Britannia Fun Sandpaper Competition Report – 13 December 2015
The second fun sandpaper event was held at Britannia Dome on the 13 December 2015, and
it didn’t disappoint, with everyone enjoying a great day using the Official World
Championship of Ping Pong sandpaper bats, with Andy Warner eventually coming out on
top to take his second Britannia Ping Pong title.
The twenty strong field were drawn live and split into three groups. The top four finishing
players would qualify for the Band A main knockout, with the other players qualifying for
the consolation Band B event.
Official World Championship of Ping Pong rules were adopted , the main differences to table
tennis being that matches were best of three, up to 15 points. Each player would receive an
option of one double point per match, and at 14-14, instead of deuce, there would simply
be a sudden death point.
Group Phase
Group A’s top seed, Andy Warner looked in trouble in his first match against Martin Tomes.
Martin came out hitting and took the first leg 15-10. However Andy then took control of the
match with consistent chopping and back hand attacks to eventually win the decider 15-6.
Andy went onto to top the group with 6 straight wins.
Ian Brown was having his first try with the sandpaper bats and had some fantastic tussles,
losing narrowly to Martin Tomes in three sets, and an incredibly tight match against David
Fiddeman which went all the way to the sudden death point in the third set. After a
gruelling final point rally Ian pipped Dave 15-14.
James Harris showed the ping pong bats suited his style of play and provided the biggest
upset of the group with a fine performance against Martin Tomes, winning 15 – 13 in the
third.
The final placings in the group were very tight with Ian Brown and Sean Gridley finishing
with 4 wins from 6 matches. Ian took second spot based upon his victory over Sean. The 4 th
position was incredibly close with Graham Mortimer, Dave Fiddeman and Martin Tomes all
winning 2 from 6 matches. Dave won on count back to take the final Band A slot.
Group B started with a cracking match against Andy Holmes and Paul Tracey. Both players
were defending and hitting and the crowd enjoyed watching some great rallies. Paul
managed to deliver more consistent hits when it mattered, edging out Andy 15-14, 15-13 for
a much deserved victory.
Jack Perkins is enjoying a real renaissance using the Ping Pong bats, and once again showed
top form beating Rex Manning 15-11 in the third. He then went on a to beat Andy Holmes,
Pete Wright, Rob Wood and Paul Tracey to secure second spot with 5 wins out of six.
Nigel Hodder was able to put his past hard bat experience to good use and adapted well to
the sandpaper surface to win all his matches and top the group.
Rex Manning showed he is no back number in the Ping Pong format with good wins over
Paul Tracey and Andy Holmes to take 3rd position in the group.
Paul Tracey carried on his good form with a close fought victory over Rob Wood 15-13 in the
third, and after he beat Pete Wright his overall 3 wins was enough to take fourth spot ahead
of Andy Holmes.
Group C’s games started with Andy Dosher against Mike Tracey. Mike made a great start
with a combination of defence and counter attacking and took the first leg 15-11. Andy
Dosher managed to raise his game, and consistency levels, to take the second and third
games to 10 and 5 respectively.
Rosemary Curtis and Karen Pengelly, played out another entertaining match. Karen made a
lightening start going 6-0 up, however Rosemary fought back and clinched the leg 15-13. In
the second leg it was Rosemary that made a better start and led all the way until Karen
fought back to 14-14. The sudden death point was crucial, with Rosemary taking it to win
the match.
Karen Pengelly played another fantastic match against Mike Tracey. Karen won the first leg
15-10, Mike fought back to take the second to set up a deciding leg. There was nothing
between them and at 14-14 it went to the sudden death point. In agonising style Karen
missed out again, with Mike winning the point to take the match.
Richard Hutchinson played as a guest in the group, with none of his games counting to the
overall group result, he did win all his matches including a comfortable two straight victory
against Andy Dosher. Andy Dosher then went on to win the rest of his games to top the
group.
Mike Tracey beat Rosemary Curtis to finish runner up in the group, while Rosemary was
placed third, and Karen Pengelly fourth.
Band B Consolation
The first Band B consolation semi final saw Pete Wright come through in a super match
against Martin Tomes. Pete took the first 15-12, Martin came back to take the second,
however Pete wasn’t to be denied taking the third 15-12.
In the second semi final there was huge surprise as James Harris showed his liking for the
Ping Pong bats when he came from one leg down to defeat Chris Reeves Croft 15-13 in the
third.
In the Band B final Pete Wright and James Harris had some long rallies with James pushing
and blocking Pete around the table, however Pete was up to the task and showed great
consistency to win 15-10, 15-8 and take the Band B event.
Pot Luck Doubles
There was some great fun in the pot luck doubles with many close games and plenty of
smiling and laughter around the court. The final ended up being between Richard
Hutchinson & Rob Wood against Andy Warner & Pete Wright. Hutchinson/Wood took the
first game comfortably and went into a quick lead in the second, however there was a
dramatic change around as Andy & Pete started playing some great stuff to take the final to
a decider. The last leg was nip and tuck, and it was Andy & Pete who showed the greater
consistency, combined with some trademark back hand smashes from Warner to win 15-13.
Band A Main Event Knockout
There were some great matches in the knockout phases, most notably between Jack Perkins
and Dave Fiddeman who fought out a tight battle, with Jack just coming out on top in the
third to make it through to the semi finals.
Ian Brown, improved throughout the day, and had a titanic match with Andy Dosher. Ian
took the first leg with some good defending, however Andy bounced back to take the
second leg. In an extremely close third set Ian looked like winning the match only for Andy
to rise to the occasion to close out the match.
Andy Warner then showed his liking for the sandpaper bats by comfortably defeating Jack
Perkins in the first semi final, and Andy Dosher likewise beat Nigel Hodder to make it to the
final.
The final was a great spectacle. Andy Dosher had grown in confidence all day and produced
some fine attacking play to take the first leg 15 - 10. However Andy Warner rose to the
occasion with some brilliant defensive play, combined with his awesome backhand hitting to
take the second leg 15 -10.
The final set could have gone either way, but Andy Warner’s superb defence was the
deciding factor, forcing Dosher into attacking errors and Warner won the final leg 15-8 to
take his second Ping Pong title.
Band A winner Andy Warner with Messrs Hutchinson and Dosher
Band B winner Peter Wright with runner up James Harris
Pot luck doubles winners Messrs Warner & Wright, with runners up Messrs Hutchinson & Wood