Since the move to Almondbury Sports Centre last April, the Huddersfield Table Tennis League’s Coaching and Development sessions have gone from strength to strength.
Every Wednesday evening up to 16 tables are in use with a mixture of coaching, under the guidance of Level Two Coach David Evans, practice involving all standards of players and purely social.
There is plenty of room for everybody and it is good to see the sport being enjoyed by such a wide age range – from eight to 70 is not unheard of on any given evening.
One ‘graduate’ of the coaching sessions is 12-year-old Jonathan Heslop who plays for Deighton Leisure Centre in the League.
He has already tasted success in Division One, winning all three against Kingsmith C.
Indeed, his only defeat so far this season came at the end of an epic encounter with Wilshaw Elm’s Barry Lockwood, finally going down 16-14 in the deciding fifth game.
He almost came a cropper in the same match against Steve Cook but, this time, showing maturity far beyond his years and holding his nerve to take the fifth game 14-12.
The overall match score was 5-5 and with no fewer than seven matches going to a decider, it was a late night for the highly talented trio which was made up by Marcus Matthews and Cameron Sandhu.
With several teams in the Third Division comprising at least two youngsters, the League is to encourage early starts for games involving school-age players – the trek across the area back to Deighton from Wilshaw meant a post-11.15 bedtime, which is too late if youngsters are to be encouraged to compete in League matches.
In Division One, Deighton’s Damien Galka has a 100% record after five matches but his side, playing without Tomas Pietrzyk, went down to a surprise 6-4 defeat to in-form Marsh Conservative A.
They however have the consolation of a narrow one-point lead at the top from Marsh and Woodfield Park A.
The Police side’s latest victory was over David Brown A, but it was not without a shock or two as Brown’s Jonathan Taylor claimed the worthy scalps of Nick Ryder and Keith Skarz and, combining with the talented Ewelina Gorna, to beat the same couple in doubles. Only David Wood went through the match undefeated.
Defending champions Wilshaw Ash have been hit by early-season injuries and absence of key players and it was an unfamiliar line-up of John Senior, Stefan Arak and Neil Crosland who beat Scissett WMC A 6-4. Arak turned in a top performance, winning all three, to confirm his continuing improvement.
Kingsmith A are also playing below strength each week due to illness and injury. However their star man Shaun Ellis has a 100% record with 12 out of 12 so far.
Disappointingly they could field only two players against clubmates Kingsmith C but, supported with a vital win by Steve Hanson, Ellis’s team scraped a 5-5 draw.
In Division Three, David Brown B are seemingly having early-season difficulties in turning out with a full side – twice already they have had only two, which is a pity for the ever-enthusiastic John Taylor (father of the aforementioned Jonathan) who is also having to contend with a change in venue for his side who, after over 40 years at Park Works, are now at Paddock Cricket and Bowling Club.
