Crunching in table tennis

Press, 13 June 1986, Page 14

Crunching in table tennis

The Avonside No. 1 team crunched Riccarton, 9-3, in the top-of-the-table clash in the A grade table tennis competition this week. This was in spite of a sterling effort by Riccarton's Ling Nan Ming who retained his unblemished singles record for the season. Although all three Avonside players forced him to three sets, he did not relent, and his close to the table “penholder” style had the ball back to his opponents very quickly, and cramped their shots to give him the edge. Both Karl Entwistle and Harry Redmond lost their unbeaten records, but showed good form in their narrow losses. Riccarton gained some solace as the club’s second team moved into third position, with a solid 7-4 win over Dallington. The veteran chopper, John Armstrong, again proved too steady and won all his matches. John Gagliardi did best for Dallington. In a close Avonside derby the second team beat the thirds by one match. Honours were spread, with Graham Rhind and Mike Warren winning twice for the victor, Steven Lockhart the same for the losing side. University had a more solid look with the top player, Michael Prisk, in good form. He was unbeaten on the night, but the well-balanced Linwood trio still scraped home, 6-5. In the A reserve grade several top players are vying for the Harry Sargent Memorial Trophy. Barry Radford and Warren Hantz have 15 wins each, Glenn Haszard 14, and Richard Tan and Jeff Mason 13 each.

Results:— Avonside I 8, Riccarton I 3 D. Entwistle beat G. Lamb, 24-22, 22-20; lost to Ling Nan Ming, 20-22, 21-16, 14-21; beat B. Stewart, 21-14, 21-19. H. Redmond beat Stewart, 21-14, 21-12; beat Lamb, 21-14, 2115; lost to Ling, 14-21, 21-19, 15-21. K. Entwistle lost to Ling, 19-21, 21-16, 19-21; beat Stewart, 21-15, 21-14; beat

Lamb, 21-19, 17-21, 21-15. Avonside won the doubles, 2-0. Avonside II 6, Avonside 111 5 G. .Rhind beat D. Mcßride, 21-16, 21-17; lost to S. Lockhart, 10-21, 18-21; beat S. Adamson, 21-17, 21-14; M. Warren lost to Adamson, 2117, 13-21, 14-21; beat McBride, 21-17, 21-17; beat Lockhart, 17-21, 21-12, 21-8. B. Thompson lost to Lockhart, 16-21, 21-14, 17-21; beat Adamson, 21-17, 16-21, 21-14; lost to Mcßride, 21-12, 13-21, 7The doubles were drawn, 11. Linwood 6, University 5 C. Tipper lost to M. Prisk, 8- 21-17; beat G. Harris, 2422, 21-16; beat J. G. Armstrong, 21-19, 21-16. N. Maynard beat Harris, 21-15, 13-21, 21-19; beat Armstrong, 20- 22-20, 21-18; lost to Prisk, 12-21, 10-21; P. de Boer beat Armstrong, 21-13, 21-10; lost to Prisk, 21-15, 15-21, 1721; beat Harris, 28-26, 24-22. University won the doubles, 2-0. Riccarton II 7, Dallington 4 B. Lockhart lost to J. Yang, 15-21, 11-21; lost to J. Gagliardi, 21-16, 12-21, 11-21; lost to R. Jongenburger, 17-21, 2119, 17-21. J. Armstrong beat Gagliardi, 21-12, 24-22; beat Jongenburger, 21-13, 18-21, 21- beat Yang, 21-19, 21-15. A. Alabaster beat Jongenburger, 21-18, 21-19; beat Yang, 21-15, 21-16; lost to Gagliardi, 21-23, 20-22. Riccarton won the doubles, 2-0. Points table (after the first round).— Avonside I 74, Riccarton I 64, Riccarton II 55, Linwood 50, Dallington 46, Avonside II 28, Avonside 111 25, University 22. Best singles record:— Ling Nan Ming, played 21, won 21; H. Redmond, played 18, won 17; K. Entwistle, played 18, won 17; J. Armstrong, played 18, won 16; J. Gagliardi, played 12, won 10; P. de Boer, played 21, won 15; D. Entwistle, played 21, won 14; G. Lamb, played 21, won 14; A. Alabaster, played 18, won 12; M. Prisk, played 12, won 8.