HALIFAX HARD BAT OPEN 2003
PRIESTLEY PROVES THE MASTER
Popular Bradford and Yorkshire
veteran representative player Richard Priestley came up trumps in the Pennine
Hard Bat Tournament that was played at the Halifax Table Tennis Centre on Sunday
29th June 2003.
The hot summer’s day probably had a huge bearing on the number of entries for the event, but the standard of play with the hard bats was of the highest calibre. Representative players from Bradford and Dewsbury joined local players in this novel event where all players used similar rackets provided by the Centre.
The entry was divided into three groups of four players with the top two players in each group qualifying for the main event proper and the others qualifying for a consolation singles. Bradford based Richard Priestley won Group A without dropping a set from runner-up Barry Snowden. The county pair did not have things all their own way as Snowden was made to work hard by Suma team-mate Paul Baker eventually triumphing 12-10 6-11 13-11 12-10, whist Priestley was taken to a fifth game by Alan Wright before running away with the decider to record an 11-6 11-13 11-2 9-11 11-1 victory.
Former Halifax League stalwart Stewart Milnes, a hard bat specialist was a surprise but welcome entrant to the event, and proved his talents had not diminished in the slightest as he beat Paul Stansfield in the opening set of Group B, 11-6 11-7 6-11 11-3. Milnes then went on to top the Group standings with comfortable victories over Harry Thompson and Steve Thomas and was joined by Stansfield in the main event, as his main rival for the Group won his remaining two sets, despite being pushed to five games by a spirited Thomas.
Group C had a decidedly tough look to it, with Halifax pairing Alan Dickinson
and Mark Whiteley alongside strong Bradford League representatives Steve
Kosmowsky and Paul McKreith. Dickinson and Kosmowsky were always the favourites
to occupy the first two places, and so it proved. After comfortably winning
their opening two sets, the pairing squared up to each other in a Group decider.
There was little to choose between the pair as Dickinson took the honours 11-0
in a thrilling and close-fought encounter.
The semi-final Group stages brought together the Halifax trio of Stansfield, Snowden and Dickinson, who have met regularly in the Closed Championships over the years but never in a competition format such as this. Snowden’s defending was exemplary, but it was the stronger attack of his former team-mates that proved the deciding factor in the long run, as he failed to get on the scoreboard, leaving Stansfield and Dickinson to fight it out for a final spot. This turned out to be something of an anti-climax as Dickinson adapted well to contain his friends attacking game and ran out a comfortable winner.
The second Group was a very closely run affair from the outset. An epic encounter saw Priestley scrape through his first set against Milnes 13-11 11-9 6-11 11-9 11-9. After a breather it was Milnes who was back on court to face Kosmowsky. Once again Milnes was involved in a five-game thriller, but once more he lost out in the deciding game as Kosmowsky triumphed 12-10 2-11 11-8 8-11 11-8. This set up a winner take all final set, and despite a slow start it was Priestley who beat off a spirited challenge from Kosmowsky to win 12-10 6-11 12-10, and progress to the final.
As is usually the case, the final failed to live up to expectations as Priestley easily took care of our Al in a rather surprisingly one-sided contest 11-9 11-8 11-5 to gain a thoroughly deserved win.
The conclusion of the consolation singles was played before the main event final and saw Harry Thompson’s defence proving too strong for Paul McKreith’s all out attacking style, clinching victory with a 11-7 11-9 9-11 11-9 success.
Despite the number of entrants the event proved a thoroughly enjoyable experience for all concerned and it is to be hoped that it will continue to gain support in the coming years.
Results
Group A
Barry Snowden lost to Richard Priestley 5-11 12-10 5-11 4-11
beat Alan Wright 11-5 11-7 11-8, beat Paul Baker 12-10 6-11 13-11 12-10.
Priestley beat Baker 11-9 11-4 11-5, beat Wright 11-6 11-13 11-2 9-11 11-1.
Wright beat Baker 11-7 11-3 11-7.
Group B
Paul Stansfield lost to Stewart Milnes 6-11 7-11 11-6 3-11
beat Harry Thompson 11-5 11-8 11-9, beat Steve Thomas 11-5 6-11 11-4 13-15 11-6.
Milnes beat Thomas 11-5 11-7 11-5, beat Thompson 11-7 12-10 11-3.
Group C
Alan Dickinson beat Mark Whiteley 11-4 11-7 11-4 beat Steve Kosmowsky 11-8 7-11 11-6 8-11 11-0, beat Paul McKreith 11-9 11-4 11-6.
Whiteley lost to McKreith 8-11 8-11 8-11, lost to Kosmowsky 7-11 6-11 7-11.
Second Phase
Group 1
Stansfield beat Snowden 11-4 10-12 12-10 13-11 lost to Dickinson 4-11 7-11 7-11.
Snowden lost to Dickinson 8-11 11-0 11-7 11-8.
Group 2
Milnes lost to Priestley 11-13 11-9 6-11 11-9 9-11, lost to Kosmowsky 10-12 11-2 8-11 11-8 8-11.
Priestley beat Kosmowsky 12-10 11-6 12-10.
Final
Priestley beat Dickinson 11-9 11-8 11-5
Consolation Final
Thompson beat McKreith 11-7 11-9 9-11 11-9.