob Wood
11-6, 11-6, 12-10
Over 40’s Mixed Doubles – Andrew Warner / Richard Hutchinson defeated Ian Brown / Ken Lewis
11-8, 11-6, 4-11, 11-9
Restricted Singles – Derek Wood defeated Ken Lewis
11-6, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9
Handicap Singles – Rob Wood (17) defeated Ken Lewis (15)
31-22