GUILDFORD TABLE TENNIS PRESS REPORT WEEK ONE
This week saw the start of the Guildford Table Tennis season when the 84th year of competition got underway. Godalming are fielding no less than 15 teams this season- based at the Associations headquarters at Christ’s College in larch Avenue. Interesting ly they are still two short of the defunct Pegasus club with 17 teams from the 70’s. They start as massive favorites for the Premier as they field Men’s Singles Champion Federico Viterbo and coaching supremo Adam Laws from last year’s title winning team plus talented newcomer Andy Smith.
15 year old Danielle Kelly, the England ranked junior, sensationally defeated Senior ranked Mateusz Mikosz when representing Godalming.in the British League to score the best win of her career at 14-12 in the fifth.
Back to league matters and with the first results coming in the Fourth Division already looks rather unbalanced with three big winners Woking D, Godalming P and Bramley G dropping one set between them.
Division Two threw up a rather amazing result when newly promoted College Hill C took out Bramley C by 10-0. Mike Caudrey, Paul Taunton and Derek Hubbard were the hero’s on the night. But considering the high quality of the opposition, the old Cranleigh outfit now operating under Bramley colours a truly remarkable result.
In Division Three newly relegated Bramley E got off to a fine start with a 9-1 victory over Godalming K. Kim Farminer with sister Kerry East and Steve Palmer did the damage but the four five setters all went Bramley’s way.
Your correspondent witnessed a fascinating battle between two top teams in the Premier when Burymead A beat Merrow B 8-2. England ranked Julie Lawence, a newcomer to the league, scored a great maximum and will be a force to be reckoned with in the current campaign. Every match during the evening produced closely contested sets with a consequent late finish.