Lithuanian Egle Adomelyte picked up her third win on the qualification series for the World Championships of Ping Pong as she continued her merry march towards booking her place in the finals at Alexandra Palace once more.
Having already won at BATTS and Draycott, the Lithuanian, who has twice finished in the last 16 during the finals, won at Ellenborough over the weekend to extend her lead at the top of the latest standings (below) over Luke Walsh, Joe Kennedy and Adam Nutland.
As was the case in previous tournaments, Adomelyte coasted through her group, dropping just one game in the process to Paul Worrallo to secure her spot in the last 32.
Then, in her march to the final, she dropped just one game again during a close 15-7, 13-15, 15-10 victory over Matt Ware in the quarter-finals as she beat Mick Borshell, Robin Ashleigh, Ware and Luke Walsh with confidence.
Meeting her at the last hurdle was Adam Nutland, who has previously recorded two quarter-final finishes in this campaign, but who this time came through a couple of big tests to secure his place in the final. The Worcestershire player cruised past David Tiplady in the first round but had his work cut out against Oldham winner Joe Kennedy 15-9, 11-15, 15-13, previous finalist Kazeem Adeleke 15-9, 15-14 and the experienced Graham Sandley 15-9, 15-12 in the semi-final.
His impressive form continued into the final where he took a surprise 2-1 lead over hard-bat specialist Adomelyte after a 15-12, 4-15, 15-14 start. But, instead of securing his own maiden title, Adomelyte fought back to win the final two ends 15-8 and pick up her third success.
Her win takes her to 62pts – 13 ahead of Walsh, 14 from Kennedy and 20 to both the improved Nutland and Oldham runner-up Trevor Kerry.
Full results from the Ellenborough tournament can be found below where you can also see the latest rankings, standings and the entry form for the Fusion tournament that takes place in mid August.
Full Results from Ellenborough
by Russell Moore (August 4, 2014)