NEWS

Seven young Under19s (some under-15) from Sanford Link (Swindon TTL) andKennet Vale (Devizes TTL) met up in the scenic village of Lockeridge to play in adynamic ‘round robin’ competition, kindly hosted by Richard Ramsden at K.V.Hall.The table tennis on display was very competitive, played in good spirit and featuredsome marvellous attacking play, tricky spins and breathtaking rallies. Most matcheswere only decided in the 4 th or 5 th set, so all credit to the resilience of those whofinished outside the top 4.The eventual winner, Sam Tupman remained undefeated despite fierce 5-setcompetition from brother, Jack who finished 4 th . Sandwiched in between the SanfordLink siblings were Charles Lazarev (2 nd ) and Arthur Ramsden (3 rd ), both of KennetVale.Significantly, most of the players in yesterday’s competition also enjoyed competingin the Wiltshire County Closed Table Tennis tournament held last Sunday inWestbury, an event where several distinguished themselves, with Winner andRunner-up awards.Another similarity between the 2 sets of enthusiastic and talented youngsters: theSanford Link youngsters and some of those from Kennet Vale both won Division 2 intheir respective leagues ie Swindon TTL and Devizes TTL. Naturally, they’re allreally keen to further improve their skills and raise a few eyebrows amongst Division1 players next season! To that end, I don’t doubt that practice will continue acrossthe Summer.It is hoped and anticipated that a similar event can be organised in the comingmonths, either in Swindon or again in Lockeridge.Trevor Bannister