Table tennis teams show their wares down south

Six Marlborough table tennis teams travelled to Christchurch last weekend for the South Island teams tournament and the Canterbury Open individual events.

In the SI teams tournament the Marlborough men’ combination finished in fourth place, beating South Canterbury and Southland, while losing to Canterbury 1, Canterbury 2 and Otago.

Their match against Otago was lost 2-5, but such was the quality of play that it took 75 minutes over the allocated two hours to get a result.

Nathan Watson won his first match and had match points in his second, while Matthias Krönert lost a tight five-setter and also notched a singles win. In the doubles, Nathan and Alex Kennedy lost in the deciding set.

Matt Pigou impressed in the other matches, striking the ball well off the forehand and backhand, especially against South Canterbury.

One of the highlights of the day was Nathan's win over Sang Yong Park of Canterbury 2.

The mother/daughter team of Marion and Jacqui Wood were placed in the A grade with two Canterbury teams and Otago, which containing top South Island players.

Jacqui featured in some very close matches, winning two singles against Canterbury 2. Marion did well in the doubles, her opponents having difficulty with her sidespin serves.

The Marlborough Veteran Men's Team of Matt Millar and Jason Kennedy beat Nelson and Otago 2, losing to both Canterbury teams and Otago 1, who won the grade.

Local players Rory Osborne and Joseph Ruwhiu were joined by draft player Daniel Powley of Canterbury in the boys’ under-18 section.

Daniel picked up some singles wins, while Rory and Joseph won a doubles match.

The boys' under-15 team of Theo Sandford-Jury, Drew Materoa and Reuben Henry all finished the day with singles wins.

The girls' under-15 team  of Sophia Dillon and Tilly Watts met strong opposition in the group and play-off matches, Sophia winning three singles and Tilly going close to getting on the board.

Canterbury Open

The highlight for Marlborough in the Canterbury Open was Drew Materoa’s effort in winning the under-13 boys' doubles with Otago's Zihan Fu. The boys beat the top seeds in the semi-final before beating the second seeds in the decider. They showed great composure, saving two match points on their way to victory.

Tilly Watts won a single in section play of the girls' under-15 event.

Alex Kennedy qualified for post-section play in the men's under-21 division, losing to the eventual winner. Alex also qualified for post-section play in the open men's singles.

Former Marlborough player Vanessa Wood-Lin, now turning out in Canterbury colours, won the under-21 women's doubles with Aarya Advilkar and reached the final of the under-18 girls' singles and doubles events.

Matt Pigou was in a tough qualifying group in the open men's singles but played a brilliant match against Jay Zhu before losing in five.

Jacqui Wood qualified for post-section play in the women's singles.