Congratulations go to brother and sister Gabriela and Adam Koszyk. Both won their respective age categories at the Northants Cadet & Junior Invitational Tournament played at Westfield Table Tennis Club on Friday 2nd September 2022.
In the Junior Girls event, Gabriela won all her groups matches, to ease into the semi-final, which she also won 3-0. In the other girls group Swati Jethwa did likewise. This setup a final between the two (who are also good friends, and are closely matched in terms of ability). The match inevitably went to five ends, and in the final end Swati held the upper hand at 5-3, but Gabriela came back with some good play to take a run of 6 points and lead 9-5. Swati then had a run of points to make it deuce in the final end! But Gabriela held her nerve to take the next two points and become Junior Girls champion. It was a good match, played in the right spirit, and enjoyed by those in attendance.
Left to Right: Gabriela Koszyk, Swati Jethwa
In the Cadet Boys event, Adam Koszyk met Prithvi Menon in the final. Both had cruised through their group matches, justifying their top seedings. In another close contest, the boys played some excellent table tennis, and the match was always going to be a close affair. So, another final goes to five ends. As with the Girls final, there was little between the players at the change of ends, but a run of points from Adam put him in the box seat at 10-6, which he duly converted to 11-6 and take the title.
Left to Right: Adam Koszyk, Prithvi Menon.
Special mention should also go to the following players, who performed well on the night, and have showed real progress in recent month. Bart Koszyk, Tor Westley, Shivam Gpoal and Darsh Gopal. Keep up the good work.
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Kevin Bird, Westfield TTC
The cadet team of Ben Aldridge, Adam Koszyk and Shivam Gopal started the final weekend in a strong position, 5 points behind the leaders Knighton Park, so all to play for.
We set off at a great pace with a 6-0 win in first match against Chandlers. The next match was against West Bridgeford, another 6-0 win with only one game going beyond 3 ends. Nottingham was the next opponent - proving slightly more challenge, but the players stepped up to the mark, winning 5-1 with Ben and Adam retaining their clean sheets. The final match was against Knighton Park,the team who started the day top. The boys played with great spirit with 4 of the matches going to 5 ends; Ben and Adam both lost very close games to the number one player, Faisal Mulla, and this time Shivam held his final game to 9 in the fifth, so keeping a clean sheet.
Despite this great set of results, we did not manage to catch Knighton Park and finished second, 2 points behind, in the Cadet League.
Well done to Ben, Adam and Shivam ,not only for the success, but the positive attitude and team work you have displayed. It has been a pleasure to coach you. Thanks must also go to their families support, with a special mention to Gabriela who assisted with the scoring sheets, umpiring and keeping us all on our toes.
Thanks
Ian
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On Saturday 5th March, Alex, Adam and Ben played in the fourth (and last) round of National Junior League, at Nishkam School, Birmingham.
The boys were in first place in Division 3, having had a successful Day 3. Another excellent performance was required if we were to keep Lillington in second place.
Round 1 was against Cheslyn Hay Tigers, and we ran out 5-1 winners. Cheslyn's stand-out player was Callum Randell. He beat Ben in 5 (having been 2-0 down), but Alex played a superb match to edge Callum out 12-10 in the deciding end. The other matches were won in three ends, with Adam untroubled.
Round 2 opponents were Birmingham 4. A really close match, which ended in a 3-3 draw. Ben's double was the highlight, especially the 15-13 fifth-end win against Roan Paul, whom he'd lost to in Day 3. For Birmingham, Jayden Baker showed good improvement to beat Adam and Alex in close games. Alex was unlucky to draw a blank.
Round 3 opponents were Colebrige C. Another very close match (with 4 five-set matches) ending in a 3-3 draw. Adam was unlucky not to bag a double, losing his second five-ender of the match 21-19! All players won one match, and the result could have gone either way, so a draw was probably fair on both teams.
In Round 4 we faced Birmingham 3. Ben was back to his best with a double, ably supported by Alex and Adam, bagging one win each for a much needed 4-2 win.
Our last round was against the giants of Lillington (and I mean giants. One of the players was 6 foot 4!). Lillington had had an excellent day, and were now a couple of points ahead of us. A 5-1 or 6-0 win was required to win the league. It was not to be as Lillington ran out 4-2 winners. Alex's 11-9 fifth-end win (yes, another five-ender) was the stand-out performance of this match. Well played Alex.
Finishing runners-up was a great achievement, and I'm proud of the players performances during the season. We've shown consistent improvement over the season, and the boys can pleased with their efforts.
A special mention to Gabriela, who came along to support the team, and help with umpiring and filling in score sheets. Certainly made my job easier!
I look forward to doing it again next season.
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Kevin Bird
Team Captain
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