ROOSTERS CROWING OVER CUP

Windsor Roosters grabbed the honours in this week’s Clacton and District Table Tennis League’s Handicap Cup Final, James Denyer, Gary Cattermole and Mark Smith taking the trophy with victory over fellow-Division One side Nomads Jaguars.

In an entertaining final, played in an excellent sporting spirit, the Roosters came out on top 5-1 – although the scoreline disguised a much closer match with ten of the twenty-five sets played going to deuce, the Roosters winning all but one.

The opening doubles between Mark Smith and Gary Cattermole
(-8) and Tony Beezer and Colin Beaumont (+1) set the tone for the evening, the match see-sawing throughout before the Roosters edged it 13-11, 5-11, 12-10, 0-11, 11-8.

Match two saw a clash of the generations with Jaguars’ super-veteran Terry Kirby (+1), the oldest player ever to appear in a Clacton Cup final, taking on fifteen-year old James Denyer (-6).

The wily Kirby defied the years in the first set, getting an edge to win 14-12, but a spate of foul serves did nothing to help his cause and Denyer imposed his superiority with a 12-14, 11-7, 12-10, 11-9 victory.

Mark Smith (-8) has not been in the best form in Cup Singles this season but he made it 3-0 to the Roosters with a success against the ever-combative Colin Beaumont (+1), both players uncompromising in their attacking play.

The first set proved crucial, Smith retrieving a 9-2 deficit to take the match 13-11, 11-9, 13-11.
Gary Cattermole (-8) was hot favourite to beat Tony Beezer (+2) in match four but Beezer came out of his corner fighting and raced into an 11-0, 11-6, 10-3 lead, the profligate Cattermole awry with many of his usual winners while Beezer attacked purposefully.

Then came an amazing turnaround, Beezer unable to get the point to see him across the winning line and a determined, Cattermole clawing his way back to win the set 13-11 – and when the Roosters’ player breezed through the fourth 10-5 it looked all over.

However, the indefatigable Beezer bounced back to take a 10-1 lead in the fifth but there was still time for one final twist as Cattermole’s never-say-die attitude earned him eleven points in a row to take an unforgettable match 0-11, 6-11, 13-11, 11-5, 12-10.

To Beezer’s immense credit, he immediately brushed off his disappointment and, with Terry Kirby (+1), defeated Denyer and Smith (-8) 11-5, 11-2, 8-11, 11-0 in a free-flowing doubles to register a point for the Nomads’ side.

Alas for the Jaguars, James Denyer (-8) was in top form and he proved too much of a handful for Colin Beaumont (+1), taking the tie 11-8, 3-11, 12-10, 12-10 and clinching the Cup for the Roosters.

It was a third Cup success in five years for the Roosters, Mark Smith a member of all three triumphant sides whilst James Denyer was a winner in 2010.

And Windsor goes into the record books as only the second Club to have Cup-winning teams in three consecutive seasons, equalling Great Holland’s record of the 1980s.

Final results (Roosters’ players first): Cattermole/Smith (-8) beat Beaumont/Beezer (+1) 13-11, 5-11, 12-10, 0-11, 11-8; Denyer
(-6) beat Kirby (+1) 12-14, 11-7, 12-10, 11-9; Smith (-8) beat Beaumont(+1) 13-11, 11-9, 13-11; Cattermole (-8) beat Beezer (+2) 0-11, 6-11, 13-11, 11-5, 12-10; Denyer/Smith (-8) lost to Kirby/Beezer (+1) 5-11, 2-11, 11-8, 0-11; Denyer (-8) beat Beaumont (+1) 11-8, 3-11, 12-10, 12-10.

* The League is organising a series of four “Come and Try” evenings next month, starting on Wednesday 6th June at 7.30 pm at St James Hall. The other dates are Tuesday 12th June, and Wednesday 20th and 27th June. There is no charge for the sessions.

Anyone who would like to take up competitive table tennis is welcome to attend. For more information, telephone Ferdy Rodriguez on 01255 221259.

Tony Oswick