Chris Doran won on the day, but beaten finalist Ryan Jenkins is the 2016 Grand Prix series champion.
Doran gathered momentum in the later stages of the season-finale in Redbridge after inflicting defeat on the second seed Loic Bobillier – who won all 19 British League matches he played for BBAT in 2011-12.
And he was on top form to defeat Jenkins three straight in the final – the Welshman having the sizeable consolation of his eighth overall title in the last 15 years.
The women’s singles was an all-Hungary affair in the final as Melinda Ciurcui beat Edina Toth in four.
The overall title went to Kelly Sibley, who was not competing in London but had built up enough points to be assured of the crown for the first time.
Her nearest challenger and overall winner in the last three seasons, Karina Le Fevre, was beaten in the semis by Ciurcui.
Click here to view final standings in all categories
Men’s Singles
Arguably the strongest field at a Grand Prix in recent memory produced a high-quality competition.
Raiders from France, Hungary and Poland featured in the upper reaches of the seedings and duly reached the latter stages, but the last four had a familiar feel with Ryan Jenkins, Chris Doran and Gavin Rumgay all present.
The exception was Poland’s Artur Daniel, who came in as a scratch entry when Tom Jarvis pulled out, with GCSEs imminent this week.
Jenkins was always ahead of Daniel in his semi, winning it 11-9, 12-10, 11-5.
It meant the final would be a familiar affair, as Jenkins faced Doran, who came from a set down to beat Rumgay 3-1 (10-12, 11-7, 11-6, 11-8).
The scoreline was not familiar though as Doran turned in a supreme performance. His was the irresistible force but Jenkins could not play the role of immovable object – though of course he had his moment – as Doran romped it 5, 6, 5.
In all, Doran played nine matches to win the title, against players of eight different nationalities – Jersey, England, Italy, Hong Kong, France (2), Korea, Scotland and Wales.
Overall, Doran’s performance took him above Tom Jarvis into second place in the standings, but Jenkins was more than 100 points clear at the top.
Early rounds
In the quarters, Jenkins had ended the interest of Hungary’s Attila Koszo – and his vociferous supporters – though he was taken to four, losing the third game 13-15 having dumped a serve into the net on his only match point of the set.
Daniel saw off Darius Knight in five in a match which drew a decent crowd, pulling away only at the end of the decider to win it 11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 13-15, 11-7.
Doran brushed aside Bobillier 9, 9, 2, while Rumgay was too good for youngster Olly Tyndall, winning it 1, 6, 3. It was a good day for Tyndall nonetheless as he beat No 5 seed Fatah Ourahmoune 3-2 (6-11, 11-6, 13-11, 8-11, 11-5) in the last 16.
Jenkins’ path to the quarters saw him defeat Ryan Collins, Gabriel Achampong and Sean Doherty, all in three straight.
Koszo ended the run of Shaquille Webb-Dixon in the last 16 – the Grantham youngster had earlier defeated Ismaila Akindiya in four.
Daniel dropped games against Emmanuele Delsante and Craig Bryant on his way to the last eight, while Knight was untroubled in the knockouts up to that point.
Rumgay looked in superb form on his way to the last eight, seeing off Bradley Tuttle (3, 8, 4), Christoph Zickert (6, 7, 7) and Mike O’Driscoll (7, 4, 6).
Doran was taken the distance by Ryota Kawai in the last 16 before prevailing 3-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-3, 11-6. Kawai had himself earlier beaten Alim Hirji in five.
Bobillier went through his first three knockout rounds without dropping a game, beating Adam Nutland 7, 9, 9 in the last 16.
Women’s Singles
Top seed Melinda Ciurcui came from a set down to defeat Hungarian compatriot Edina Toth in the final.
Fourth seed Toth took the first but Ciurcui then grew in strength and pulled away to win 3-1 (6-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-3).
Ciurcui had defeted Karina Le Fevre in four in the semi-finals, while Toth advanced courtesy of a victory in three straight over Romania’s Arina Singeorzan.
Three of the four quarter-finals were decided in three straight, Ciurcui beating Kornelia Jonsson 5, 6, 6 and Singeorzan overcoming Katie McGlone 9, 7, 8, while Toth ended the interest of second seed Maria Tsaptsinos 5, 8, 5.
Le Fevre needed four to get the better of Evie Collier (8-11, 11-5, 11-5, 14-12).
Overall, Sibley’s victories in South Shields, Nottingham and Doncaster were enough to see her crowned champion. Charlotte Carey was second, with Le Fevre cementing third.
