Ryedale | Archive | 2003 | March | 27
From the Gazette & Herald, first published Thursday 27th Mar 2003.
AFTER last year's successful inaugural Ryedale Junior Closed Tournament, the event was repeated this year, this time with 38 youngsters and ten parents entering the event at Norton College.
The morning events started with the boys 11 and under competition. After the group stages, seeded players Finn Needham and Edward Fambely progressed to the final of the main event, beating Thomas Thorp and Jack Moody respectively in the semi-finals.
Edward played well to take the title from his clubmate, Finn. Adam Ridley and Daniel Leogue met in the plate final, with Adam taking the title. Daniel played well to reach the final in his first year of playing table tennis.
The boys 14 and under event also started with groups. A total of 22 players entered including four seeds - two each from Helmsley and Malton and Norton coaching groups.
These were Mungo Arney (1), Joel Wright (2), Jimmy Tonkinson (3), and Finn Needham (4). Mungo and Joel played well to reach the final, with Mungo beating Jimmy in one semi-final and Joel beating Jack Moody in the other.
Mungo took the title thanks to his spinning serves and top-spin hitting. In an all-Norton College plate final, Michael Linsley beat Marcus Atkinson in a close match. In the semi-finals, Michael had beaten James Dempsey and Marcus had overcome Ryan Hood.
In the generations doubles - a junior playing doubles with a parent or grandparent - Peter Fambely and daughter Emma went down to Fin and Tom Needham in an all-Helmsley final.
The mixed juniors under-18 contest followed with the four seeds being Mungo Arney (1), Joel Wright (2), Jimmy Tonkinson (3) and Emily Glass (4).
Three of the seeds reached the semi-finals with Mungo taking out Jimmy and Joel beating the unexpected semi-finalist Emma Fambely. Mungo again had the upper hand over Joel to take the title. In an exciting plate final, Ryan Hood came back from 2-0 down to beat Charlie Allott.
Thanks were expressed to referee Cliff Edens; to table managers Peter Fambely, Tom Needham, Richard Brown, John Gascoyne, Joel Wright, Jimmy Tonkinson, Marcus Atkinson and David Chugg; to Gerald Cosens and Mark Smith at the control table; and to the ladies who supplied and helped with the refreshments.
Updated: 15:54 Wednesday, March 26, 2003
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