Jakub Kurowski (Archway Peterborough TTC) won the inaugural Peterborough ‘bangers & smash’ junior 1* open table tennis championships held on Sunday 3rd June at Top Table, the club venue.
Fifteen-year-old Archway club member Jakub played consistently well throughout the day to go undefeated in the round-robin format which featured promising young players from Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire.
However, the St John Fisher school boy did not have it all his own way and was taken to a deciding fifth game in three of his matches, notably in the last encounter of the day against Long Ly (Lincolnshire), who eventually finished second overall.
Kurowski dug deep to hold his nerve when it got close with a barrage of quickfire forehand loops interspersed with effective backhand punches and blocks.
A triumphant Jakub said: “I was pleased to win my first open tournament and especially to beat Long as he is above me in the England rankings.”
Other Archway players who impressed were the Pryke twins – Chloe and Mathew – who despite finishing fifth and seventh put in some excellent performances and gained some valuable competition experience.
A day earlier, Dave ‘Nutty’ Needham, was simply the best at the inaugural Peterborough ‘pimply the best’ veterans 1* ratings tournament, featuring over-40s players from Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire.
After a round-robin stage, the top four finishers played a semi-final and final Needham, from Tallington, was the winner.
The Archway club were well represented and provided three of the four semi-finalists in Julian Tee, Robert Nowakowski and Steve Williams.