By Allan Clarke
With entries being finalised today for this weekend’s Rockhampton Open Table Tennis Championships that are being staged this Saturday and Sunday players from Townsville and Mackay as well as clubs in the south, including a solid entry from Bundaberg it is obvious that local players will get plenty of opposition in their pet events over what will be a very busy program.
With the Queensland Open Championships at the Rum City on the first weekend of June and the national senior and junior titles in Sydney very early in July some of the people attending the Rocky Open will be looking for as many tough matches as possible whilst others just love playing in tournaments and do a lot of travelling.
The city’s leading contenders in the Bernie’s Pies men’s open singles and doubles draws including Matthew Pettett, Joel and Dane Coughlan and the very in-form Rayden Smith will all be hoping to advance through the draws and figure prominently against their opposition. Whilst still able to play in under-21 competitions former top juniors Matthew Steffen and Nick Green will also be out to impress.
The Bolsover Radiology women’s open singles and doubles as well the mixed open doubles also promise to provide spectators with an abundance of great table tennis. Leading local ladies including Kelsey Le Maistre, Ann-Louise Stewart and Erica Nolan will all be hoping for solid results across these three major events as well as visitors also wanting a share of the spoils. Mackay’s Emma Widdup and previous winner of the local open singles title in Susan McDonald (Bundaberg) will add some talent to the pool in a strong rollup of good quality female players at this carnival.
The Chauvel Industrial Services ratings events is the section that usually attracts the most entries and with people wanting to improve their tournament ratings very competitive clashes are always on show in the four sections that this year’s Rocky Open has included on the program. This ratings section, that actually sits under the open events, is where all players can enter events based on their tournament rating which is generated by a computer-based program according to performances. This section has both males and females taking part in the same competitions. Extremely good entries have been received for these draws and this can be expected as players of all ages line up to try to improve their standing on the national ranking list.
Players of varying ages will take to the courts to contest the Lawless-Pyne Electrical age events. With the veteran’s draws ranging from over-30 through to over-60 in ten-year increments some of the top-liners in the open events have been around long enough and are very competitive in this section that caters for masters of the sport. Making an appearance after many years absence from the Leichhardt Park playing centre will be former local and state representative in Les Juds who recently made a come-back via the Moreton Bay club and he partnering-up in doubles with another local-legend in Barry Hare. The youth and junior competitions cater for six age-groups from under-21 through to under-11 and while Rocky players will probably start in key positions in the upper divisions good entries in the lower age-groups, particularly from Bundaberg and Mackay, should provide plenty of interest for local competitors and onlookers.