The unbeaten run of Baddow
Village B (Clare & James Austin) came to an abrupt and
dramatic end in the Final of the Chelmsford & District
Table Tennis League's CLICK KO Cup, played at the Melbourne
Athletics Stadium on Friday 31 March.
The B Team had been outright
winners in their opening group stage matches and in the semi
final had despatched joint cup favourites Hylands School in
convincing style to book a place in the final. However on
the night they simply failed to perform!
Their opponents in the final
were club mates Baddow Village D (Scott Dowsett and Brandon
Crouchman), they had come through a gruelling semi-final
group by the narrowest of margins, just 1 game. And to show
the seeming differences between the two sides the B Team are
3rd in the Click League whilst the D Team are 3rd from
bottom! But handicap matches can be very funny things.
First onto the table was
Brandon against James. With Brandon having a 4 point
handicap advantage this was going to be a tough call for
James, and the first 2 ends went with the handicap, Brandon
winning 7 & 7. But James stormed back in the 4th to show
that it was possible despite the handicap to even the score
taking the end 11:9. But a bad start in the 4th effectively
ended it Brandon racing through 11:6.
Sister Clare only had to give
away 2 points to Scott in the next game, and this should
have been a very even match. But Clare simply decided she
didn't want to play, game over 4, 5 & 4 to Scott.
James came back to the table
and put up a tremendous fight to try and get the B Team back
in the match. He just scraped through the first end, 17:15,
but Scott fought back to take the second 13:11. This was
real nip and tuck stuff with James giving away 2 points on
handicap each game. The third end was equally close with
Scott just coming through 11:9. It was almost as if James
knew the game was up. A change of tactics in the 4th failing
to pay off as Scott raced home 11:4.
Game set and match to a
jubilant D Team 3:0. The League's Competition Secretary, Rod
Maclennan, who had officiated for the match, was on hand to
present the winners trophy. And would have presented the
runners-up award too. Very sadly the B Team would not
present themselves for the award, James finally accepting a
trophy on their behalf. A sad end to what should have been a
spectacular occasion.
Congratulations to Brandon
& Scott on a tremendous achievement in their first full
season of competitive table tennis. For the second year the
CLICK KO Cup stays with Baddow Village.
|
C&DTTL
Competition Secretary, Rod Maclennan, presents
11 yr old Scott Dowsett (Centre) and 10 yr old
Brandon Crouchman
with the CLICK KO Cup shield after they ran out 3:0
winners
over Baddow Village B Team in the Final |
