Halton players hit form in Nationals
● Niamh Scarborough made the podium in Wolverhampton.
HALTON Table Tennis Club players headed for the 10-13 pg mutual National Championships at WV Active Aldersley in Wolverhampton.
As a Table Tennis England Centre for Excellence, 11 players qualified to play in the event most for the first time.
They were accompanied by coaches Andrew Rushton, Jordan Abbott, Jordan McGarry and Tom Ray plus parents.
Saturday’s spotlight was on the U13 and U11 events with Sunday featuring the U12 and U10 contests.
For Halton, their representatives were: U13 Boys: Liam Murphy; U13 Girls: Ruby Bennett, Niamh Scarborough, Millie Hanrahan & Chloe Allen; U11 Boys: Louis Cheung-Turner; U11 Girls: Jessica Morris & Rachel Lane; U12 Girls: Maddy Lyons, Millie Hanrahan, Jessica Morris & Anna Hartley; U10 Boys: Louis Cheung-Turner & Sam Davies.
In the U13 Girls’ Singles, top seed Amy Marriott won Group One but it was thirdranked Ruby Bennett from Halton who accompanied her into the knockouts thanks to a 3-2 (11-6, 11-6, 10-12, 5-11, 11-7) victory over second-ranked Abbie Hurley.
Niamh Scarborough as overall third seed won Group Three to progress into the quarter-finals knockout.
However, in a very close match, Niamh lost out to Isabelle Lacorte while second seed Lauren Loosemore defeated Ruby 3-0. It was a close 11-9, 11-6, 17-15 performance again.
The other players found the event a good experience and know what they need to practice to improve.
In the U11 Girls’ Singles, Maliha Baig justified her top seeding with a straightforward 3-0 (11-6, 11-3, 11-3) success over Bethany Ellis who has recently trained with Halton – last year’s U10 champion – in the final.
The shock of the first stage came in Group Three, where the top-ranked player Caron Charles was eliminated following defeats by both Jessica Morris and Sienna Jetha – the latter’s 3-1 (6-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-6) win over Jessica saw her top the group.
In her first Nationals, Jessica did really well to reach the quarter-finals.
In the Girls’ U13 Doubles, in the last match of Saturday Halton had a celebration with a silver medal.
Lauren Loosemore and Scarlett Anders eventually shook off Halton’s Niamh Scarborough and Anna Green of Draycott to win the final title of the day 3-2 (11-6, 5-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8).
Both semi-finals had been decided in four as the gold medallists defeated Rebecca Savage and Anya Milne (11-7,
HFH Open Age 28 Hindley 14 HORNETS confirmed their Premier League status for next season with a fourth successive win.
After dominating the early stages Hornets found themselves six points in arrears as Hindley scored a breakaway converted try.
However, they were not behind for long as man-of-thematch Andy Owens weaved his way through for a try he converted himself.
Just before half-time, Robbie Conroy gave Hornets the lead with a well-taken try that Owens again converted.
It looked like Hornets had the game safe when Dylan Bennett ● ● 11-7, 9-11, 11-4) and Scarborough and Green overcame Amy Marriott and Isabelle Lacorte (11-5, 12-10, 5-11, 11-7).
In the U12 Girls’ Singles, Darcy Brewer beat Milly Hanrahan Halton in the last match in Group Two, ensuring the thirdranked player leapfrogged the secondranked. The score was 3-1 (11-9, 11-5, 11-13, 11-4) to go into the knockout stage. The other Halton players tried their best but did not make it through.
In the U10 Boys’ Singles, the top seed Louis Cheung-Turner and England No.1 at U10 overcame fifth seed Ralph Pattison to claim the youngest National Championships title – without dropping a game in the tournament.
Although it was another three-straight margin in the final, Pattison fought hard before going down 11-3, 11-8, 12-10.
Pattison knocked out second seed Sam Gabriel 3-1 (11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 11-6) in the last four, while Cheung-Turner beat Daniyal Palmer 5, 3, 3.
It was an unfortunate draw that saw Sam Davies win his first round match to then have to play his club mate Louis in the quarter-final. Sam had played really well to top his Group Six convincingly while Louis had comfortably topped Group One.
It was a great end to the weekend’s play and a big thank-you goes to the coaches with Jordan Abbott and Tom Ray present on both days. hit a good line to score with Owens again tagging on the extras but give Hindley their due as they hit back with a pair of tries to make it 18-14.
Lewis Hulme and Ian Skinner calmed the nerves with welltaken scores. Owens hit another conversion and it was two vital points to Hornets.