By Liam Emerton
For some Rockhampton table tennis players the tournament season has been fairly hectic and Matthew Pettett and Ann-Louise Stewart are the only people available to contest events at the annual Townsville Open Championships this weekend. The city’s leading players are currently focusing on the wind-up of the current fixture season in open grade. With only two weeks of competition remaining prior to the premierships being decided on the first past the post basis in both divisions the stage is set for an exciting finish in both fixtures.
In the top section the combination of Rayden Smith and Erica Nolan hold a two-point cushion over Joel Coughlan and Ann-Louise Stewart while another point off the pace now sees Matt Pettett and Glen Mc Donald in third spot after they managed to unseat Dane Coughlan and Relly Pingol who have been relegated to fourth place another notch behind. The remaining sides probably won’t bother the score-keeper this season but some solid performances in remaining matches could affect the upper-end of the leaderboard.
The second division is even more interesting because of a tie in the top spot as well as there being a bye that gains two points during the second round due to the fact that time available prevents a full round being staged. Pam Clarke and Leo Lai currently share the top place with the outfit consisting of Nolan Hao and Allan Clarke. Probably the most curious element to this competition is the fact that the two leaders are three points ahead of the combination of Nick Green and Linda O’Sullivan and in another tied-up situation Dave Hockings and young Judd Carr and Jakob Baker and Geoff Geddes are sharing fourth spot only another point off the pace. Lots of results could affect the leaderboard.
Impressive results in the last hit-out included Erica Nolan’s performance when pitted against James O’Sullivan in the top section. Nolan conjured a very good victory over five long sets after being behind two-zero. This pair always have epic battles and pretty much the same could be said when Nolan is pitted against her other opponent on the night in Gerard Watts. On this occasion this pair put in a blinder with Watts falling over the line 9-11, 17-15, 11-7, 6-11, 12-10.
Two of the players with better attacking styles in the second section faced off when left-handers Nick Green and Jakob Baker did battle. This time it was Bakers turn to post a win and he did so in straight sets by just not allowing his worthy opponent into the clash although as the contest unfolded Green won more points and lost the third at deuce. Linda O’Sullivan put a great win on Geoff Geddes in another battle that was decided three-zero. It’s tough for the females in this fixture to handle the tough game provided by Geddes with his extraordinary reach, unusual defensive plays and his ability to turn defence into attack virtually at the blink of an eye.
This season the results of the doubles ties in these two-person matches has again proved to be so important when the team scores are being tallied. With the doubles match gaining one point, the same as each singles bout, it’s so important for partners to establish their combinations early each season and then strive for consistency and hopefully plenty of victories. The number of these ties that go the full distance to the fifth deciding set is quite incredible as is the closeness of most results that are decided earlier in proceedings.