Top table tennis players battle for Open titles

Some of the nation’s leading table tennis players demonstrated their considerable skills when the Redwood Trust Marlborough Open was held at Simcox Stadium last weekend.

Seventy-two competitors took part, from as far away as North Shore and Southland.

The Open and Under-15 events doubled as the third qualifying tournament for national selection for the forthcoming Oceania Championships in Australia, a further incentive to bring top players to Blenheim.

The number one seed, Dean Shu from Auckland, took the men's singles title, beating second-seeded Max Henderson from Bay of Plenty in the final 8-11, 11-7, 15-13, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7. The final provided a fine example of modern attacking table tennis as both players served short and pounced on any loose returns. Max was on his game and it took some brilliant counter-hitting from Dean to get the win. Dean reached the final with a five-set win over Canterbury's Griffin Buchanan while Max downed Simon Fenwick in the other semi.

Simon beat Griffin to claim third place.

Local player Alex Kennedy qualified for post-section play and as the Open was a TTNZ qualifier, played off for seventh and eighth place, beating North Shore's Ben Jung in five sets

Canterbury's Abbey Webb beat fellow Cantabrian Lydia Mercer-Beumelburg by 11-6, 7-11, 12-14, 9-11, 13-11, 11-9, 11-6 in the final of the women's singles. Lydia had match points in the fifth set but Abbey managed to save them before imposing her game in the last two sets.

Local player Jacqui Wood reached the semi-final, losing to Abbey in six sets while Lydia reached the final with a win over Canterbury's Aarya Advilkar. Jacqui beat Aarya to claim the bronze medal.

Dean won his second title when he combined with Waitemata's Andrew Palmer for a win in the men's doubles, the unseeded pair beating top seeds Simon Fenwick and Griffin Buchanan in the final 12-14, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7. Alex and Canterbury's Vladimir Ivanov finished with a bronze medal.

The women's doubles went with seeding, top seeds Abbey Webb and Ellie Zhang beating the second-seeded mother and daughter combination of Helen Beumelburg and Lydia Mercer-Beumelburg 11-8, 11-8, 11-6.

Simon Fenwick and Kris Alisch won the mixed doubles final over the Buchanan siblings, Griffin and India, 11-5, 11-5, 11-6.

The RB Catering C grade section produced a tremendous final between North Shore's Ben Jung and Canterbury's Eric Kim, who prevailed 4-11, 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 15-13. Alex reached the quarter finals while Michael Kamson, a current Marlborough representative player, was undefeated in pool play.

In the equivalent women's event, unseeded Ruhi Advilkar came through the draw and beat North Shore's Ariel Liu 8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8 in the final.

Other finals in the C grade were:

Men's Doubles: Ben Jung (NS)/ Andrew Palmer (W) bt Gregg Davey (C)/ Teck Woon Tan (A) 11-6, 1-9, 13-11. (Alex Kennedy/ Michael Kamson third place)

Women's Doubles: Anna King (N)/ Ana Vasquez Ramirez (N) bt Gemma Buzzard (S)/ Maia Cavanagh (O) 11-9.11-9,6-11, 11-8

Mixed Doubles: Paul Op den Buysch (N)/ Ana Vasquez Ramirez (N) bt Alex Kennedy (M)/ Maia Cavanagh (O) 11-9,7-11, 11-8, 11-5

In Sunday's Martella Refrigeration over-40 section, the top seeded Simon Fenwick beat Marlborough's Matt Millar in straight sets in the final. It was a great event for another local player Jason Kennedy, as he topped his pool and beat the third seed in the process.

Nelson's Shino Yonei won the equivalent women's final against Ruhi Advikar by 11-5, 11-8, 10-12, 10-12, 11-8.

In the Wadsco Trucks Over 55 section, the women's final featured two local players, with Marion Wood beating Barbara Burkhart. In the men's event, Canterbury's Gregg Davey finished top of the round robin pool, with Nelson's Mark Nalder second.

In the Harcourts junior section, there were many New Zealand juniors reps on display.

The under-19 boys' title was won by Griffin Buchanan, who beat Canterbury's Xavier Reid in the final 11-7, 11-7,7-11, 11-6. Canterbury's Ellie Zhang won the girls' title with a 12-10, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7 over Lydia Mercer-Beumelburg.

Xavier dominated the under-15 boys' event, with a three-set win in the final over Derrick Wong of Canterbury. North Shore's Ariel Liu won the girls' event, beating Auckland's Grace Looi in the final.

Mihik won the boys' under-13 title over fellow Canterbury player Marco Ravadilla 11-5, 11-7, 11-8. After a round-robin competition, Auckland's Grace Looi finished first in the girls' section. Local player Liv Earl finished third.

Other titles decided were:

Over 55 Open Doubles: Gregg Davey (C )/ Alan Moore (C) bt Mark Nalder (N)/ Kevin Neumann (N)  11-7, 4-11, 11-9,14-12

Over 40 Open Doubles: Gregg Davey (C)/ Simon Fenwick (C) bt Mark Nalder (N) / Paul Op den Buysch (N) 11-8,12-10,11-8

Under-19 Boys' Doubles Griffin Buchanan (C)/ Joshua Piggot (N) bt Christopher Fenwick (C) / Eric Kim (C) 11-9, 11-4, 11-4

Under-19 Girls' Doubles: Lydia Mercer- Beumelburg (C) / Ellie Zhang (C) bt Hannah McDonnell (N)/ Brooke Robinson (N) 3-0

Under-15 Boys' Doubles: Mihik Advilkar (C)/ Derrick Wong (C) bt Dimitri Bell (N)/ David Pigott (N) 13-11, 11-8, 11-6

Under-15 Girls' Doubles: Grace Looi (A)/ Karen Looi (A) bt Sophia Dillon (M)/ Liv Earl (M) 3-0

Under-13 Boys' Doubles: Mihik Advilkar (C)/ Marco Ravadilla (C) bt Alex de Bock (C)/ Dominic Parrett (C) 11-9,11-9, 11-3

Under-13 Girls Doubles: Grace Looi (A)/ Karen Looi (A) by Cora Wilson (M)/ Zaraya Wilson (M) 3-0