Local School's Championships Delivers High Energy and Epic Matches

The draws will be finalised this evening for the city’s annual open table tennis championships as intending participants had until Monday to submit their entries and organisers are very pleased with both the entries and the number of clubs from which players are supporting this carnival that will hit-off on Friday evening and conclude on Sunday afternoon at the Leichhardt Park playing centre on Campbell Street.

Intending participants both locally and from other clubs have been submitting their nominations and as of Monday very good numbers have been received from the Mackay and Bundaberg associations while Rocky’s finest will also be out to impress. Strong entries have also been received from clubs situated at Gold Coast, Brisbane (Downey Park), Sunshine Coast, Moreton Bay and Wynnum.

Local hopes in the Chauvel Industrial Services open and higher ratings events will include the club’s current men’s singles champion Matthew Pettett and his long-term sparring and practice partner Rayden Smith while the likes of Dane Coughlan, Nick Green, James O’Sullivan and the city’s latest state-rep Cooper Bulow will be out to impress. The women’s events promise plenty of close competition and locals Ann-Louise Stewart, Monica Deeth and Pam Clarke appear to lead the challenge against some very strong visitors.

The Bolsover Radiology age events that are available for sections between Under 11 through to Over 80 are in the process of being processed by the referring staff taking into account the strength of the entries. All of the players who compete in the open and ratings competitions usually take part in the draws relevant to their age qualifications.

Overall, this tournament is bound to be an excellent event with players from these associations taking on opposition in various events in the central part of the state thus providing participants with the opportunity to compete against people they may not have played against previously. As a state ranking event this carnival attracts higher points towards rankings that are considered by the state selectors when considering teams for state teams at national championships. 

The city’s association hosted another very successful regional play-offs for the Queensland School Championships for 2026 last Friday. In an action-packed program, a total of 41 teams matches comprising approximately 180 rubbers were staged across three divisions in just over six hours. As this was the last of the regional events, Table Tennis Queensland will now be able to organise the state finals of this competition that are being staged on Monday 14 September at South Pine Sports Centre at Brendale.

While there were plenty of performances that deserved medals the final outcomes meant that in the open division Height’s College won the gold via Judd Carr and Levi Sarin relegating Rockhampton State High School’s Cooper Bulow and Tom Tonkin to silver after a well-contested final where the victors won in a tie-break doubles encounter after the singles rounds were equal. Edlin Chamberlain and Wyatt Whittingham from Gladstone’s Faith Baptist Christian School competed strongly to win the bronze medal.

In the junior section Westyn Finch and Jackson Boon held out some bold challenges along the way to bring home the gold for Heights College while Faith Baptist’s JJ Pholi and Tyler McLachlan were awarded the silver medal and Height’s Benn Martin and Nat Ytterland picked up the bronze after coming within an ace of beating the gold medalists when they met their school-mates in the second-last round.

The hopes division that caters for the younger players had plenty of talent on show again this year and Peter Kininmonth and Rishi Roopireddy took home gold medals after winning a very good final over Stanley Shaji and Aviv Bhat of Heights College. The very competitive pair of Victor Thomasson and Isaiah Noonan of Faith Baptist Christian School were presented with the bronze medals after some very competitive efforts.