THE HALIFAX VETERANS
SUMMER OPEN 2003
The inaugural Halifax Summer Open Veterans Tournament took place over the weekend of the 16th and 17th August at Halifax Table Tennis Centre and whilst there were a number of home county successes the majority of the prize money was whisked away to Merseyside and the North East.
The Halifax event was quickly put together to replace the York Summer Veterans tournament which was postponed this year and was the brain child of tournament organiser Barry Snowden.
“When I found out that the York event was not taking place I was keen to try and put it on in Halifax. Firstly to try and make some money for the centre and secondly to show it off as it is a venue that the Halifax League are rightly proud of” said Snowden. This objective was accomplished with considerable success.
The event attracted 66 competitors from various parts of the country, with the men being divided into eight groups of seven and the ladies playing in two groups of five. The highest nationally ranked player in the men’s section was England No.10 Keith Williams from Liverpool, and it was the popular scouser who eventually emerged triumphant, in a thrilling final.
Saturday saw the Men’s groups played to a conclusion with the winner and runner-up in each group qualifying for the main event. Third and fourth placed competitors progressed through to a Class 1 singles with the remainder forming a Class 2 event, with the knockout phase taking place on the Sunday. The ladies events kicked off with a round-robin format for the doubles with the singles events following afterwards.
The Ladies doubles was confidently expected to be dominated by Yorkshire County players Helen Shields and Linda Simpson, but they came up against some stubborn resistance from fellow Yorkshire representative Sandra Rider and Oxfordshire’s Janet Brown, before scraping through 11-9 in the deciding game. The winners also had their work cut out before beating Sue Burgess of Cheshire and Durham’s Shirley Gelder 3-11 13-11 11-9 9-11 11-8. The duo eventually stamped their authority on the event when overcoming the eventual runners-up, Yorkshire’s Louvain Smith and Derbyshire’s Pat Thorley 8-11 11-9 11-7 11-8.
In the Men’s singles, top-seed Keith Williams remained undefeated but was made to work hard in a close five game encounter with fellow Lancastrian Keith Lee. Local stalwart Alan Dickinson was also put to the sword by Williams but performed consistently throughout the day and won his remaining five sets to take the runner-up berth and qualify for the main event.
The remaining top three seeds, Durham’s Tony Gelder , Northumbria’s Dave Godbold and Surrey’s Dave Harding, all progressed without dropping a set along with fifth seed Dave Robson, also of Durham.
Northumberland’s Malcolm Lusk’s late withdrawal opened the door somewhat in Group six, but Essex’s evergreen Fred Lockwood, firmly closed it behind him with an impressive unbeaten display. Brian Clements of Lancashire made sure that any shocks would be kept to a minimum when capturing Group seven, but Group eight was a close run thing. Three players all had five wins, as a spirited performance from local player Paul Stansfield almost saw him upset the applecart. With head-to-head confrontations unable to confirm any relevant order, the group eventually went to the top-seed in the section, Worcestershire’s Roy Norton by virtue of a superior games ratio. Lancashire’s Dave Newton secured the runner-up berth.
The knockout stages got underway on the Sunday and early seeded casualties included Clements and Norton who were beaten by William Russell of Lancashire and Dickinson respectively.
The first quarter-final almost produced a major shock as top-seed Williams struggled in vain to get to grips with Russell’s canny long-pimpled defensive combination style, nervously surviving two match points in the fourth game before eventually running out a decisive winner 11-1 in the decider.
Local hope Dickinson opened brightly against second-seed Gelder by taking the opening game 11-6, but some excellent forehand looping from his opponent soon had Dickinson in trouble and despite fighting in his usual flamboyant style, Dickinson was eventually overpowered 11-6 in the fourth. This set up a potentially explosive semi-final encounter with his county colleague Godbold, who comfortably brushed aside Lancashire’s Jeff Craighill 11-9 12-10 11-3.
The final quarter saw the departure of recent English-Closed Veterans Champion and No.3 seed Harding, who went down 11-5 8-11 11-9 11-5 to North-East player Robson, which left three North East players and a Merseysider in the last four.
Both semi-finals were to prove somewhat anti-climactic as Williams comfortably disposed of Robson 11-8 11-8 11-2, whilst the second semi saw Godbold get the better of his Durham team mate Gelder 11-4 11-7 11-9 to book his place in the final.
