Tim Dyson claimed four titles in the Huddersfield Table Tennis Closed Championships held at Almondbury Sports Centre.
Late in the event Dyson was still involved in four competitions as he had to play a Handicap final, singles semi-final, doubles final and Over 40’s Singles final in quick succession.
He overcame the first hurdle by winning the Handicap Singles event, beating Rafal Aleksandrzak by 18 points .
The men’s singles had progressed with form, as the top four seeded players contested the semi-finals.
In the first semi final, No1 seed Darren Lindley beat fourth seed Tomasz Pietrzyk 11-7 14-12 11-7 to earn his place in the final.
This second semi-final saw Dyson (seeded 2) paired with Sean Ellis (seeded 3).
In the first game Ellis looked to be continuing his excellent league form, winning 11-8. The next three games went in favour of Dyson 11-1 11-7 11-4 to seal his place in the final.
In the intervening period, Dyson added two further titles to his name.
He paired up with clubmate Russell Senior to beat Geoff Dunne and Sean Ellis 11-4 11-5 11-4 to win the Men’s Doubles title.
Dyson also won the Over 40’s Singles title, beating his doubles partner 11-5 11-8 11-6.
Lindley had waited patiently for Dyson to complete his schedule, but it was now time for him to defend his Men’s Singles title.
The distraction did not appear to affect him as he won the first game 11-6. T
he next three games went in favour of Dyson 11-9, then Lindley 11-8 and Dyson 11-8 to level the match.
A deciding fifth game saw Lindley take a commanding lead 6-0 and 8-2, but Dyson clawed his way back to level the scores at 8-8.
Lindley looked to have the title in his grasp when leading 9-8, a ball appeared too long but then caught the edge of the table to give him two match points at 10-8.
Remarkably Dyson levelled the match then won the next two points to claim a memorable 11th title 12-10 in the final game.
Dyson said: “It’s nice to get my hand on the singles title again at the ripe old age of 51.”
While Dyson was prominent in the open age events, the youngsters from Deighton Leisure Centre are sure to be challenging for the top honours.
Jonathan Heslop displays an abundance of temperament and skill more akin to a veteran than a youngster.
Currently ranked at National Under 13 level, he continuously moved from table to table to compete in numerous events.
His efforts were rewarded with the Under 15s and Under 18s singles titles.
In each event he beat another promising Deighton youngster, Cameron Sandhu, winning 11-4 11-6 11-7 and 11-6 13-11 11-7, respectively.
His day was not yet completely over as he reached the final of the Band 1 singles.
Despite putting up a gallant effort, he lost 3-1 to a more experienced Daniel Adams.
The scores were 11-7 12-10 9-11 11-8 in favour of Adams to land him the title.
Sandhu did gain some consolation in winning the Band 2 singles, beating Ewelina Gorna 11-8 11-8 11-7.
The Band 3 Singles was contested by 2 New North Road Baptist Church players Ross Lander and Andy Brooke, with Brooke just edging out his club mate 12-10 6-11 11-7 11-9.
Geoff Dunne, Rafal Aleksandrzak and Ross Lander gained some consolation for their previous final defeats.
Geoff Dunne won the Over 60’s final, beating David Arnold 11-5 9-11 11-8 11-2.
Aleksandrzak, paired with Lander, beat Adams and Sandhu in the Mixed Ability Doubles final 11-7 9-11 11-7 11-8.
