The race for qualification to the World Championships of Ping Pong at Alexandra Palace (January 4-5, 2013) is starting to take shape with the tickets to a spot in the main event next year already snapped up by seven players following a gruelling qualification process.
In the English men’s standings, top of the list is six-times English National Singles Champion Denis Neale who didn’t appear in the final event as he had already sealed his place in the finals In second place, top 100 ranked English Veteran, Paul Worallo, had to at least reach the final at BATTS last time out, which he did in spectacular fashion. In a tremendous performance under pressure he beat fellow veteran, Joe Kennedy in the final to secure his place in the main event.
The third and final spot was so close it took a count back over the results of all four tournaments to establish who had taken that sought after spot. The winner of the first qualifier, Greenhouse Coach Ashley Stokes, tied with consistent performer and former England international Andrew Rushton after both players had reached 66 points over the series.
The pair could not be separated on matches won or even sets won so the final space came down to a points margin that saw Rushton edge out Stokes. However, he can still fight for the one spot available for winning the WCPP English Closed at Draycott.
In the women’s qualification, star performer Egle Adomelyte comfortably took the first of two available spots with Emma Vickers securing second place. Both will put up a big fight against the men in London in January and Adomelyte will hope to at least equal her impressive last 16 performance of last year.
Two qualification spaces were also available for the best performing non-English players in the series and this came down to a battle between four players. The popular Dutch star Lars Adema took the top spot with Nigerian Kazeem Adeleke second and both qualify for the second year in succession. The unlucky players who missed out were Jogenes Senorin and Eli Baraty.
The next WCPP event is at the Draycott Table Tennis centre on September 28th where one qualifying spot is available for the winner. If you would like more information please contact:
Fred Dove: [email protected] or 07795262750.
Original report by Tony West (September 4, 2013)