China the big winner at Medway Open table tennis grand prix
|
Some of the country’s top table tennis talent was on show in Medway this weekend as the Black Lion Leisure Centre hosted the sport’s national grand prix series. A capacity field of 180 competitors, including many international players, battled it out in 15 different events over the two-day Medway Open Butterfly Grand Prix. The main event of the weekend was the Open Singles competitions, where spectators and fellow competitors alike were treated to a display of Oriental table tennis magic. The surprise package in the men’s draw, the unseeded Chinese player Hong Ming Zhang, swept aside several top seeds to take the Men’s Open title against fellow countryman Wang Zheng. |
|
The women’s open singles title was won in emphatic style by another England-based Chinese player, the number two seed Katie Shu Ying.
Medway Council Chief Executive Neil Davies and Medway Towns Table Tennis League Chairman Steve Bannister joined event organiser Matthew Porter from the English Table Tennis Association to make the presentations to the winners at the climax of the weekend’s competition.
|
|
The grand prix also featured junior and veterans events and banded competitions for players of similar standards and rankings. Among the big winners were juniors Emily Bates and Daniel Basterfield, who won two banded titles each and narrowly missed out on the under-21 titles in their first grand prix competitions. |
Daniel, from Middlesex, was named Player of the Weekend and was presented with his prize by Medway 2012 Deputy Manager Helen Cockersole.
There were some strong performances across all of the events from a crop of talented Medway players.
|
Chris Martin from the Howard Table Tennis Club (TTC) made it to the semi-finals in the Restricted Men's event while clubmate and Howard Table Tennis Centre manager Steve Waud reached the semi-finals in the Men's Band 5 event. Several local junior England squad players were competing in their first ever grand prix. Howard TTC member Ross Wilson, aged 12 years, reached the quarter-finals in both the Men’s Band 5 and Band 6 events. |
|
His sister Kirsty, 14, reached the quarter finals in the Women's Band 2 and Band 3 singles on Saturday, as well as competing in the Women's under-21 event and the Women’s singles competition.
|
|
Other Medway players who took part in the tournament were England junior player and Howard TTC member Harry Lumb, 13; Mark Buckley from the Howard TTC, who reached the quarter finals in the men's Band 3 event; Steve Doughty from Chatham TTC; Howard TTC player Alec Bartlett, and Paul Bannister from Gillingham-based Sturdee TTC. |
There were also table tennis achievements to be celebrated at the London and South East Regional Trials, held in Southall over the weekend.
|
Katie Wilson, nine, the younger sister of Ross and Kirsty Wilson, came second in the under-11 girls competition while on Sunday, Ross rounded off a very successful weekend by winning the under-13 boys event. The Medway Open was the last major sporting event to be held at the Black Lion Leisure Centre before work begins on the £11m project to transform it into a regional centre of sporting excellence that will be able to host many more major sporting events in the future. Medway Council’s development partners, Wates Construction, will begin work on 10 December and the new-look Medway Park will be completed by May 2009. |
|
The centre will remain open throughout the refurbishment work, with disruption kept to a minimum.
Full list of winners
|
Saturday
|
Sunday
|