Heacham Table Tennis Club has end of season finals and presentation evening
On the evening itself, an exciting array of season ending finals were played out in front of a packed gallery.
The traditional Hard Bat Doubles final between Paul Waterman and Ian Rix against Mick Minns and Alexi Eon certainly kick-started proceedings in dramatic style with some scintillating doubles play, but it was Waterman and Rix who triumphed 3-1 (11-5, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9).
Ian Rix & Paul Waterman
This was followed by the Handicap Singles Final between Finlay Hewson (0) and Jeff Chung (6) playing the first to 41 points. Hewson soon chased down his handicap disadvantage but Chung rallied, before Hewson eventually prevailed 41-37.
Finlay Hewson
The Open Plate Final between Janice Howell, and Phil Ball was next up with Howell determined to retain her trophy. But Ball was certainly on the ball tonight, as he secured the title with a 3-1 (9-11, 11-5, 11-3, 11-2) win.
The flagship Open Final between the big guns of Hewson and Kevin Saunders concluded the evening’s finals. Hewson’s amazing spin serve almost always puts his opponents on the back foot immediately, but Saunders was wise to this and his counter-attack play certainly gave Hewson some problems. However, despite this and some entertaining rallies, the 23 year old Hewson simply proved too strong in the end, winning the final 3-0 (11-5, 11-9, 11-9) to retain his title.
The League itself, which has been running since September, was won by defending champions Counter Hitters (Ian Rix, Finlay Hewson, Tony Trayford, Paul Waterman and Tim Atkinson) whilst The Inlaws were worthy runners up (Alexi Eon, Paul Barrett, Stephen Jackson and Jim Race).
Alexi Eon, Paul Barrett, Stephen Jackson & Jim Race
The winners of the Malcolm Diggins Special Merit Award went to Mark Lees who epitomises what the club is about, spirit and having fun. The David Bourne Memorial ‘Player of the Season’ Award - in memory of the popular former player who sadly passed away - went to Tony ‘Tornado’ Trayford who made an unassuming yet vital contribution to the Counter Hitters title victory.
Organisers, Jim Race and Stephen Jackson, thanked all the players for keeping the league in the healthy position that it remains in today, as well as the buffet caterers, Janet Race and Eileen Needham. Melissa McDonald surprised Jim and Stephen, presenting them each with a token of appreciation on behalf of all the players at the end of the evening to rapturous applause.