Sunday the 28th of January 2018

Sunday's Premier domestic Suffolk event the Suffolk Senior County Closed Table Tennis Championships took place at Stowupland sports centre near Stowmarket with a high turn out of players from leagues and clubs from around the county including many of the top players.

With seven titles up for grabs the day started of with the handicap singles of one game and first to 31 and the restrcied singles which exluded players inside the top 10 best ranked county male players.

Top seed for the Restricted singles Charles Fulcher came through to the semi final's with relative ease in straight sets over Antonio Beckles and Rosemary Curtis 3-0, but found Shirish Basant (who had come through against Chris Rees Croft and Ian Brown) too consistant in the end with his serve and top spin going down 3-1, in the second half of the draw Britannia's Clair Westlake casued a seeding upset by taking out Sylvain Floury in the first round 11-8 in the fifth set! this half featured Nigel Howe who was making a return to these Championships and he ended the hopes of Nigel Page (3-0) and Matt Clarke (3-1) and then Luke Davies Stokes also 3-0 who had beaten Clair Westlake, In the final It was like turning the clock back for Nigel Howe as his experience allowed him to largely deal with the best Shirish Basant could throw at him as he ran out a 3-1 winner to lift the title again he last won back in the 1990 / 91 season!!

In the handicap singles clearly the handicaps were well worked out as in the first semi final Daniel Shelly and Kian Burgess went to a death point in their game with the latter getting home and in the other half Rosemary Curtis beat Sylvain Floury 31 - 29, in the final Curtis was given a 19 3 start and in another close encounter it was the Lowestoft lad Burgess that won 31- 29.

The Womans doubles was a round robin event in a group of three, with Clair Westlake and Rosemary Curtis beating Catherine Shaw and Hannah Page, then Isobel and Holly Mcgerty beat Shaw and Page, which meant the next game would decide the title, and the number one seeds Westlake and Curtis had to come from a set down to beat the Mcgerty sisters to take the title.

In the mens doubles Jake Collins and Daniel Shelly won in five sets over Paul Broxton and Andrew Dosher in the first semi final, while Kian Burgess and James Davies Stokes took out Richard Hutchinson and Charles Fulcher 3-0, the final went the way of Burgess and Davies Stokes by 3-1, the mixed doubles final was won by Clair Westlake and Jake Collins who beat Holy Mcgerty and Kian Burgess 3-0.

The womans singles featured two groups of three players in a round robin with the top two players going into the semi finals and in group one Clair Westlake beat both Rosemary Curtis and Catherine Shaw, Curtis accounted for Shaw, while in the other group Holly Mcgerty overcame sister Isobel as both girls beat Hannah Page to qualify for the semi finals, in the first Semi Westlake comfortable beat Isobel Mcgerty 3-0, while the other semi was a thriller as Curtis had to use all her experience against Holly Mcgerty winning 11-7 in the deciding set. The final was much the same, earlier in the group stage Clair Westlake had won 3-1 but it was a differernt game in the final and Rosematy Curtis at times used different tactics, this went to a deciding set and in a thrilling finish Westlake saved match points before Curtis won 13-11.

In the mens singles it was a case of if top seed Jake Collins could compete with such little match play, while youngesters like Kian Burgess, James Davies Stokes and Daniel Shelly were looking to make an impressions with the more expereinced players like Richard Hutchisnon, Paul Broxton and Andrew Dosher all in with a chance.

In the end it was a case of the lower seeded players giving the eventual winner more of a run for his money as number seven seed Paul Broxton led Kian Burgess 2-0 and 9-7 in their group encounter before going down, then in the quarter final stage former Champion Andrew Dosher came within a whisker of knocking out Burgess in one of the matches of the day as he led 4-0 and 8-6 in the deciding set before a relieved Burges got home 11-9. Jake Collins meanwhile had had a smooth ride to the quarters were he dispached Charles Fulcher 3-0, but found James Davies Stokes much tougher in their semi final and had to come from a game down to eventually take the fourth set at duece. Kiean Burgess faced former four time Champion Richard Hutchinson in their semi final and it was the youngster that was firing on all barrels with an 11-4 opening game, Hutchinson though responded winning the next game 11- 8 and led 8-4 in the third set before a second wind saw Burgess real of seven straight points to take the set and eventually win the fourth set.

The final was gripping and it looked as if it might be over quickly early on as Burgess won the first two sets both 11-5, Jake Collins started to get going in game three and just got home, and in the fourth set it was the Jake of old with power loops causing the youngster trouble as he won easily, however in the final set Burgess regained the upper hand and mantained a lead that he never relinquished, blocking Collins best shots and getting in with his own shots to deservidly take the title for the first time.

Kian Burgess made the final in all events he entered just missing out on the mixed doubles while Rosemary Curtis also had a great day winning the mixed and singles events and a runner up in the handicap singles

Scores from Stowupland Sports Centre

Men's singles

Quarter finals

Jake Collins beat Charles Fulcher 8 7 2

James Davies Stokes beat Daniel Shelly 9 6 7

Kian Burgess beat Andrew Dosher 7 -8 -10 8 9

Richard Hutchinson beat Ian Brown 4 7 6

Semi finals

Jake Collins beat James Davies Stokes -9 9 7 10

Kian Burgess beat Richard Hutchinson 4 -8 8 9

Final

Kian Burgess beat Jake Collins 5 5 -9 -3 7

Woman's singles

Semi finals

Clair West;ale beat Isobel Mcgerty 2 7 3

Rosemary Curtis beat Holly Mcgerty -9 8 -7 5 7

Final

Rosemary Curtis beat Clair Westlake 6 -9 8 -6 11

Restriced singles

Final

Nigel Howe beat Shirish Basant 6 -5 9 8

Handicap singles

Final

Kian Burgess beat Rosemary Curtis 31 - 29

Womans doubles

Final

Clair Westlake and Rosemary Curtis beat Holly / Isobel Mcgerty -5 3 4 5

Mixed doubles

Final

Clair Westlake and Jake Collins beat Holly Mcgerty and Kian Burgess 10 6 6

Mens doubles

Final

James Davies Stokes and Kian Burgess beat Jake Collins and Daniel Shelly -4 8 7 11