Hastings Area Junior League a table tennis smash hit

H&DTTA opened up the invitation to local and county clubs in order to gain enough interest, although most players have come through Simply TT or played in the Novice Tournament circuits run by Kevin Long, Development Officer.

Across the two divisions, Hollington, St Michael’s, Hailsham and Simply TT entered 10 teams to compete across a 5 session format. A central venue was used to not only keep the costs low, but make the nights as much a social experience whilst remaining competitive.

The players attitude and enthusiasm was fantastic. They all brought amazing energy to the hall and the parents also helped with setup and umpiring when required.

Week 1Despite Simply TT spreading their strongest players across teams with their younger members, the dominance had started within Division 1 with Blacks and Blues recording 5-0 wins against Hailsham and Hollington respectively. This left St Michael’s v Reds which showcased Freddy Lawrence winning two singles and the doubles to take the match 3-2.

Division 2, with all Simply TT teams also showed Greens and Purples to be the front runners with wins of 4-1 and 5-0 against Whites and Oranges. Alex McEwan beating Rufus Pawson-Davies to gain a point for the Whites however.

Week 2This saw Blues narrowly edge St Michael’s 3-2, again the doubles being key and Freddy beating Beau Larkin in 5 sets kept his 100% winning streak. Freya Pinna-Chapman (Hollington) also grabbed a point from Blacks against Leonardo Rose in a 5 set thriller in which Leon was two up after winning the first set 11-0! It finished however 11-13, 16-4, 11-9, 11-9.

Division 2 saw the emergence of Roman Gorridge (Greens) and Liam Higgins (Purples) continuing unbeaten runs and helping their teams to convincing wins to set up a clear divide in the table.

Week 3James Harrison (Blacks) continued his dominance in the league with two more wins alongside the doubles with Leon Rose to beat Reds 4-1 with Amalina Gorridge getting a point against Leon while Hadrian Pain missed out in narrowly losing 11-8,11-7, 5-11, 9-11, 11-9 to Leon. Blues and St Michael’s both won 5-0 against Hailsham and Hollington.

Division 2 saw Whites v Oranges and a much closer affair per game with Charlie Case (Whites) and Michael Fagan (Oranges) both winning a game each for the first time to gain points. Alex McEwan recorded a double for Whites, whilst Ted Kearns nearly caused an upset to Charlie but lost out 11-5, 9-11, 15-13, 12-10.

Week 4It was clear to see the improvement of the last few weeks and in the most competitive week yet Hailsham recorded their first win 4-1 over Hollington despite Freya with a win and Aidan Oates taking sets from Fraser Dick and Samuel Lloyd both only playing since before Xmas in Hailsham TTC. With Blacks and Blues looking at the title, the shock defeat for Blues against Reds caused a stir with Amalina Gorridge winning both singles and using her signalling tactics to win the doubles with Hadrian Pain 3-0 and match 3-2. This meant Blacks with a good win would walk into the final week clear favourites as they beat St Michael’s 3-2 albeit with James losing to Freddy but then Leon triumphant for his team mates revenge. This left no player unbeaten for the final week and the doubles key to the win in which Vincent Ridley (St Michael’s) was outstanding in defence and attack narrowly missing out with Freddy losing 15-13 in the fifth set.

In Division 2 with the teams playing each other twice the first meet of Purples v Greens was in the balance until Liam Higgins (Purples) won both singles but was unable with Jacob Watters to win the crucial doubles against Roman Gorridge and Rufus Pawson-Davies who took the game and match 3-2.

Final WeekWith the Simply TT Blues v Blacks as the finale a big win for either could still see St Michael’s take 2nd place. The match did not disappoint with Dylan Gorridge (Blues) v Leon Rose on first and far from the table long rallies gained applause with Dylan edging the match 11-8 in the fifth. This then was followed up by Beau Larkin’s win over James Harrison 3-1 and onto the doubles where a 3-1 win took the match and was shortly followed up with a win for Beau against Leon ending the match 4-1, and the division title for Blues. Despite St Michael’s recording a 5-0 win over Hailsham level on points with Blacks the head to head and sets difference meant only a third place but top of the averages for Freddy Lawrence with 9/10 wins. In the Reds v Hollington, Liam Higgins (Purples) reserved for Amalina with Hadrian and won both his matches and doubles for a 4-1 victory despite Freya beating Hadrian 3-0.

Division 2 also had a finale with second meeting of Greens v Purples and only 1 point separating them at the top! Liam Higgins again dominated the singles recording 100% in div 2 and even as a reserve in div 1. Unfortunately, despite Jacob Watters monumental performance alongside Liam in the doubles with some amazing blocks and point saving dives, Roman and Rufus came from 2 sets behind to win the match 3-2 again and take the division 2 title and doubles award. Final doubles and match decider result 11-8, 11-6, 11-13, 7-11, 7-11.

Congratulations to all the winners who were presented with their trophies at the awards night on the 18th May at The Manor Barn, Bexhill-on-Sea.

Div 1 Winners Simply TT BluesBeau Larkin / Dylan Gorridge

Div 1 R/U Simply TT BlacksJames Harrison / Leon Rose

Doubles Winners Simply TT BluesBeau Larkin / Dylan Gorridge

Div 2 Winners Simply TT GreensRoman Gorridge / Rufus Pawson-Davies

Div 2 R/U Simply TT PurplesJacob Watters / Liam Higgins

Doubles Winners Simply TT GreensRoman Gorridge / Rufus Pawson-Davies