The tournament itself was run on five groups of three teams, two players in each team, representing 6 Clubs. Each match the best of 5 sets. The winners of each group qualifying for the next stage with one wild card place for the best runner-up. And competition was fierce! There was no doubt everyone wanted to win. And the other surprising factor for table tennis the number of spectators! Many parents attending throughout the best part of 3 hours to fully support their children and their respective teams. And also taking turns to ‘supervise’ and support individual groups. Throughout the tournament was under the watchful eye of Referee Arthur Clark either direct or through the telescopic lens of his famous table tennis camera.

The holders started in style with Michael Wood putting in a commanding performance to outgun Alessandro Sidoli and Robert Hotchkiss of OC’s B. The OC’s team did however have their moment but needed the final doubles for a 3:2 win over Dacre & Stevie Pell of ECC B. Who in turn were also beaten by the holders to give the Boys Club team the top spot in the group and a place in the next round.

Group 2 featured 5 out of 6 players new to CLICK this year. And the stars here were brothers William & Tommy O’Donnell of ECC A who demolished both of their opponents Baddow Village B and Ingatestone Boys Club B with decisive 3:1 wins. Tommy featuring in two nail-biters. Beating the more experienced Lee Cranmer of Ingatestone at 11:9 in the fifth after giving him points on handicap and then exacting the same fate for Bradley Hudgell of Baddow in a very even ding-dong battle again at 11:9 in the fifth.

Group 3 was the domain of Excalibur Knights, Stewart Hiskey and Chris Butler. And with two decisive 3:1 wins they sailed through the group. But again the group featured 4 players new to CLICK this season. And Shaun Wallace playing his first ever CLICK match for ECC B made an immediate impression, taking the only game from Excalibur in their first encounter and then winning both of his singles against Baddow Village C to give his team a taste of success.

Group 4 featured the current leaders of CLICK, Baddow Village A in the form of Adam & Hannah Pitt (unrelated). But they certainly didn’t have things all their own way. Stretched to the limit in their opening game by Matthew Standen and Terry Withers of Danbury B before coming through in the doubles for a 3:2 win. But they were at their best in their second match demolishing a scratch team of Ben Steed and Craig Hiskey, playing under the banner of Ingatestone Boys Club C, 3:0 to take them through as group winners.

The final group saw some of the closest matches. With 5 out of the 6 players again new to CLICK. James Gatheral and Ben Bayley of Danbury A came out on top with a 3:1 win over OC’s A, Mat Porter and Peter Myall. And a very tight 3:2 win over Baddow Village D, Matthew Skeoch and Aled Upson. Indeed the Baddow D side might have been the unluckiest team of the night, losing both of their group matches by the narrowest 3:2 margin. Obviously they need to work on their doubles!

With the five group winners standing clear they duly take their places in the next round. For the one remaining place in the semi-final stage five teams shared 4 points each. And so it was out with the slide rule. All had won the same number of games but ECC B got the decision, having lost 1 less game than the other teams. If Baddow D were the unluckiest team, then OC’s must have been the unluckiest club. Both of their teams were amongst the five hunting for the final qualifying place with identical performances. But sadly both had lost one more game than ECC B. Leaving OC’s as the only club of the original six without a team in the semi-final stage. That was hard.

Overall it was a very good evening with excellent adult support played in the great environment of the Athletics Stadium. Now we look forward to the semi-final stage.

The final table below shows just how close it was. The top 5 qualified automatically, with ECC B taking the highest runner-up spot having lost least games of those teams on 4 points.