Griffith bounces back to win table tennis title

Press, 2 September 1986, Page 8

Griffith bounces back to win table tennis title

PA Wellington The top seed, Barry Griffiths, ended an unhappy three months on a high note by winning the men’s singles final at the Countrywide New Zealand table tennis championships in the Walter Nash Stadium, Wellington, yesterday.

Griffiths (Counties) stepped away from table tennis for two months early this year after his mother’s death. Coming back from that layoff was harder than he expected. “I got beaten by every man and his dog,” Griffiths, 22, said after downing second seed Peter Jackson 21-11, 1621, 21-14, 21-17. "This-is the only thing I’ve won since then.”

Griffiths, the 1985 champion, may have struggled in the lead-up to the nationals but he was well on top of his game when final time came around.

His serving and placement troubled the aggressive Jackson who rarely got the chance to use the smashing forehand which ended the hopes of Alan Pedley (Counties) in the semi-finals. Griffiths fought fire with

fire, attacking Jackson whenever an opening appeared. Jackson, who has never won a New Zealand singles title was very nervous and off his game early, giving Griffiths an instant return in the first set.

Jackson settled and took a hard fought second set That prompted the defending champion to slow the match. The change of tempo had proved unsettling, Jackson slipped from only 9-12 down to lose the third set by seven points. With all the ground work done Griffiths almost let his advantage slip away. Jackson’s initiative returned taking seven straight points to lead 14-11. The final point of that run of outs for Griffiths was a heartbreaking netcord. “Things went a bit wrong there, my nerves seemed to get a bit high at that stage,” Griffiths said, “I kept telling myself I’m doing the wrong thing, you’ve got to attack him, he’s so powerful.” jGriffiths did not rate his win as highly as last year’s whA he bad to beat the Australian champion. Cnristine Lee made it three

national titles in four years when she smashed aside Hutt Valley veteran Ann Gyongyos in straight sets, 21-11, 21-9, 21-9.

Gyongyos is a master of patience and the chop shot. She waits for her rivals to make mistakes. Lee (Auckland) expected to meet Gyongyos in the final and planned accordingly. “I had been practising on the backhand specially to play her,” she said.

Lee was not prepared to play the waiting game. When she saw the right ball she hit it, hard.

She often carefully lured Gyongyos on to the forehand then unleashed a smash on to her backhand. Those tactics often • found Gyongyos flatfooted, too far away to make a decent return.

Griffiths and Jackson combined to take the men’s doubles. Lee and Jenny Lawn (Otago) won the women's doubles comfortably. Jackson and Lee were surprisingly defeated in the mixed doubles by Griffiths and eighOanked English singles playejySarah Sandley (North Shoref