Local table tennis enthusiasts will have the annual closed championships to look forward to in a couple of weeks. On Tuesday night, 13 August, the open grade events will kick off at the Leichhardt Park playing centre. All players wishing to participate in the men’s and women’s singles competitions, including the second division event, need to nominate. On this night, the women’s singles will be played to finalization, while the knock-out draws for the men’s singles and the second division will be established based on the results of all-in round robins. These knock-out stages will be held the following Tuesday.
Veteran players will compete on Wednesday evening, 14 August, in the over-40 singles and doubles. The tournament will conclude on Tuesday, 20 August, with the open doubles event and the final stages of the men’s open and second division singles.
With the state tournament calendar quiet following the Q-Vets in Mackay just over a week ago, the Rocky Closed presents an opportunity for the city’s two representatives at the national veteran championships starting in Tasmania in mid-September. Monica Deeth and Warun Wilkinson both made the state squad for these nationals. Meanwhile, the city’s other two representatives at the state titles, Ann-Louise Stewart and Pam Clarke, were not available for selection. Given the form of these players at the Q-Vets, they are expected to perform prominently at the Rocky Closed.
In addition to these three, many regular participants in the weekly top-grade competition have been delivering strong performances. It will be interesting to see who emerges victorious in this annual event.
Erica Nolan has been playing strongly in fixtures and will add some interest in the women’s singles. Meanwhile, Nick Green and other younger players will be attempting to challenge the men’s singles favourites, including the consistently impressive Matt Pettett, Joel and Dane Coughlan, and Rayden Smith, who will occupy the top four seeded positions. After a slow start to the year, former state junior representative Green has been putting together solid plays this season. He recently pushed Dane Coughlan to five long sets, nearly securing an upset victory. In another singles clash, he narrowly lost 11-9 in the deciding fifth game against the tenacious Relly Pingol.
Several players in the second division fixture have also been achieving impressive results recently. Leo Lai has been near the top of the leaderboard with his for-and-against averages over the past few seasons. In his recent matches, he defeated Linda O’Sullivan three-nil and overcame the tricky defensive strategies of Geoffrey Geddes, with the last game decided by a deuce score line. Relevant newcomers to the sport and this fixture competition, Warun Wilkinson and Cooper Bulow, faced off in the last round. Young Bulow started strong, winning the first two games by narrow margins. However, Wilkinson regained his composure when the under-17 city representative appeared to falter, ultimately winning the next three games.
As always, fixture results can be viewed in their entirety at the following link: https://www.rockhamptontabletennis.com/fixtures-v2