The final was a mouth watering clash between two players of equal ability with dynamic attacking style’s to match and it more than lived up to expectations. Both players threw caution to the wind and entertained the spectators to a thriller. Godbold got the better of the opening attacking exchanges to take the first 11-8, but the top-seed stormed back to win the next two 11-9 11-8. Things looked grim for Godbold when Williams got off to a flyer in the fourth but the gritty Godbold stuck to his guns and got the better of some fierce loop-to-loop exchanges to claw back his opponent and pinch the game 11-9.
This highly entertaining encounter was up for grabs at this point and a good start in the fifth looked of paramount importance to both players. Again it was Williams who was out of the blocks like a rocket before being once again reined in by his never say die opponent. Unfortunately for Godbold, Williams got an un-returnable net at 10-all and took immediate advantage by securing the next point and along with it the Championship. A truly marvellous final which featured some fantastic hitting on both wings, tremendous footwork from both players and all round table tennis skill of the highest order.
Three of the four Men’s singles semi-finalists featured in the Men’s doubles final and it was top seeds Gelder and Harding who finally took the honours, beating Williams and Godbold in a hard hitting four-game final, 14-12 9-11 11-5 11-7.
The Ladies singles turned out to be an all Yorkshire affair as Louvain Smith of Ripon reached centre stage by virtue of a three-game semi-final victory over Shirley Gelder 11-6 11-8 11-4. Smith was joined in the final by Sandra Rider of Leeds, who beat her doubles partner Janet Brown after a first game reversal 9-11 11-9 11-4 11-8.
The final proved to be an extremely close tussle and unexpectedly it was Smith who took home the winners cheque after a gutsy performance to defeat her higher ranked opponent in straight games, achieving her first-ever win against her higher ranked Yorkshire rival.
In the Ladies Class 1 event, Yorkshire’s Linda Simpson comfortably beat off a determined challenge from Pat Thorley to take the honours in straight games.
Enthusiastic local league player Geoff Dunne had a very successful weekend and put up the performance of his life to reach the final of the men’s class 1 event, before eventually succumbing to Lincolnshire’s Mike Thornley.
The remaining event was the men’s class 2 which was won by Dewsbury’s hard bat specialist Stuart Milnes, who had to call on all his recourses to beat off a determined effort from Glamorgan’s Barrie Russ.
The event was completed in good time with things running smoothly throughout, thanks to the excellent all-round team-effort from Barry Snowden, Brenda Hudson and tournament referee John Hardcastle. Local league treasurer Steve Hanson worked tirelessly on everybody’s behalf over the weekend to ensure all players were fed and watered in sumptuous style.
The tournament overall was a massive success and it is to be hoped that a similar event of this importance could be held in our town in the future.
Results
Men's Singles (Main Event)
Quarter Finals
K Williams (Lancs) bt W Russell (Lancs) 9-11 11-4 6-11 14-12 11-1
D Godbold (Nor) bt J Craighill (Lancs) 11-9 12-10 11-3.
D Robson (Dur) bt D Harding (Surrey) 11-5 8-11 11-9 11-5
T Gelder (Dur) bt A Dickinson (Yorks) 6-11 11-7 11-8 11-6
Williams bt Robson 11-8 11-8 11-2
Godbold bt Gelder 11-4 11-7 11-9
Final
Williams bt Godbold 8-11 11-9 11-8 11-9 12-10
Men's Doubles
Semi Finals
Harding/Gelder bt G Johnson (Yorkshire)/W Russell (Lancs) 11-6 11-4 9-11 11-6
Williams/Godbold bt D Newton (Lancs)/Craighill 11-5 11-7 11-8
Harding/Gelder bt Williams/Godbold 14-12 9-11 11-5 11-7
Ladies Singles
S Rider (Yorks) bt J Brown (Ox) 9-11 11-9 11-4 11-8
L Smith (Yorks) bt S Gelder (Dur) 11-6 11-8 11-4
L Smith beat S Rider 11-7 11-9 11-9
Ladies Singles Class 1
L Simpson (Yorks) beat P Thorley (Derby) 11-7 11-3 11-6
Men’s Singles Class 1
M Thornley (Lincs) bt G Dunne ( Yorks) 13-11 11-4 11-9
Men’s Singles Class 2
Final
S Milnes (Yorks) bt B Russ (Glam) 10-12 11-8 10-12 15-13 11-7
Men’s Main Event Semi-finalists (from left to right) David Robson, Tony Gelder, Keith Williams, Dave Godbold.