Table tennis reps pipped in shield encounter

The Marlborough representative table tennis team came mighty close to taking the prestigious Perry Shield off Nelson in Blenheim at the weekend, the holders prevailing 34 matches to 32 in a pulsating encounter.

The Marlborough men were in superb form, winning their sections 21-6, but Nelson dominated in the women’s games. The match started at 10am, with the result being in doubt until the final mixed doubles match at 4.30pm.

Marlborough took the men's No 1 clash 8-1. Matt Pigou got the team off to a great start with an 11-13, 11-8, 11-4, 9-11, 11-8 win over Jack Wells, a former NZ junior rep. Alex Kennedy was all business in his matches, winning his three singles without dropping a set. Nathan Watson dropped sets to Dean McNicholl and Finn Brown but came through undefeated.

In the women’s No 1 section, Marlborough prevailed 5-4. For the second consecutive year, Jacqui Wood was undefeated in singles.

Marion Wood came back from a set down to beat Evelyn Nashiro 3-11, 11-5, 5-11, 11-7, 11-8, while Kylie Hurren came from two sets down to beat the same player.

Matthias Kronert and Matt Millar led the men's No 2 side to a 6-3 win. Matthias dropped two sets in his matches but came through undefeated. Matt started things off with a win over Paul Op den Buysch, displaying good ball control against a player who has a good record against Marlborough's top players. Matt's last match was an 11-7, 11-8, 13-15, 11-6 win over former Marlborough player, David Watson.

Marlborough's No 2 women's side, who lost 9-0 was Barbara Burkhart, Sophia Dillon and Tilly Watts, with Sophia and Tilly both under-15 players on debut.

Marlborough won the men's doubles 7-2 with the established partnerships of Nathan/Alex and Matthias/Matt Pigou going through undefeated. Matt Millar and Jason Kennedy picked up a win and came very close to beating the top Nelson combination, losing in five.

Nelson won the women's doubles 8-1 with the mother/daughter combination of Marion and Jacqui Wood picking up Marlborough's point.

Going into the mixed doubles, the score was 27-27, with the visitors gaining a vital edge to prevail 7-5.

Marlborough's top performers on the day were Nathan  (8 from 8), Alex (7 from 8), Matt Pigou (7 from 8), Jacqui  (6 from 8) and Matthias  (6 from 8).

On Saturday is the Couper Shield match in Nelson with the Angell Shield under-18 match in Blenheim on August 8.