British University Table Tennis

British Universities Sport held their National Championships at the Jubilee Campus Sports Centre of Nottingham University this weekend.  Entry in both singles events was up by 40% over last year and the entry in the three doubles had to be curtailed to fit all the matches in despite extending the playing time.

There were 270 entries from universities from all over the Home Countries and 700 matches were played. With two singles and three doubles events this meant a lot of table time for the top players e.g. Chris Doran after the group stage and two doubles matches on Saturday, on Sunday played 4 singles and 8 doubles matches.

Nottingham Trent University took away gold medals in all five events. This feat has never been achieved before.  Emma Vickers retained the Singles trophy and with Caroline Hallows retained their Doubles trophy from 2011.

The seeding dangers inherent in an event where perhaps 50% of the players are from abroad is highlighted by the results of the Egyptian player Ahmed Heykal now studying at Sunderland and playing in the British league but without ranking points. He beat, in succession; Danny Lowe, Kim Daybell and Damien Nicholls before losing to Sean Cullen.

Another player beating seeds was Hung Kei Li (Sussex) who although seeded at 11 took out Martin Simpson and Paul McCreery.  In the Women’s singles Aurelie Benadett (Robert Gordon) is playing well in Scotland but has not played in England.  She beat Lisa Radford and Sarra Wang before losing to Hui Qi Kwi who represented Singapore before coming to LSE.

Results

Women’s Doubles

Semi-finals

Caroline Hallows/Emma Vickers (Nottingham Trent) bt Joy Whitehorn/Reshma Rao (Southampton) 3-0 (11-4, 14-12, 11-5)

Xue Bai/Hang Li (Manchester) bt Angela Oetiker/Haylee Potts (Leeds) 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5)

Final

Caroline Hallows/Emma Vickers (Nottingham Trent) bt Bai/Hang Li (Manchester) 3-1 (9-11, 11-6, 12-10, 14-12)

Women’s Singles

Semi-finals

Hui Qi Kwa (LSE) bt Aurelie Bernadet (Robert Gordon) 3-1 (13-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-5)

Emma Vickers (Nottingham Trent) bt Hang Li (Manchester) 3-1 (11-6, 6-11, 11-8, 11-6)

Final

Emma Vickers (Nottingham Trent) bt Hui Qi Kwa (LSE) 3-1 (11-5, 14-16, 11-5, 11-5)

Men’s Doubles

Semi-finals

Wing Chen/Nick Leung (Cambridge) bt Kim Daybell/Chris Kendall (Leeds) 3-1 (8-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-5)

Sean Cullen/Chris Doran (Nottingham Trent) bt David Meads/Mark Scutts (Loughborough) (11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8)

Final

Sean Cullen/Chris Doran (Nottingham Trent) bt Wing Chen/Nick Leung (Cambridge) 3-0 (11-3, 11-4, 11-3)

Mixed Doubles

Emma Vickers/Chris Doran (Nottingham Trent) bt Adam Choi/hang Li (Manchester) 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-8)

Kei Li/Sally Hughes (Sussex) bt Ling Yu Lang/Pattanasorn Phaoenchoke 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-9)

Final

Emma Vickers/Chris Doran (Nottingham Trent) bt Kei Li/Sally Hughes (Sussex) 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-9)

Men’s Singles

Semi-finals

Sean Cullen (Nottingham Trent) bt Ahmed Keykal (Sunderland) 3-1 (9-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-6)

David Meads (Loughborough) bt Kei Li (Sussex) 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-8)

Final

Sean Cullen (Nottingham Trent) bt David Meads (Loughborough) 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-4)