Interclub 2025

The penultimate matches of the first round were played on 5 June with some thrilling table tennis in both grades.

A Grade

Ken 8 bt Jason (Fast and Furious) 4

On paper it looked convincing but five matches went to a deciding game, with Ken's team winning all five. The fifth set in all of those matches were very close too. Ollie Phipps won his three singles but had to battle hard for his wins. In the second batch of singles, he beat Jason Kennedy 7-11, 9-11,11-5, 11-7, 12-10 in  a tremendous match , which could have gone either way. Jason was playing well and slightly mistimed a loop at 11-10 in the fifth. Ollie  took the first two sets  against Josh Sim but it wasn't over, as Josh as usual fought  back to take the next two, before losing 11-7 in the decider. Ken Thompsett worked hard for his five set wins over Jason and Zac Cowdrey. Rob Honour again showed his skills as he came away with two wins. In his last match, he beat  Zac by 11-9, 9-11, 5-11, 15-13,12-10 in a thrilling match, with Zac saving several match points with some sidespin loops. Josh won his two remaining singles with Jason being undefeated in doubles. The two teams clash again this Thursday in the A Grade final.

Slow and Sweet 7 bt Nathan 5

Matt Millar again showed his class with three singles wins and helped  his team-mates Billy Hebberd and Peter Welsh to doubles wins.  Nathan Cross played well against Matt and really took it to him in the first set,with some angled smashes. Graeme Jackson also went well against Matt, causing problems with his combination bat. Billy won a single and took Graeme to five sets. Peter played tenaciously against David Stephens, just losing out by 11-6,11-5, 10-12,9-11. 11-7. Nathan and Graeme won two singles each for their side.

B Grade

Warren 6 Matches (24 games) bt John 6 matches (21 games)

Dennis Burkhart had a great night picking up two singles wins and two doubles wins. He won a pivotal match against Gerry van Kuyk to get his side back in the match. Warren Haszard won a single and a double as did Olivia Earl.

John Diamanti  has hit a rich vein of form  and was again undefeated in singles  . Gerry backed him up with two wins while Ellie van Kuyk played steadily to win a doubles match with John.

Tommy 7 bt Supreya 5

Tommy Phipps, Yunfei Wei and Levi van Kuyk all won two singles for their side with the standout result being Levi's win over the well-performed Supreya Prasertsakda by 8-11-10-12, 11-3,11-4,16-14. Supreya was desperately close against Tommy, again just losing out by two points in the deciding set. Tommy played a five set match against Marion Wood with Marion pushing consistently in the deciding set to get home by 6-11, 11-7, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9. Marion won two singles on the night, losing her third single to Yunfei. Supreya beat Yunfei to get on the board.

Peter 9 bt Esteban 3

Stu Cordue, whose son John is one of the top players in the country, again played outstandingly to record three singles wins. Stu is playing his first season in Marlborough and has impressed with some really strong attacking shots. Peter Cowdrey had two wins as did the ever-improving Fletcher Phipps.  Esteban Martinez won two singles for his side  and lost a close setter to Stu in his third match. Esteban teamed with Cora Wilson for their team's third point.

Kylie 7 beat Ray (Ray Guns) 5

Kylie Hurren was at her best as she won her three singles including wins over  David Foley and Ray Zinsli, who have both been in good form this season. Lucy Thom and Barbara Burkhart won a single, with Barbara being unbeaten in doubles. David and Ray won two each for their side and combined for a doubles win in the last match of the night.

Points

A Grade 

Jason 50, Ken 48, Matt 35, Nathan 23

B Grade

Tommy 47, Esteban 43, Peter Cowdrey 43, Kylie 41, Supreya 38, John 37, Ray 33, Warren 30

A Grade

Fast and Furious 9  NDH 3

(Josh Sim 3, Zac Cowdrey 2)   (Nathan Cross 2 for NDH, H Speakman 1)

Slow and Sweet 6 (23 games)  ROK 6 (23 games)

(Matt Millar 3, Billy Hebberd 1, 2 doubles wins)    (Olly Phipps, 2, Chris Hood 2).Matt and Billy won the last doubles in straight sets to tie the match . After a points count back they won 428 points to 408.

B Grade

Tommy 7, Warren 5

(Tommy Phipps 2, Yunfei Wei 2, Cora Wilson 2)     (Warren Haszard 3, Peter Dillon 2 doubles wins and came close in two of his singles marches)

Kylie 8 John 4

(Kylie Hurren 2, Lucy Thom 2, 3-0 doubles)  (John Diamanti 3, Gerry van Kuyk 1)

Peter Cowdrey 8 Ray 4

(Peter Cowdrey 2, Stu Cordue 2, doubles 3-0)  (Ray Zinsli 2, David Foley 2). Peter beat David and lost to Ray. Stu beat Ray and lost to David.

