Innovative event a success

Cippenham Table Tennis Club’s innovative Team 2-Star Open Championship was a huge success on Sunday, with a maximum entry of twenty-four teams, some surprise results and a lot of good and competitive table tennis.

Whilst all the Club’s other events follow the traditional individual singles format, the Team Open, now in its second year, is different. Pairs of players team up and progress through the draw as a combination, with the result of the matches depending on the results of both players. A further departure from the normal knock-out system introduces a format in which all teams compete throughout the day and finishing positions from 1 to 24 are established.

The team of the day was undoubtedly the youngsters from Barnet. Playing in an adult competition, Zak Zilesnick and Reece Tan performed beyond anybody’s expectations. Neither player had any senior ranking points prior to the event but they ended up beating players ranked high in the national list. It did not start too well for Barnet; they were beaten in the preliminary round group by a St. Michael and All Angels side that benefited from the experience of their number one player Jerome Jonah. After the first two contests had been shared Jonah came back to the table to win it for the London team. That put St. Michael’s in the top eight section and Barnet in the middle eight.

The flexibility in the format allowed Barnet one more chance. First they had to beat London Progress and this qualified them for a go at a group winner to claim a place in the top eight. Blaenafon, featuring the Welsh brother and sister Patrick and Chloe Thomas stood in their way. Barnet could so easily have faltered at this stage. Zilesnick lost to Patrick Thomas 12-10 in the fifth and deciding game and then Tan just edged out Chloe Thomas 11-8 in the fifth. The match was decided by a contest between the two losers and Zilesnick secured that 3-0. Another close match followed against Solent Sharks in stage 4. Zilesnick beat Roger Hookey 12-10 in the fifth and Tan followed this up with an 11-8 in the fifth win against Mike Rhodes to set up a semi-final meeting with second seeds The Baldies. More exciting finishes ensued as Zilesnick beat Yasir Mauthoor 12-10 in the fourth and then Tan just edged out Fred Dove 14-12 in the fifth.

However, that was the end of the road for the gallant Barnet youngsters. A terrific final saw the Gloucestershire duo of Dave Harvey and Daniel Kolesnik, playing as Dan and Dave, win 2-1. Harvey beat Zilesnick 3-0 but Barnet responded as Tan beat Kolesnik in the fifth. It was another nail biter of a set that decided the final and eventually the spoils went to Dan Kolesnik as he beat Zilesnick 11-6 in the fifth.

Compared to Barnet, Dan and Dave had a far easier passage to the final. After winning their group they beat Blaenafon 2-0 in stage two. That gave them a bye through the next stage and into the quarter-finals where they had little trouble despatching Crusaders, Ben Larcombe and Patrick Hui, 2-0. The third seeds encounter more resistance against the top ranked team, Brighton, in the semi-final but even so the result was still 2-0. Harvey beat Jack Boult 3-1 and then Kolesnik saw of a spirited come back from Evan Sharp to win 11-2 in the fifth. Brighton lost again by 2-0 against The Baldies in the third-fourth play-off.

Of the Cippenham players, Solent Sharks, after losing out to Barnet in the quarter-final finished fifth, while David Hayes and Phil Clarkson were top of the middle eight in ninth place and Club Devils, Paul Elliott and Terry Boxall, were top of the bottom eight in seventeenth place.

Results:

1. Dan and Dave: Dave Harvey, Daniel Kolesnik

2. Barnet: Zak Zilesnick, Reece Tan

3. The Baldies: Yasir Mauthoor, Fred Dove

4. Brighton: Jack Boult, Evan Sharp