MGB Table Tennis Tournament Results
Last Sunday saw the 2008 Maccabi GB Table Tennis Championships take place after a break of one year however this didn't affect the numbers attending, this being the second largest ever turnout.
The sports hall sports located within the fabulous new Yavneh College, Borehamwood proved to be an ideal setting for this prestigious event where each of the ten tables, including a show court, were contained within it's own area surrounded by barriers as befits a sporting event of such national importance in the Jewish sporting calendar.
The competition started at 9am and throughout the day the venue was buzzing with excitement as the various groups stages took off and upwards of 200 people including spectators filled the hall.
This event tries to appeal to all standards and there are specific events to help cater for this but there is the serious side and none more so than the Men's event which is hotly contested by some of the best Jewish players in the country many of who are rated highly on the English Table Tennis Association's national ranking list.
Notable quarter final games saw sixth seed Keith Lesser give second seed Eli Baraty a scare by taking him to a fifth and final game while the number one seed, the relaxed Ashley Stokes ranked 50 in England, made his three straight sets victory over the competent fifth seed Raffi Johnen from Germany look more effortless that it probably was. In the semis there was an upset when third seed Dov Katz overcame the ever popular Baraty eight in the fifth in what was a first ever win for Katz over Baraty while Stokes continued his march to the final with a win over the frustrated forth seed Matt Spero thus setting up a challenge between him and Katz for the Men's title. As ever there were some good rallies and the legend that is otherwise known as Katz as always fought hard for every point but in the final analysis it was Stokes that was to prove too strong beating Katz 3 games to 0 taking the title for the first time in his initial year as a men's seed.
In the women's event the usual suspects of Sally Prowen and Jo Radivan met once again this time with Prowen gaining the title in the forth set and in the veterans final Ian Mablin played John Tendler in a gritty match and the closest final of the day where Mablin was 2 sets down before winning the next 3 to gain the title at 9 in the fifth.
The cadet and Junior event is an important one as this showcases the talent of the future and with the highly talented Zac Zilesnick missing it left the field more open than might otherwise have been the case. Thus the final of the cadet's event saw Guy Ben-Aroya beat Johnny Khedair who beat Alexander Lewis and Yoni Smith respectively in the semis and in the Junior Boy's semis it was Raphael Maron v Mark Rhodes and Ben-Aroya v Paul Erdunast where Marom and Ben-Aroya won their games to set up a final between them however it was Marom, who was also the eight seed in the mens, who gained a victory in the fifth and final game over cadet champion Ben-Aroya.
Special awards were handed out to Eli Baraty for his work in the field of coaching (The Milly Supperstein Cup) and to Guy Ben-Aroya for the most promising young jewish player of the year (The Yoram and Sylvia Katz Award).
Mel Davidson the Chairman of Maccabi GB Table Tennis said 'This event is run in the most professional way possible but we do not lose sight of the fact that it must also be an enjoyable day out for everyone both for the top players and more novice players and in this we succeed. It does have it's serious side with some coveted titles to be won although all attending should also see it as a good day out.
He continued 'We clearly could not make an event like this successful without the players and their families attending, however we also must not forget those who help to get it setup in the first place and to this end I would like to thank the committee for their help, in particular Tony Jacks who's assistance throughout was invaluable. I would also like to thank Jeremy Banks for his immensely valuable work in locating and negotiating the use of the hall. On the day we had a number of helpers who I would like to thank but in particular I am grateful to the tournament referees, Alan Shepherd, Barry Granger and Arthur Clarke. Also to Annette Marom and Christine Davidson for running the superb catering, Bribar Table Tennis for providing a stand selling Table Tennis equipment and lastly Jackie Jacks who filled in on the other important tasks on the day.
On a final note I am already looking forwards to next year's event which will be in the year of the 2009 Maccabiah and hope that we can get a venue booked earlier so as to give potential entrants more time to keep the day clear.
Mens Singles:
Semi-finals - Dov Katz beat Eli Baraty, 11-7, 11-8, 7-11, 5-11, 11-8
Dov's 1st ever competive victory against Eli!
Ashley Stokes beat Matt Spero - 3 sets to 1
Final- Ashley Stokes beat Dov Katz - 11-7, 12-10, 11-7
Womens Singles Final:
Sally Prowen beat Jo Radiven - 3 sets to 1
Mens Doubles Final:
Ashley Stokes/Rafi Marom beat Dov Katz/Matt Spero - 3 sets to 1
Mixed Doubles Final:
Dov Katz/Sally Prowen beat Ian Mablin/Jo Radiven - 3 sets to 0
8th victory for Dov and Sally in the event, a record!
Vetts Singles Final:
Ian Mablin beat John Tendler - 3 sets to 2
Banded Singles Final:
Darren Reece beat Dudi Dubiner - 3 sets to 0
Junior Boys Singles Final:
Rafi Marom beat Guy Ben-Aroya - 3 sets to 2
Junior Boys Doubles Final:
Guy Ben-Aroya/David Green beat Rafi Marom/Yoni Smith 3 sets to 0
Cadet Mixed Singles Final:
Guy Ben-Aroya beat Jonny Khedair 3 sets to 0
Winner of the Yoram and Sylvia Katz Award for the most promising young
Junior - Guy Ben-Aroya
Winner of the Milly Supperstein award for outstanding services to table
tennis - Eli Baraty