News Season Starts Well For Guildford Table Tennis League Players

Published on: 23 Sep, 2019
Updated on: 23 Sep, 2019

Guildford Table Tennis League report by John Diggens

The Guildford Table Tennis League got off to a fine start in opening the new season.

Local players Sarah Horsnell and Julie Lawrence represented England in the Six Nations Veterans Competition held recently in Perth, Scotland.

Sarah Horsnell.

Sarah won a gold in the women’s 40s-plus singles event, a silver in the doubles and a bronze in the team event.

Julie Lawrence.

Julie won silvers in the 50s-plus team event and the doubles.

In other news, Trevor Free, who runs the Merrow Club coaching initiative, is fielding three sides in Division Four comprising players coming through the scheme.

It looks likely that former Guildford Men’s Singles Champion Steve Woodgate may return to competitive competition after a long period away from the game; it is believed with the Merrow Club in Division One.

British League Report for Godalming Table Tennis Club

Godalming Table Tennis Club, sponsored by Simply Let, had a brilliant start to their season in Division B2 of the Senior British League.

Represented by Adam Laws, Rob Pountney, Danielle Kelly and Charlie Cunningham, Godalming scored four wins out of four and sit atop the table.

Godalming Table Tennis Club players, from left, Charlie Cunningham Adam Laws Danielle Kelly and Rob Pountney

In their first match against Lillington, Adam and Rob won two each and then combined to win the doubles. Danielle added another singles match to make the score 6-3 against the team who would eventually win their remaining matches and end the weekend in second place in the table.

Godalming’s second match was against the highly fancied Wood Green, who had England number 95 Stephen Ward in their team. Godalming went 2-1 down but swiftly recovered to move 5-3 ahead.

Highlights were Adam’s 3-1 win over Ward, an impressive 3-0 doubles win by Adam and Rob, and a hard fought and vital 3-2 win for Danielle over Lee Holtham. Charlie finished the match with his first win of the weekend – a 3-2 victory over Holtham.

On the second day, Godalming faced Horsham Spinners 2 and again went 2-1 down. However, it was deja vu as Godalming went on a storming run of wins to take the match 6-3. For the first time this season, Danielle managed to win two out of two.

Godalming Simply Let’s last match was against Bromley (from the West Midlands). Adam and Rob again starred with two wins each and combined to win the doubles. Danielle and Charlie added one win each to make the match score 7-2.