Sport
22 August, 2024
TIC dominates the tables
THE Terang Table Tennis Association’s grand final between TIC and Rhino saw one of the closest finals contested for a long while.
No player won all their singles matches, which reflected the evenness of the competition.
TIC’s Colin Venn played Rhino’s John Rantall, with Venn winning 11-5, 12-10 and 11-6.
TIC’s Tyler Smith lost to Tony Young 8-11, 7-11 and 6-11.
TIC’s Ian Rochfort also lost to Vesha Chapagai 8-11, 6-11 and 5-11.
Doubles were also going to play a big part in deciding the outcome of the final.
The first doubles match was between Venn/Smith and Young/Chapagai.
TIC lost by the narrowest of margins in the fifth game 11-6, 5-11, 11-6, 8-11 and 9-11.
At this stage Rhino’s were 3-1 up leading into the next rotation of singles matches.
Venn lost to Chapagai in three very even games.
He got off to a good start and with some good hitting won each game 10-12, 7-11 and 9-11.
Smith accounted for Rantall in four games 11-5, 6-11, 11-0 and 11-4.
Rochfort had a good hit out against Young, however Young prevailed in straight games 6-11, 7-11 and 6-11.
Rhino’s were then 5-2 up and needed only one more win for the pennant.
The last doubles had Venn/Rochfort against Young/Rantall.
The TIC pair lost the first game, but fought back to win the next three, winning 7-11, 11-1, 11-5 and 11-8.
The last rotation of singles saw the players matched up against players on the same line.
Rochfort defeated Rantall 11-8, 11-6 and 11-3.
Smith played Chapagai while the doubles was being played.
At the conclusion of the doubles match he was two games down and trailing 7-6.
With his team still alive, it inspired him to lift and won his match in five games 8-11, 6-11, 13-11, 11-7 and 11-5.
The two number one players were left to play the deciding rubber for the grand final win.
Venn had only beaten Young once before (the first time they had met) and their matches were always close.
Venn won the first two 11-8 and 11-7, but the match turned sharply in the third game with Young winning 11-1.
The fourth game saw Venn get to 10-6 before losing 12-10.
At this stage he thought he had lost the final and went to shake hands with Young, however, there was still one game to go.
Again, Venn got out to a lead only to have Young level at nine-all, but this time he was able to serve out the match winning 11-9 - TIC announced premiers, winning 6-5.
It was a fitting finish to a great season where number twos could beat number ones.
Table tennis will start again in April 2025; Callum McSween has taken over as president.
