Sunday November 11th saw
Cardiff City Table Tennis Club hold its first Community Club Junior Grand Prix
tournament of the season. With 8 tournaments scheduled throughout the year
participants have the chance to accumulate points towards their final standings
at the end of the season with prize money on offer for the top 4 in each age
group.
The whole tournament was
played in excellent spirit and with 67 entries it was a very busy day. Players
as young as 6 years old all the way up to 18 competed in Under 11's, Under
13's, Under 15's and Under 18's age categories.
There were 2 players who
stole the show though with Joseph Roberts claiming the Under 11 and Under 13's
titles and Lawrence John taking home the Under 15's and Under 18's. In the
Under 11's Jack O'Duffy lost out to Joseph in the final after playing a superb
semi-final against the improving Benedict Watson. In the Under 13's it was the
Swansea based Harry Langley who had the task of stopping Joseph's run but was
unable to do so, losing in straight sets.
The under 15's was a very
tight affair with a lot of the group matches going to the deciding set. It Was
Lawrence John and Elliot Weinburg though who battled it out in the final. The
match was tied at 1-1 and 9-9 but Lawrence kept his cool and completed a 3-1
victory. The under 18's saw a lot of the Under 15 players competing again with
the addition of a few older Juniors. It was Lawrence again who marched his way
into the final winning 5 matches in the group. His opponent this time was Tom
Goodhall who had also cleaned up in his group winning his 5 matches. It was an
extremely close final with neither player taking full control of the match and
Lawrence managed to pull through and take his 2nd title of the day 3-2.
A special mention must be
made of 2 players. Firstly Anna Hursey who at only 6 years old played some
really great table tennis way beyond her years! The other is Josh Stacey who
played exceptionally well without maybe getting the results that he wanted. He
twice lost out 3-2 to higher ranked players but he put on a great display,
especially with his speed and forehand topspins.
