The final round of the spring season for Benalla Table Tennis Club played out last week, and teams were all making a final push for their place in the semis, or at least to try and reduce other teams’ chances of getting into the final four.
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First up was game one for A-grade, where the Possums Phil Keast and Pauline “Chopper” Hooper came up against the Kookaburras John Bajada and Chris Seeley.
The Possums put up a fight early with Hooper taking out her singles game against Seeley.
But after Bajada cleaned up Keast and Bajada and Seeley won the doubles, there was only one more singles victory needed to get the Kookaburras over the line and Bajada accomplished this with ease, Kookaburras taking the points in the end.
Kookaburras finished sixth at the end of round 12 and the Possums ended up with the wooden spoon, finishing eighth on the ladder.
In game two for A-grade, the Plovers were looking to stay in finals contention and the Crocodiles were trying to stop them.
After a singles win and a win in the doubles as well, the Crocodiles Rob Erskine and Mark O’Louglin look set to upset the Plovers Steve McCallum and Christian Squires.
But it wasn’t to be, with the Plovers ratcheting up the pressure to great effect in the last two singles games, winning both and taking out the points 3-2.
In A-grade game three, ladder leaders the Owls Adrian Squires and Gareth Burnell took on the number five position holders — the Rosellas Matt Parkinson and Stephen Lane.
The Owls got off to a great start, with Squires beating Lane in two sets, Parkinson also going down in two sets and a close doubles match that went to three sets also going the Owls way and effectively sealing their spot on the ladder, while simultaneously preventing the Rosellas from enjoying a finals berth.
Of particular note this week was Burnell’s victory over Lane, a victory years in the making and giving the Owls a 5-0 victory over the Rosellas.
In A-grade game four, the Taipans Michelle Feldtmann and Stephen Mahon took on the Redbacks Paul Shea and Max O’Loughlin.
Both teams in finals contention, it was the Taipans who struck harder, winning every match on the night apart from one, with O’Loughlin managing to take some last minute glory over Mahon. Taipans won the evening 4-1.
In B-grade game one, the Gliders Logan Hyland and Sienna Bajada took on the Bullants John Spencer and Christine Nicholas.
It was a case of the bottom team taking on the top team, and the scoreboard reflected it this way, with every match going to the Gliders, cementing their place at the top of the ladder and winning the points 5-0.
In B-grade game two, the Frogs Xavier Rhodes and Patrick Cornell played the Emus Elliott McCallum and James Pepio.
The Emus remained flightless throughout the evening, as the Frogs hopped all over them in every game, taking out the points to seal their place at the top of the ladder, 5-0.
In B-grade game three, the Mozzies Brian Perry and Flynn Mosely played the Eagles John Chiswell and Bill Sharp. It was another one-sided affair with the Mozzies displaying loads of sting and winning every single match, doubles included.
The Mozzies ended up winning 5-0, but only just missed out on final contention, the Eagles snuck through in fourth place.
In B-grade game four, the Numbats Carol Perry and Lois Hermiston took on the Wombats Graeme Sharp and Chris Goode.
It wasn’t a whitewash, but still was a very one sided match up, the Wombats playing a far more consistent game and taking the points 4-1.
Wombats go through to the semis in third place, but it was the end of the line for the Numbats, who finished in seventh position.
C-grade game one saw the Hawks Val Kipping and Charmane Bourke take on the Crickets Helen Hyland and Peter Cruickshanks.
It was a night for the Crickets, who ended up running out 5-0 winning after this evening and ending up just one point shy of the Hawks on the ladder and both teams going through to the semi finals.
C-grade game two had the Magpies Mick Kelly and Ann Degan playing the Dingos Greg Cornell and Wesley Shea.
The Dingos were much stronger on the night, winning every match until the final of the night, which saw Kelly steal some last minute glory for the Magpies, however not enough to prevent a 4-1 loss.
The two teams both out of finals contention, Dingos finishing sixth and the Magpies finishing seventh.
C-grade game three had the Koalas Laurence and Andrew Donaldson playing the Doves Andrea Cathcart and Colin McFarlane.
In a close tussle, the teams were locked in a pretty even battle all night, with victories going to both teams evenly up until the final match of the night.
McFarlane and Laurence Donaldson battled it out for victory over three games with Laurence edging out McFarlane in the end and winning the match, giving the Koalas a 3-2 victory for the evening.
Doves still finished on top of the ladder with the Koalas coming in a close third.
Benalla Ensign