Cartwright puts final touches to fine season
Jamie Cartwright produced a superb display of attacking table tennis to overpower top defender Steve Horton in the Kidderminster league’s showcase final.
The young Bromley player closed out a tight third game for a 3-0 win over his team-mate to register his first ever open singles title at Aggborough Social Club.
This was the 77th staging of finals night and this time the finalists had to play semi-finals on the night: Horton made swift work of a surprisingly below par Tom Savary in his semi final, while Cartwright kept his emotions in check to beat Martin Madkins.
With Jason Thompson not defending his title this year, there was all to play for. Cartwright, renowned for his fast ‘serve and kill’ style, faced the prospect of much longer rallies against a doughty defender like Horton.
The younger player started well and attacked consistently but it was his well-disguised drop shots that appeared to cause Horton the most problems during the match.
Cartwright’s win rounded off a memorable season for him as his team won the league title and he also took the award for ‘most wins’ in division one. He then teamed up with Horton for a fairly routine open doubles final victory over Madkins and Steve Hammond on the night.
The handicap singles saw Lewis Plant overcome Dylan Griffiths, who was giving him a two and a half point start.
The closest match of the evening saw Nick Page win a nail-biter over Trevor Davies in the final of the Restricted Singles, for players outside division one. The game went right to the wire with each player having their chances before Page triumphed 3-2.
Horton may have lost the open singles but he did not leave empty-handed on the night. The Bromley player was presented with silverware for the Veteran and Super Veteran singles titles as well as the Hard Bat trophy. He also won the veteran doubles, along with Dave Rogers.
The league one winners were once again Bromley A, 24 points ahead of the runners-up, Bromley Bulls. Bewdley Institute C had been on course to finish second but had points deducted following a complaint from another team for fielding a player signed after the cut-off point. Jamie Cartwright, of Bromley A, scored the most wins with 51 out of 54.
In division two, Cookley Roundheads were comfortable winners, with Wordsley A four points behind in second place. Most wins went to Eric Calver of Harvington with 40 out of 45.
Cookley Mavericks were the division three champions, with Bewdley Institute A in second spot. The players with most wins were Keith Duffey (45/51) of Institute A and Matt Stephens (45/54) from the Mavericks.
Bromley A beat Hanbury Hill to take the VP Cup and Cookley Colts won the Handicap Cup.
The junior singles was won by John Tait and he teamed up with Braedon Taylor to win the doubles too.
The presentations on the night were made by league stalwart Alastair Kerr who has been playing in the league for the best part of 45 years.
