Christmas Grand Prix

Created by Graham Trimming

an accredited ETTA EXCELLENCE PremierClub

Ricky survives the mulled wine

Cippenham TTC got into the Christmas spirit with a Grand Prix during the final open session before Christmas. But this was no ordinary Grand Prix - the spitit of the festive season was captured with a pot of mulled wine and rows of mince pies - actually, the mulled wine was more popular than the mince pies!

Despite the counter-attractions and their alcoholic effects on the players, some table tennis was still managed to be played by the fourteen competitors. Split into four groups the preliminary round winners emerged as Ricky Hardcastle, Tom Mitchell, Graham Trimming and Filippo Rotunno. Filippo had the toughest passage and survived losing to newcomer Jaro. However, he beat both Anthony Gardner and event organiser Andrew Sullivan to top the group on count-back. The other three semi-finalists progressed with greater comfort.

In the semi-finals Ricky dispatched Filippo 3-0 while Tom dropped only the first game against Graham. Ricky then beat Tom in the final while Graham secured third place with a 3-1 win over Filippo.

Anthony eventually finished fifth by beating Sue Hayes who had had a good win over Elroy Hull one round earlier.

Hannah presents the prizes to ...