Saturday 24th June 2017 saw the inaugural NMG Wensum Norwich 1 Star Table Tennis Competition held at Catton Grove Primary School.
It is the first time that Wensum TTC, established in 2004, have held a National Ranking Tournament.
The tournament was sponsored by Norwich Motor Group, and we very much thank them for their support.
The competition involved 32 players, and entries included England ranked players Chris Doran (England No 7) and Darius Knight (England No 8).
Top local players were also attracted to the competition, including Norwich Champion Andrew Hawes and top Norwich League Players Chris Cockburn, Jamie McIntosh, Jonas Lee, Lewy Carby and Sean Molloy.
The 32 players were split into eight groups of four, with the top two players in each group going through to the main event and the players finishing third and fourth in the group going through to the plate event.
The “group of death” included local players Lewy Carby and Sean Molloy, along with Andy Warner (Suffolk). With Sean beating Lewy, Andy beating Sean and Lewy beating Andy, the group went to countback, with Lewy and Andy securing their places in the main event.
The only player seeded to get out of there group who failed to do so was Richard Hutchinson who lost out to the unranked but dangerous Jonas Lee.
Main Draw
Quarter-finals
Chris Doran bt Jamie Macintosh 3-0 (11-3, 11-6, 11-0)
Darius Knight bt Andy Hawes 3-0 (11-6, 11-3, 11-2)
Ismaila Akinda bt Rory Scott 3-1 (11-8, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5)
Adam Jepson bt Adeoye Adewale 3-1 (8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 16-14)
Semi-finals
Chris Doran bt Adam Jepson 3-0 (11-4, 11-2, 11-9)
Darius Knight bt Ismaila Akinda 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-6)
Final
Chris Doran bt Darius Knight 3-2 (11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 4-11, 12-10)
Plate Draw
Semi-finals
Stuart Laws bt Martin Freeland 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 14-12)
Sean Molloy bt Sam Bailey 3-0 (11-8, 11-1, 11-8)
Final
Sean Molloy bt Stuart Laws 3-1 (11-3, 6-11, 11-5, 11-4)
The winner of the main event, Chris Doran, walked away with the first prize of £350. Runner-up Darius Knight took away £150. Third-placed Ismaila Akinda won £100 and fourth-placed Adam Jepson (Cambridgeshire) won £75.
The best-placed local player was Andy Hawes, who finished in a very creditable sixth place.
For the plate event, club sponsors Bribar Table Tennis supplied vouchers to the winner Sean Molloy (£25) and runner-up Stuart Laws (£10).
The tournament would not have been possible without the efforts of the Organising Committee Lindsey Dare (Tournament Organiser), Stuart Laws, Chris Cockburn and Ben Richmond. Thanks also to Dennis Calver (Tournament Referee) and Margaret Calver (Deputy Tournament Referee).
It was great to see top level table tennis in Norfolk, and the club will be looking to run further competition, learning from the comments of the players involved.
Thanks to everyone who took part and contributed to a successful day.
Complete Final Standings
1 Chris Doran
2 Darius Knight
3 Ismaila Akindiya
4 Adam Jepson
5 Adeoye Adewale
6 Andy Hawes
7 Rory Scott
8 Jamie Mcintosh
9 Gaurav Aravind
10 Jonas Lee Yik Yue
11 Lewy Carby
12 Veton (Tony) Zeqiri
13 Steven Gray
14 Chris Cockburn
15 Andrew Warner
16 Jody Bevington
17 Sean Molloy
18 Stuart Laws
19 Sam Bailey
20 Martin Freeland
21 Richard Hutchinson
22 Curtis Beales
23 Ryan Moore
24 Samson Bekele
25 Stephen Clubb
26 Philip Waity
27 Matthew Currant
28 Alex McRobie
29 Ben Richmond
30 Ed Horton
31 Viv Rayson
32 Derek Ng