Wandsworth Closed Championships 2017

     Leo Veinsreider retained his Open singles title in a rousing finals night that also saw him lift the Veterans singles title for the first time.  There were 5 events contested this year in the Championships which was held over 3 sessions and a finals night at York Gardens TTC, they were; Open singles and doubles, Veterans singles and doubles and the Handicap singles. The Veterans event proved to be highly entertaining with Leo Veinsreider winning his group to meet up with Andy Sanders in the semi-finals, it was a hotly contested match which Leo gained revenge for losing to Andy in the Presidents Cup Final. The other semi-final was between Paul Rowley (pictured) and Rob Campbell and it was a fire cracker of a contest between two counter hitters with Paul coming out on top. In the final Leo beat Paul three straight but there some breath taking exchanges between the two and never more than 3 points between them. The Veterans doubles went to the formidable Vale “A” partnership of Doug Taucher and Andy Sanders who have not been beaten this season, they beat Leo Veinsreider and Joe the “Don” Leone taking the first two games quickly before Leo and Joe managed to snatch a game before fending off the inevitable.  The Open singles final was again a clash of Leo Veinsreider and Andy Sanders with Leo winning in 4 games, the score not reflecting the flow of the match which really could have gone either way. In the semi-finals Leo narrowly beat Doug Taucher, and Andy Sanders inflicted the first defeat of the season on Adeel Ahmed in a tense match as they both tried to suss each other out. The Open doubles final was the second win of the night for Andy Sanders and Doug Taucher against the all left handed doubles pair of John Llewellyn and Mike Nash. The final of the night that drew the biggest crowd was the handicap singles with Paul Rowley coming out on top in 4 games against Erik Jeanpierre with Erik’s away from the table topspin complementing Paul’s counter hitting and blocking game which led to some great rallies much to the pleasure of the crowd.  CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL RESULTS

Final Ranking list of the year dominated by Vale “A” as Andy Sanders tops the list

   Andy Sanders (pictured) of Vale “A” was the undoubted dominant force in the league this season got the top spot in the Wandsworth & District Table Tennis League ranking list with 660 points after an unbeaten run of 30 wins. Second in the list was his Vale “A” team mate Doug Taucher who had 638 points, Adeel Ahmed of XXIV Club “A” was the surprise package from division 2 in 3rd place  with 576 points just 4 ahead of 4th placed Mark Philipsz on 572 points. In total 76 players made it on to the list this season.  The ranking list will be used alongside a player rating system (looking solely at their playing standard) to sort out the seeding for the Wandsworth Closed Championships, as well as sorting the handicapping for the handicap singles.

Click Here to see the full ranking list

Mike Huband, another Wandsworth League legend passes away

In what has been a sad couple of months with the news of Harry Rowley and Roy Holmes passing away another Wandsworth & District Table Tennis League legend Mike Huband has died. Mike was a formidable player in the penholder style but his legend will be remembered as match secretary of the league. He had been a committee member since 1973 in various forms, County representative, press and publicity, development and match secretary. He played for Crescent table tennis club with Bob Clark and Les Narozny for many years. His involvement in sport included Tennis where he organised many tournaments. As a player he reached the finals of the doubles in the Surrey Closed Table Tennis Championships, and was a vital member of the famous Polish YMCA competing for many years in the West Middlesex Table Tennis League. Mike will be remembered as being very passionate and committed to the sport and always looking for ways to move it forward and encourage participation. To all his family and friends we give our deepest sympathies.

York Gardens “A” take Presidents in quality final

    The long awaited Presidents Cup Final between the top two teams in the league was indeed a cracker and produced some amazing quality table tennis.  It was won by York Gardens “A” (pictured L - R Captain Ismai’l Miller, Leo Veinsreider, Murray Wilson, Mark Philipsz) 5 - 2 against Vale “A”. In many ways star of the night was Andy Sanders who won the 2 sets for Vale beating both Leo Veinsreider and Mark Philipsz, Murray Wilson maintained his unbeaten run for York Gardens “A” throughout this entire season and beat Andy in an exciting encounter  which showed off the quality of his topspin off both wings and excellent serving throughout. Doug Taucher and Ron Brown were both unlucky on the night especially Ron who was  devilishly close to extending Leo in the opening match of the night.

