Silver service Griffin wins his 25th county title
GLOUCESTERSHIRE’S leading table tennis players competed at county’s closed championships at the YMCA in Cheltenham.
A total of 32 competitors competed across eight events, the largest event being the men’s singles which had 27 entrants.
The semi-finals saw number one seed Darren Griffin compete against Robin Francis, while number two seed Jake Davidson met Ben Roberts.
Griffin beat Francis 11-5, 11-7, 11-4 to cruise into the final in the top half of the draw whilst Davidson beat Roberts 11-9, 11-5, 11-6.
Griffin first won this title in 1982-83 whereas this was this first time 13-year-old Davidson had made the final, and Griffin’s experience shone through helping him beat the youngster 11-9, 11-5, 11-6 for his 25th title.
The ladies’ singles final was due to be contested by Lesley Slack and Kira Khoroshilova but Khoroshilova was unable to compete, which resulted in Slack being awarded the title by walkover.
The minor singles was a closely fought final between Michael Pang and Paul Skingsley, going to five sets which saw Pang clinch the title 11-6, 5-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-6.
In the mixed doubles Francis paired with Khoroshilova and Davidson joined Slack, who were triumphant 11-10, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8.
The men’s doubles was a purely knockout competition with 12 pairs competing and number one seeds Grant Pawsey and Francis took their place in the final after a competitive semi-final against Jon Cutler and
Simon Harper, winning 11-7, 5-11, 11-9, 11-5.
The number two seeds, the Davidson father and son pairing Jake and Nick, beat Roberts and Jon Gaskell in the semi-final.
They went 2-0 down but fought back to beat Roberts and Gaskell 8-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-6 to reach the final, where they pushed Pawsey and Francis all the way to the fifth set but lost 6-11, 11-3, 12-10, 6-11, 11-2.
There were 10 entrants in the senior singles who competed in a group stage to win their place in the knockout phase, with Jake Davidson gaining his place in the final, not dropping a game in the group and knockout stages.
There was an upset in the bottom half of the draw with number two seed Francis being knocked out by Sam Turner in the semi-final, 9-11, 11-5, 11-4, 12-10, but in the final Davidson stormed through 11-4, 13-11, 11-9.
The men’s masters was initially run in two groups with the top two players in each going into the knockout phase.
Gaskell beat Rob Amphlett in the semi-final 6-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 while Chris Varley won the other semi against Kyle Nethercott, beating him 11-5, 11-5, 11-9.
Gaskell then won the final 11-9, 11-4, 11-5 for his first county title.
The men’s veterans singles saw 11 competitors battle it out in groups and then to a knockout competition, with Griffin facing Abubaker Salehbhai in the final.
Griffin stormed ahead winning the first two sets very comfortably but Salehbhai hung on to take the next three sets, clinching victory 7-11, 4-11, 11-6, 15-13, 11-8.