Matt Ware and Paul McCreery are through to the World Championship of Ping Pong Finals after the UK qualifying tournament at Ellenborough TTC.

A total of 52 players entered the competition and, after a local pre-qualifier last week and three withdrawals on the day, 37 remained to play in the main event on Sunday.

The day started with six groups of 6 or 7 players playing a round-robin with the top four in each group progressing to the knockout stages.

The six group winners were Kazeem Adeleke, Ethan Walsh, Ware, Ashley Stokes, Adam Nutland and McCreery. These six plus two group runners-up, Mark Mitchell and Egle Adolemyte, received byes into the last 16 whilst the other 16 group qualifiers competed for the remaining eight places.

The standard this year was noticeably higher than last year and competition was fierce throughout all the rounds. The closest result of the day was Ian Johnston’s win over Jogenes Senorin by 14-15, 15-14, 15-14. In the last 16, five of the eight matches went to the deciding game.

The final saw England’s Ware defeat Northern Ireland’s McCreery, winning a nail-biting contest 15-13, 15-13. Ware’s semi-final had also been a thriller as he defeated Adeleke 13-15, 15-9, 15-10. McCreery got through 15-7, 15-11 against Stokes.

Ware, who missed last year’s Finals because of the birth of his daughter, is set to be seeded for the televised WCPP Finals at Alexandra Palace on January 25 and 26. England’s Andrew Baggaley is set to defend the title he won for the third time last year.

Before the finals, two more qualifying events will take place at Ellenborough – the Late Qualifier on Sunday January 19 and the Last Chance Saloon on Thursday January 23.

Places can be booked via eventbrite.co.uk (just search for WCPP) or by contacting the organiser, Peter Bayman, by email at [email protected]