Rocky Table Tennis Premiership to Be Decided This Week

Semi-finals night last Tuesday delivered some classic encounters, showcasing outstanding performances from players in the two remaining teams still vying for premiership honours at Rocky’s home of Table Tennis, Leichhardt Park. While those two teams battled it out for grand final spots, the remaining sides continued their fixtures to improve their positions on the ladder, producing plenty of entertaining clashes—a trend that will carry through into the final round this week.

In the headline semi-final, the minor premiers of Rayden Smith, Erica Nolan, Chris Leitner and Jeffrey Jordan edged out the fourth-placed squad of Judd Carr, Leo Lai, Pam Clarke and Oliver Wright with a six–four victory.

The other semi-final saw the second-placed team of Matthew Pettett, Monica Deeth, Linda O’Sullivan and Julien Wright defeat the third-placed combination of Dane Coughlan, Glen McDonald, Cooper Bulow and Helga Leitner, who was stepping in for the absent Patricia Green. McDonald was also sidelined, but his place was more than capably filled by the crafty Joel Gifford, whose tricky style added another dimension to the contest.

This week’s grand final promises to be a thrilling showdown, with Smith’s quartet set to face Pettett’s line-up. The format will follow the traditional two-player-per-section structure, with results from both sections aggregated to determine which team will ultimately claim the flag.

Although the semi-finals carried the weight of premiership pressure, some of the most intriguing encounters came from the minor matches as teams jostled for finishing positions.

Joe Clifton managed to snatch a set from the unorthodox Geoff Geddes before going down in four long games. He then engaged in a nail-biting battle with Hilton Kane, with both players trading points until Kane scraped home 15–13 in the decider. In the same fixture, Geddes held off a spirited challenge from Warun Wilkinson, clinching the fourth game 15–13 after three tight sets.

James O’Sullivan continued his resurgence after an earlier-season slump, proving too strong for both Nick Green and Ann-Louise Stewart in straight sets. He then paired with team-mate Jakob Baker to take a memorable doubles win, 9–11, 11–6, 16–14, 11–9. Baker also added a singles point with a four-game win over Stewart.