New Year Festival

Created by Graham Trimming

an accredited ETTA EXCELLENCE PremierClub

Tuttle is the star

It was Bradley Tuttle’s day at the Cippenham Young Players’ Festival on Sunday. The youngster from Hertfordshire won both the boys’ events on the final day of this two-day bonanza of table tennis despite the fact that there were three players ranked above him in the field. Tutlle signalled his intentions early on in the group stage of the Under-16 boys event. Paired against top seed Ashley Facey-Thompson, Tuttle won a topsy-turvy battle 4-11, 11-3, 11-7, 19-21, 11-5. Tuttle then eliminated Brandon Crouchman 3-0 in the quarter-final and then Gobi Sriparen 3-2 in the semi-final before meeting Facey-Thompson once again in the final. This time it was easier for Tuttle who won 11-5, 11-4, 11-0. The displaced top seed Facey-Thompson beat Lobsang Lama 3-2 and Scott Dowsett, conqueror of second seed Emre Ibatoglu, 3-1 in reaching the final.

Tuttle’s second title of the day, in the under-18 event, was secured with wins over Lobsang Lama and Mikael Papantoniou, both 3-1, before beating Ibatoglu 11-7, 13-11, 11-8 in the final. The last local player standing was Anthony Gardner who took the first game from Facey-Thompson in his quarter-final but it was the latter who progressed only to be beaten by Ibatoglu in the semis.

On Saturday it had been the turn of the under-12s and under-14s to do battle. Chris Griffiths eventually came through a large field of 54 to win the under-14 boys’ event. The unseeded player from Wales made quite a mark, winning his group from which the seeded player withdrew and then eliminating Dominic Murphy, second seed Lobsang Lama and another Welsh boy Steven Fawkes to reach the final. There he faced the under-12 winner Vincent Stacey who was determined to do the double. Griffiths raced into a lead in the first game but was pegged back level by Stacey only for Griffiths to prevail at the end. The second game also went to Griffiths but Stacey fought back strongly to take the third game but that was as good as it got for the top seeded player from Middlesex.

Stacey was also top seed for the under-12 boys’ event on Saturday morning. This time it did all go to plan for him as he won his group and then did not drop a game against Tyler Wasley, Luke Savill and finally Ross Hagen to secure the title.

The girls’ under-18 event, played as a single group of nine players, produced a superb and fascinating final round of matches. With no player unbeaten and the final round almost completed but one match unfinished, three players were tied with six wins and two others had five. That final match paired Lucy Burks on six wins and Fefei Pei on five. Pei took the first game 12-10, lost the second easily but then went 2-1 up. At 9-7 in the fourth game Pei was two points away from a victory that would have placed her second overall and handed the title to Majada Yasmin. Burks was not finished, however, and reeled off the next four points to take that fourth game 11-9 and won the fifth 11-6. That result for Burks turned the previous positions on their head and secured the title for herself, placed Chrissie Slot second, relegated Yasmin to third and Pei all the way down to fifth. All because of a couple of points!

Majada Yasmin had tasted success earlier, however, in the under-16 girls’ event. Despite losing to fifth-placed Harriett Taylor, Yasmin emerged top of the group by virtue of beating runner-up Nicole Hall 11-9 in the fifth and deciding game.

Chrissie Slot went though the under-14 girls’ event on Saturday unbeaten to secure the title against Letitia McMullan, also from Hampshire while McMullan had done likewise in the earlier under-12 event with Lara Equivel in second place.

The tournament attracted an entry of about 100 players, was organised by Steve Smith with Graham Trimming as Entries Secretary and Referee on Sunday and Mick Strode as Referee on Sunday.

Link to results of open tournaments

U18 boys’ finalists

U18 girls’ medallists

U16 boys’ finalists

U16 girls’ medallists

U14 boys’ finalists

U14 girls’ medallists

U12 boys’ finalists

U12 girls’ medallists