Millar wins pipe-opener event

Matt Millar came out on top when the Marlborough pipe-opener table tennis tournament was staged recently.

Thirty-seven players took part, with the final coming down to a battle between top seeds, Matt Millar and Jacqui Wood.

Throughout the night, Millar made very few unforced errors and that continued in the final. He carefully placed the ball to try and stop Wood's attacks. Wood looped the ball consistently and had to produce some brilliant angled smashes to win points while Millar again showed his ability to return the ball from near the barricades with precision. He took the final in straight sets but there was some great table tennis between these two skilful players.

Wood reached the final with a close four-set win over Nathan Cross in one semi while Millar reached the decider with a win over David Stephens in the other semi.

It was a great tournament for Stephens, whose summer training paid off as he beat experienced campaigners Ken Thompsett and Jason Kennedy to reach the semi-final. One of the matches of the tournament was Tommy Phipps's win over Harry Speakman by 11-6, 11-5, 9-11, 6-11, 11-9. The two juniors put on a great display of skill and sportsmanship.

Two other juniors, Levi van Kuyk and Cora Wilson each won two matches to get into the main draw.

Results of other finals were:

Special Plate: Zac Cowdrey beat Ken Thompsett 4-11, 12-10,11-7, 13-11. The semi finalists  were Rob Honour and Tommy Phipps.

Plate 1: Harry Speakman beat Supreya Prasertsakda 11-6,11-8. 7-11. 11-6. The semi finalists were Kylie Hurren and Warren Haszard.

Plate 2: Lucy Thom beat Yu Fei Wei 11-8,11-8, 10-12,7-11, 11-8. The semi finalists were Caitlin Exton and Sophia Dillon.

Consolation Plate: Fletcher Phipps beat Peter Dillon 11-4, 7-11,11-4, 8-11, 11-9. The semi finalists were Barbara Burkhart and Dennis Burkhart.

Open on at weekend

This weekend the Marlborough Open takes place, with players entering from as far afield as Auckland, Manawatu and Canterbury.

Manawatu's Matt Ball is back again after winning the Men's Singles a few years back. He is very involved as a player and coach in the Lower North Island and has represented New Zealand in the World Team Championships in Europe.
As the current National Over-30 Men's Singles and Doubles Champion, plus runner in the Open Section of the national men's doubles, he will be favourite to take out the Harcourts Marlborough Men's singles title.
His main rivals include Canterbury's Griffin Buchanan, Nelson's Daniel Astle, North Shore's Ben Jung and Marlborough-registered Alex Kennedy

The Forrest Wines Women's Singles has 14 entrants including Marlborough’s Jacqui Wood and under-13 player Cora Wilson. Former Southlander, Gemma Buzzard, will be another top contender for the women's singles title having debuted for New Zealand in the Over-30 Women's Team against Australia at Easter. Up against her are Canterbury team-mate Monica Kusaleswaran, plus Nelson players Anna King, Ana Vasquez Ramirez and Evelyn Nashiro.

Event times

8:30AM Saturday C Grade Events
1:00PM Saturday Open Events
8:00AM Sunday Under 15 and Over 55 Events
12:00PM Sunday Over 40 and Under 13 Events
2:00PM Sunday Under 19 Events