England players dominated the Tees Active Stockton on Tees Junior 4 Star Table Tennis Championships at Thornaby Pavilion, with Helshan Weerasinghe and Tin-Tin Ho both winning five-game matches to win the finals of the Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ Singles.
Weerasinghe, from Sussex, was tested in the final by Lincolnshire’s Tom Jarvis, who won the first two games and narrowly lost the fourth before Weerasinghe clinched the decider at 11-5. Weerasinghe was also challenged in the quarter-finals when Luke Savill from Kent won the first two games before Weerasinghe took the next three comfortably to win through to the semi-finals.
In front of a large, appreciative crowd, Tin-Tin Ho of Middlesex won a five-game contest with Maria Tsaptsinos of Berkshire to take the Junior Girls’ title. Tsaptsinos led 2-1 before Ho took the last two games, both at 11-4.
The Cadet Boys’ Singles was won by Alex Ramsden of Northamptonshire who beat Harry Dai from Yorkshire 3-1 in the final. Ramsden had been taken to four in the semi-finals by Gloucestershire’s Olly Tyndall.
The Cadet Girls’ Singles was won by Staffordshire’s Charlotte Bardsley, who beat Kate Cheer of Sussex in three straight games. Cheer reached the final with a five-game win over Cleveland’s Sophie Barlow after recovering from 2-1 down.
Nine-year-old Chinese visitor Cai Zmifa was the winner of the Under-13 Boys’ Singles after a terrific final with Ethan Walsh of Hertfordshire, at 12-10 in the fifth. It was a great match between two small players who gained the appreciation of the Saturday crowd at Thornaby Pavilion.
The Under-13 Girls’ Singles was won by Jasmin Wong of Yorkshire who comfortably defeated Faye Leggett of Scotland 3-0 in the final. The closest match was Leggett’s surprise win over Charlotte Bardsley by 12-10 in the fifth in the semi.
The Junior Boys’ Team event was won by the London Academy team of Gabriel Achampong and Karim Khassal, who beat the Northfield team of Alec Ward and Billy Forster 3-1 in the final. The key match was the opener in which Achampong beat Ward 11-8 in the fifth game, which put a lot of pressure on the doubles which the London pair won 3-1.
The Junior Girls’ Team event was won by Grantham College as Emily Bolton and Soffi Jenkins beat the Sussex pair of Lois Peake and Kate Cheer 3-2.
The Cadet Boys’ Team event was won by the Northfield pair of Harry Dai and Joe Clark, who were good winners against the Gloucester pair of Calum Morrison and Olly Tyndall, 3-1. The only set won by Gloucester was the doubles at 11-9 in the fifth.
The Cadet Girls’ Team event was won by the Fusion Club team of Sophie Barlow and Tiana Dennison who, beat Ormesby’s Charlotte Weatherby and Jasmin Wong 3-1.
The main prizes were presented by the Mayor of Stockton, Councillor Barbara Inman.
Click here to see the results from the final stages of each category
Alan Ransome
October 27, 2014