Esteban 7 Supreya 5

(Esteban Martinez 3, Caitlin Exton 1 and 2 doubles)   (Supreya Prasertsakda 2, Marion Wood 2)

There was another exciting night of table tennis at Simcox Stadium last Thursday.

A Grade

ROK 10 beat NDH 2

The scoreline doesn't indicate how close this contest was. When most of the matches on the other tables had finished, which was around 10pm, this contest had just completed 6 matches, with ROK leading 5-1. Looking at it, it could have been 5-1 the other way around, it really was that tight. The first batch of singles matches saw Graeme Jackson beat David Stephens 11-6, 9-11, 8-11,11-8,11-5 with Ken Thompsett beating Harry Speakman 7-11,11-5, 11-9,7-11, 18-16 to give ROK a 2-0 lead. Nathan Cross beat Ollie Phipps 5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-13, 11-5 to get NDH on the board. Nathan later beat Ken and was a whisker away from getting a five set decision over Graeme. David came up from the B Grade in the second half of last season, and has impressed with some consistent attacking strokes.

Harry went very close in two of his singles and one of the impressive things about this junior's game is that he is always looking to play positively and not wait for the opponent to make a mistake.

Fast and Furious 7 beat Slow and Sweet 5

This was another consistent team effort from Jason Kennedy, Josh Sim and Zac Cowdrey as they each contributed two singles wins. Matt Millar was playing his first competitive match for a month and as usual showed no signs of rustiness as he won his three singles matches comfortably. He also combined with his team-mates Billy Hebberd and Peter Welsh for two doubles wins. Billy nearly got on the board in singles, just losing out to Jason by 9-11, 10-12, 11-9, 11-5, 11-3. Peter was pipped in a tight four setter by Zac in the last singles of the night.

B Grade

Supreya's Team 6 (25) beat Stu's Team 6 (24) (Peter Cowdrey didn't play)

Supreya continued her fine form this season with three wins, including an 11-4, 11-7, 9-11, 6-11, 14-12 win over the rapidly improving, Fletcher Phipps. Cora Wilson won a single and was undefeated in doubles. Marion Wood won a doubles match and took the well performed Stu Cordue to five sets. Fletcher matched Stu on two wins with Ali Pottinger winning a crucial singles.

Ray Guns 7 beat Warren's Team 5

Ray Zinsli won three singles for his side, showing the benefit of attending recent coaching sessions. David Foley was in good touch too, recording two wins and played a close match with Warren Haszard. These two players have had some great battles over the years. Warren came out on top in this one by 10-12, 6-11,11-7, 11-9, 11-7. Linda van Kuyk won a vital doubles match with David. Peter Dillon and Liv Earl won a single each to go with Warren's two wins. Warren combined with Liv for a doubles win.

Falcons beat Kylie's Team 8-4

Esteban Martinez, Dennis Burkhart and Caitlin Exton all won two singles for their side. Dennis beat Lucy Thom 11-4, 6-11, 12-10, 8-11,11-9 to give his side the seventh point. Caitlin carried on her form from the Marlborough Open several weeks ago with some solid play and won both her doubles to go with her singles wins. Kylie Hurren won her three singles and was most impressive in her last match against Esteban, with her trademark backhand drive winning points regularly. The fourth point came when Kylie combined with Lucy for a doubles win.

John's Team 7 beat Tommy's Team 5

John Diamanti led the way with three wins, including an 11-7, 13-15, 9-11, 11-8, 19-17 win over the well performed Tommy Phipps. Gerry van Kuyk also went well, picking up two singles wins and two doubles wins. He was pretty near to three wins, just losing out in a five setter to Tommy. Ellie van Kuyk won a vital doubles match with her grandfather. Tommy won his remaining two singles with Levi van Kuyk and Yunfei Wei also getting on the board.

Points after 3 rounds

A Grade

Jason 28, Ken 22, Matt 15, Nathan 13

Leading players (singles)

Ollie Phipps (Ken) won 9, played 9,  Graeme Jackson (Matt-fill in) 8/9, Nathan Cross (Nathan) 5/6, Jason Kennedy (Jason) 6/9, Josh Sim (Jason) 6/9, Zac Cowdrey (Jason) 5/9.

B Grade

Tommy 26, Esteban 23, Supreya 21. John 19, Kylie 19, Peter Cowdrey 19, Ray 16, Warren 13

Leading players (singles)

Tommy Phipps (Tommy) 9/9, Supreya Prasertsakda (Supreya) 8/9, Stu Cordue (Peter C) 8/9, Esteban Martinez (Esteban)  5/6, Fletcher Phipps (Peter C) 5/6, John Diamanti (John ) 7/9, David Foley (Ray) 7/9, Ray Zinsli (Ray) 6/9, Kylie Hurren (Kylie) 6/9, Warren Haszard (Warren) 6/9.