Lorrie Austin completed an amazing nights Table Tennis with a straight sets win over Toby Turner to secure the Colchester & District Table Tennis League Intermediate Cup for Gt Horkesley B against Pegasus A. In a pulsating match and with the score at 4-3 to Horkesley, Austin upset the form book with an impressive counter-attacking game that left his Pegasus opponent shaking his head. Earlier both players were involved in titanic struggles, with Austin two sets and 10-5 up against Steve Noble only to lose the next seven points! At two sets all Noble then squandered four match points as Austin clawed back to 10-all! The Pegasus skipper eventually won 10-12, 6-11, 12-10, 11-9, 13-11! This put Pegasus 3-1 ahead at that stage, a score belying the teams respective positions in the league. In the previous game Turner had fought back to beat Gt Horkesley star player Wudong Liu 9-11,11-5,10-12, 11-7, 12-10. Liu had also come back from two sets down against Clive Forster. The turning point for Gt Horkesley came at 3-1 down and two sets to one down in the doubles where Austin and Lloyd Bennett-Smith fought their way back to win the fourth consecutive five setter. This was the most competitive of matches with every game a cliff-hanger but was ultimately played in an excellent spirit with Gt Horkesley completing a Division Two and Cup ‘double’.
In The Minor Cup Pegasus D and H20 Rowhedge H were involved in an even closer match that went right to the wire as Alistair Woodcock and Nick Murray won 13-11 in the final end of the last game to grab a 5-4 win for Pegasus. Rowhedge were without young star Jane Li, instead playing Ben Jackson and had he converted his game points in the fourth end of the penultimate game against Kevin Turner would have been Rowhedge’s hero but it was not to be, as ultimately Pegasus won all three doubles. Jimin Lee and Oliver Reynolds were unbeaten in their singles.
Antony Greenwood capped a tremendous season adding a league and cup ‘double’ to his Men’s Singles and Doubles titles as his H20 Rowhedge A team beat Tollgate A 5-1 to win the Kiltie Cup. The match was closer than the score line suggested none more so than Tollgate’s only game winner Greg Green when he beat Michael Andrews 9-11, 12-10, 11-6, 14-16. 11-9. Steve Joslin came back from two sets down to beat Nigel Hodder and Greenwood beat Gary Young in four. Once again the doubles proved decisive with Rowhedge winning both to retain their title.
In the Team Handicap Cup Final Pegasus D beat H20 Rowhedge G 8-1 with Paul Woolnough, Alistair Woodcock and Kevin Turner victorious. Alastair Woodcock won all four games he was involved in, including a tight match sealing game 21-10, 19-21, 22-20 against Tom Lewis.
There was a marathon match played between H20 Rowhedge F and Pegasus E in the Team Handicap Doubles Cup that eventually went the way of the Marks Tey side, 5-4. No fewer than eleven of the twenty-three sets played were decided by just two points in an attritional match that saw Colin Powell, Nigel Claydon and David Sacker eventually come out on top!
H20 Rowhedge were finally crowned Division Four champions, thanks to father and daughter, Jimin and Jane Li and Oliver Reynolds. Pegasus D join them in promotion to Division Three.
Division One
| P | W | D | L | A | F | |
| H2O Rowhedge A | 16 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 35 | 125 |
| Tollgate A | 16 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 45 | 115 |
| H2O Rowhedge B | 16 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 48 | 112 |
| Gt Horkesley A | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 55 | 105 |
| Tollgate B | 16 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 58 | 102 |
| Walton B | 16 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 102 | 58 |
| H2O Rowhedge C | 16 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 106 | 54 |
| Lawford A | 16 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 132 | 28 |
| Walton C | 16 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 139 | 21 |
| *Walton A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Division Two
| P | W | D | L | A | F | |
| Gt Horkesley C | 18 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 42 | 138 |
| Walton D | 18 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 53 | 127 |
| Pegasus A | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 78 | 102 |
| Gt Horkesley B | 18 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 86 | 94 |
| Lawford B | 18 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 87 | 93 |
| Clairmont A | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 93 | 87 |
| H2O Rowhedge D | 18 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 102 | 77 |
| H2O Rowhedge E | 18 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 104 | 76 |
| Walton E | 18 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 127 | 53 |
| Tollesbury A | 18 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 127 | 52
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Division Three
| P | W | D | L | A | F | |
| St Peters A | 18 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 56 | 124 |
| Pegasus B | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 71 | 109 |
| H2O Rowhedge F | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 75 | 105 |
| Lawford C | 18 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 80 | 100 |
| Gt Horkesley D | 18 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 81 | 99 |
| Tollesbury B | 18 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 92 | 88 |
| Pegasus C | 18 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 101 | 79 |
| University of Essex | 18 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 108 | 72 |
| H2O Rowhedge G | 18 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 116 | 64 |
| Dedham A | 18 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 120 | 60 |
Division Four
| P | W | D | L | A | F | |||
| H2O Rowhedge H | 16 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 125 | ||
| Pegasus D | 16 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 53 | 107 | ||
| Pegasus E | 16 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 57 | 103 | ||
| Gt Horkesley E | 16 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 72 | 88 | ||
| Lawford D | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 89 | 71 | ||
| Lawford E | 16 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 91 | 69 | ||
| CRGS A | 16 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 93 | 67 | ||
| H2O Rowhedge I | 16 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 109 | 51 | ||
| Gt Horkesley F | 16 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 121 | 39 | ||
| *Dedham B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||