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Stamford and Rutland Table Tennis League stage their tournament day at Borderville Sports Centre




The honours were shared by many as most of the Stamford and Rutland League's teams were represented at their tournament day at Borderville Sports Centre.

The afternoon began with the Tier competitions.

Players with a 'win' average for the regular season of more than 50 percent were placed in Tier One while those with a lower average competed for the Tier Two trophy.

Dipak Kuchhadia and Aaron Shaheed during the Tier One final.
Dipak Kuchhadia and Aaron Shaheed during the Tier One final.

In the singles competitions, initial groups were seeded and, in both tiers, all the seeded players reached the semi-final stage.

In Tier One, Bourne A's Aaron Shaheed defeated Langtoft's Denise Jacobi 11-8, 11-5, 17-15 in the first semi-final, while the reigning champion from Uffington Archway, Dipak Kuchhadia, survived a scare from Langtoft's rapidly improving junior Chase Burgess.

Kuchhadia reached the final with a 12-14, 12-10, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7 success – and this wasn’t the only occasion the two would meet at the table during the afternoon.

The final was another close affair with both players wanting to attack when they could.

To applause, Shaheed dethroned Kuchhadia with a 6-11, 12-10, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5 win, but Kuchhadia would gain revenge in the group stages of the LJ Roll competition later.

In Tier Two, Braunston B's David Webb defeated Tallington Outsiders’ Andrew Hay 8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 and Tallington Bulls’ Mark Christou overcame the Outsiders’ Jeremy Hitcham 12-10, 5-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9.

Chase Burgess and Jothen Parker in the juniors’ competition.
Chase Burgess and Jothen Parker in the juniors’ competition.

The final was another five-setter, with Webb surviving a Christou comeback before winning 11-7, 11-5, 5-11, 7-11, 11-4.

The doubles competitions were round-robin, best-of-three-game events, with four pairs entering Tier One and five pairs competing in Tier Two.

The key match in Tier One was that between the pairing of Aaron Shaheed and Bourne B's Jothen Parker and that of Dipak Kuchhadia and Tallington's Nick McDowall.

Shaheed and Parker won it 13-11, 10-12, 13-11 and, with both pairs winning their other two matches, the Bourne duo were announced as winners.

In Tier Two, the Tallington Bulls pairing of junior Joshua Ditcher and super-veteran Richard Henry managed to win their four matches, with three requiring the third end.

Their key match was that against Andrew Hay and Jeremy Hitcham which they won 11-9, 7-11, 11-7. The Tallington Outsiders’ pairing were runners-up.

Dipak Kuchhadia and Aaron Shaheed before the Tier One final.
Dipak Kuchhadia and Aaron Shaheed before the Tier One final.

Before the LJ Roll handicap competition, the juniors played another best-of-three, round-robin competition and Chase Burgess was the winner with Jothen Parker runner-up by virtue of his 11-8, 7-11, 11-8 win over Joshua Ditcher.

The LJ Roll competition has all players given a handicap based on their season's average and the matches are single games up to 41, with players beginning on their handicap score.

After the group matches were completed, the quarter-finals were drawn from the six group winners and two best runners-up.

Mark Christou, left, and David Webb before the Tier Two final.
Mark Christou, left, and David Webb before the Tier Two final.

In the semi-finals, Dipak Kuchhadia (off a handicap of three, and one of the best runners-up from the group stages) defeated Nick McDowall (20) 41-33, and Chase Burgess (14) beat Braunston B's David Smart (30) 41-36.

The final was played as players from other sports clubs were arriving for their sessions in the centre and a number were interested and impressed by the match they witnessed.

Kuchhadia clawed back the deficit and led 40-36 before Burgess won four points to level up at 40-40.

Aaron Shaheed and Denise Jacobi during their Tier One semi-final.
Aaron Shaheed and Denise Jacobi during their Tier One semi-final.

The next point was sudden death, therefore, and Kuchhadia produced one more fine service to secure the win.

This was his third successive success in the tournament – an extraordinary achievement given the variety of styles and standards he would have faced over these three years.

The league would like to thank Borderville for hosting the tournaments, all the players who competed on the day, and Steve Williams’ Archway Club for providing the match balls.



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