Herefordshire County Table Tennis Championships set for Bromyard climax (From Hereford Times)

Herefordshire County Table Tennis Championships set for Bromyard climax

1:00pm Wednesday 20th March 2013 in Sport

THE four top seeds in the men’s singles won through to the semi-finals of the Herefordshire County Table Tennis Championships when the initial phase was held at Queen Elizabeth Sports Academy in Bromyard.

Title holder and number one seed Ola Andersson had straight game victories through but number two seed and multiple title-winner Mark Owen was taken all the way before beating Andy Castle in five sets.

The other seeds Michael Owens and Toby Eckley both had straight game wins through and Andersson and Owens and Eckley and Owen will open the finals night on Friday with their semi-finals.

Castle will be involved in the mixed doubles final which has turned into a real family battle during last Sunday’s event.

Andy is playing with his daughter Zoe while the other pair will be his sister, Margaret Shock, playing with his son, Jack.

Zoe will again be in action in the ladies’ singles, this time playing a newcomer to the Hereford scene, Liz Hallam.

Both players will also be on the table for the ladies doubles when Zoe and Shock will take on Hallam and Bromyard player, Gill Davies.

The Nimmie Hodges’ Trophy produced some close games with Steve Brown set to play Nigel Foreshew in the final.

The mens’ doubles seeds justified their positions with number one pair Ola Andersson and Toby Eckley through to face number two seeds Nigel Foreshew and Lincoln Franklin in the final.

Number one seed Foreshew will also be on the table for the restricted open singles. He won through to face Colin Dolding in the final.

The final of the singles for anyone not in the top 10 averages of the Hereford League was another success for the seeding panel with all four seeds, Franklin, Steve Knight, Paul Oatley and Steve Brown, reaching the semi finals. Franklin and Knight progressed through to the final.

The other final to be played, the Grade ‘B’ for Division Two players only, will be contested by Richard Cullis and Chris Bacon, who did not drop a single game on his way to the final.

Some of the events were played to a finish on Sunday.

The handicap doubles was won by Richard Cullis and Robert Gilligan, who beat Mark Farr and Huan Davies, while Zoe Castle collected the consolation singles by beating James Palmer.

In the Audrey Lawrence handicap singles final, Dolding played a junior player, Harry Hales who took the title by six points.

All of the remaining finals take place on Friday from 7.30pm at the the QE College as well as the junior, cadet and four veteran event finals – a total of 17 matches played on three tables. All spectators are welcome and admission is free.