XXIV Club “A” beat York Gardens “B” 5 – 1 to take Chairman’s Cup

    XXIV Club “A” took what is sure to be the first of their multiple titles this season by winning the Chairman’s Cup 5 – 1 against York Gardens “B”. It was a rousing final and XXIV Club brought along their supporters to cheer them on who weren’t disappointed as there was some brilliant table tennis on both sides of the net.  The first match saw Sean case prevail against an at times inspired Joe “the Don” Leone, XXIV Club had a 6 point start which was a bit farcical at times, although Joe  did manage to take a game off of Sean. Next up was the unbeaten Adeel Ahmed (pictured) who is quite clearly the best combination bat player the league has seen since Laikram Persaud. Adeel took no time in beating Phil Marlow, and was followed by Remi Alaka beating Avenash Shamloll to make it 3 – 0. Adeel was up again this time against Joe who at times showed amazing hitting, but Adeel’s real secret weapon is not  different spins from his bat but his forehand, as he hit winners off countless balls that were well below net height, this made the score 4 – 0. Avenash managed to beat Sean Case to pull the score back to 4 – 1. It was only a temporary reprieve as Remi finished the match off beating Phil Marlow.   

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL CUP RESULTS

Division 1:                    York Gardens “A” take 1st division title by 1 point   

     York Gardens “A” have taken the 1st division title by a single point from Vale “A” after what has been an exciting and unpredictable season. They actually won 10 of their 12 matches compared to Vale who will feel hard done by as they won 11 of their 12 matches. York Gardens “A” last match of the season that sealed the title was against Vale “B” which they won 10 – 0. It was the full strength York Gardens squad of Leo Veinsreider, Murray Wilson and Mark Philipsz all going unbeaten. There was resilience from Vale Tom Coady who took a game off of Murray Wilson, and partnered by Peter Fenner also took a game in the doubles, in fact 9 games went to deuce! Both Peter Fenner and Don Stevens were unlucky on the night losing their matches.  The return fixture of York Gardens “B” against Wilton “A” was another 6 – 4 to York Gardens. For York Gardens; Avenash Shamloll, Joe Leone and Philip Marlow shared the honours each winning 2. For Wilton there was a fabulous performance from Emiliano Laghi (pictured) winning 2 including beating Avenash Shamloll, Richard Evans beat Joe Leone to win 1, Eric Jeanpierre found it was not to be his night as he lost his 3 but did have some consolation as teamed up with Richard to win the doubles beating Joe and Avenash.  Final League Positions:  1. York Gardens “A” 62 points, 2. Vale “A” 61 points, 3rd York Gardens “B” 41 points, 4. St Pauls “B” 35 points, 5. Wilton “A” 29 points, 6. St Pauls “A” 23 points, 7. Vale “B” 1 point.

Division 2:                 Mike Bright star of the night as XXIV Club “A” finish off in style

    Wilton “B” went out with a bang beating Heathfield 9 – 1. For Wilton for the first time the Baig brothers were joined by another player – the “super Sub” Georgie Gechev who did his duty and went unbeaten, the two remaining Baig brothers Hassan and Zain did likewise and also won all their matches but gave the doubles to Heathfield. For Heathfield it was Ken Burgess, Andy Brooks and Warren Low on the losing side.  The final XXIV Club derby of the season resulted in 9 – 1 win to XXIV Club “A” who finished off their season in style. As usual Adeel Ahmed was unbeaten, joined by Steve Sin who also won 3, but undoubted star of the night was Mike Bright (pictured) who won 2. Mike is one of the oldest players in the league and both his wins were in the 5th end. For XXIV Club “B” their only winner was Alex Sanseau, both Beatnik Rubaine and Chris Chikwendu were desperately close but couldn’t quite close out their matches. The XXIV Club “B” did have success in their previous match gaining maximum 6 points in beating Heathfield 8 – 2. Man of the match for the first time was Chris Chikwendu winning his 3, with 2 wins apiece from Beatnik Rubaine and Alex Sanseau, Chris and Alex teamed up to take the doubles. For Heathfield Bob Tidbury won both their matches, with Andy Brooks and Martha Chuddy being unlucky on the night. Final League Positions: 1. XXIV Club “A”  68 points, 2. York Gardens “B” 50 points, 3. St Pauls “C” 45 points, 4. Wilton “B” 42 points, 5. XXIV Club “B” 34 points, 6. Heathfield 13 points, 7. St Pauls “D” 0 points.

If you are interested in playing Table Tennis look up one of the clubs in Wandsworth where you can join in. Players of all skill levels are welcome for coaching, practice or match play, from beginner to national level. Click this link to see clubs in Wandsworth.