Under-21 Men’s Singles
Gabriel Achampong came from 2-1 down to defeat Jack Bennett 3-2 (11-2, 10-12, 6-11, 11-9, 11-6).
Achampong’s haul saw him leapfrog Matt Leete into second place overall, but gaining 25 points more than Bennett was not quite enough to stop his opponent taking the overall title by six-and-a-half points.
Both took four sets to get the better of their semi-final opponents, Achampong against Daniel Wright and Bennett against Conor Gallagher.
Achampong sunk Martin Matuzevicius in the quarters, while Wright beat Mateusz Mikosz, both in four.
Bennett needed only three against Matt Leete, while Gallagher progressed by virtue of a walkover against Dylan Curry.
Under-21 Women’s Singles
Zahna Hall reached her third final of the weekend but could not overcome Kate Cheer as she went down in three straight (8, 8, 9).
Cheer had earlier beaten Kornelia Jonsson in four in the semi-finals, while Hall got past Emma Ludlow in three.
That all meant Cheer finished second overall and Ludlow third, though neither could catch overall champion Emily Bolton.
Veteran Singles
Seeding prevailed as Costas Papantoniou won the London title with a four-set defeat of overall title-winner Tomasz Rzeszotko.
The top seed from Middlesex took it 13-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-6 over his second-ranked opponent.
Papantoniou defeated Anthony Corbin 3-1 (11-5, 13-11, 10-12, 11-8) in the semis, while Rzeszotko came through 3-0 (11-7, 12-10, 11-9) against Miroslaw Pazdzior.
Pazdzior overturned a 2-0 deficit to beat Django Fung in the last eight (7-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-8, 12-10).
Rzeszotko was clear at the top of the overall standings, ahead of Jannik Larsen.
Open Doubles
Sean Doherty & Gavin Maguire won a dynamic final against Ismaila Akindiya & Adeoye Adewale.
It went the distance before the Scottish-Irish axis prevailed 13-15, 11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 12-10 against their Nigerian opponents.
Victory for Doherty and Maguire in the open doubles pic.twitter.com/2tKXNNiAGT
— Table Tennis England (@TableTennisENG) June 5, 2016
The victors had beaten Adam Nutland & Joshua Dye in the semis, while the beaten finalists accounted for Zoltan Hosszu & Mark Pink.
It was a double celebration for Maguire, who won the overall title ahead of Craig Howieson, with Doherty climbing to third.
Results
Men’s Singles
Chris Doran (Np) bt Ryan Jenkins (WAL) 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-5)
Final overall standings: 1 Ryan Jenkins (WAL), 2 Chris Doran (Np), 3 Tom Jarvis (Li), 4 Ryota Kawai (Sx), 5 Craig Howieson (SCO)
Women’s Singles
Melinda Ciurcui (HUN) bt Edina Toth (HUN) 3-1 (6-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-3)
Final overall standings: 1 Kelly Sibley (Wa), 2 Charlotte Carey (WAL), 3 Karina Le Fevre (Cv), 4 Maria Tsaptsinos (Bk), 5 Emily Bolton (Cu)
Under-21 Men’s Singles
Gabriel Achampong (Mi) bt Jack Bennett (Sx) 3-2 (11-2, 10-12, 6-11, 11-9, 11-6)
Final overall standings: 1 Jack Bennett (Sx), 2 Gabriel Achampong (Mi), 3 Matt Leete (Li), 4 Ethan Walsh (He), 5 Adam Jepson (Ca)
Under-21 Women’s Singles
Kate Cheer (Sx) bt Zahna Hall (Mi) 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-9)
Final overall standings: 1 Emily Bolton (Cu), 2 Kate Cheer (Sx), 3 Emma Ludlow (IRL), 4 Holly Williams (Cv), 5 Emma McSorley (IRL)
Veterans’ Singles
Costas Papantoniou (Mi) bt Tomasz Rzeszotko (Ch) 3-1 (13-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-6).
Final overall standings: 1 Tomasz Rzeszotko (Ch), 2 Jannik Larsen (DEN), 3 Shaun Bibby (YS), 4 Paul Beck (K), 5 Peter Wilkinson (Cv)
Open Doubles
Sean Doherty (SCO) & Gavin Maguire (IRL) bt Ismaila Akindiya & Adeoye Adewale (NGR) 3-2 (13-15, 11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 12-10)
Final overall standings: 1 Gavin Maguire (IRL), 2 Craig Howieson (SCO), 3 Sean Doherty (SCO), 4 Charlotte Carey (WAL), 5 Bryan Kwan (Sx)