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YOGI DOES IT FOR AYLESBURY
5/6/2009
Aylesbury recently played host to hard bat table tennis enthusiasts at the Elmhurst Community Centre on the anniversary of the tournament that was introduced last year. Entries were received from Didcot, Nuneaton, Leicester and Bicester as well as Thame and Aylesbury and included 2008's winner Andy Le Butt from Leicester. Using Hard Bats was a reminder to some of how they started in the sport, but to today's youngsters it served to show how much skill and ability is needed to succeed without the help of sponge and special bat rubbers that are available today.
In the early rounds local players found life difficult against Geoff and Richard Burton from Didcot, Sohail Caratella from Nuneaton and Andy Le Butt. Young Omar Echcharki enjoyed his early baptism into competitive table tennis, while stalwarts James Gibson and Ken Walton struggled to adapt to the different style of play. Chris Hawkes, Clive Westbury and Arun Jogi achieved better results, each qualifying for the quarter finals.
Chris came up against Geoff Burton, an acknowledged expert along with his brother Richard, in the art of hard bat play. Geoff moved easily into the semi finals where he met Andy Le Butt who Clive Westbury had fought hard against in his quarter final. In the other games, Arun Jogi sailed through against Bicester's Andy Crofts, but Sohail only succeeded against Richard Burton by one point in an attacking and thrilling encounter.
At semi final stage Andy Le Butt defended doggedly against Geoff's deadly hitting and won by two sets to one. Yogi, meanwhile, had to dig deep to resist Sohail's game plan winning a close match 12-10, 11-8.
Yogi, representing Aylesbury, played Andy in the final, trying to bring the title back home and prevent Andy being Hard Bat champion two years running. Losing the first set 11 ? 6, all looked lost, but Yogi found new attacking reserves and levelled the match with a win 11- 4 in the second set. In the decider neither player yielded any ground but Yogi continued to attack with relish and deservedly won 13-11 to be crowned Aylesbury's Hard Bat Champion 2009.
Finally, many thanks to David Ballard who did a fine job in organising the event.
Quarter Finals
Arun Jogi beat Andy Crofts 11-4,11-3
Sohail Caratella beat Richard Burton 11-7,8-11
Andy Le Butt beat Clive Westbury 11-8,11-6
Geoff Burton beat Chis Hawkes 11-3,11-2
Semi Finals
Arun Jogi beat Shail Caratella 12-10,11-8
Andy Le Butt beat Geff Burton 12-10,4-11,11-6
Final
Arun Jogi beat Andy Le Butt 6-11,11-4,13-11
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The Oxford Hard Bat Competition 2010
WINNER KARL BUSHELL
RUNNER UP TONY GORMAN(winner 2009)
- Plate Winner : Peter Hargreaves
- Plate runner up : John Birkin
Another great job by Yogi. An enjoyable event and it was good to see representatives from Forum but sad to see a low entry from ODTTA
LEICESTER 'S ANDY TAKES HARD BAT TROPHY
6/6/2008
Aylesbury's inaugural Hard Bat Table Tennis competition on 6 June attracted players from the Midlands as well as Oxfordshire. Staged at The Elmhurst Centre, the event was intended as a jog down memory lane to the days before the advent of sponge and sticky rubbers when durability was a major requirement as well as skill and judgement. It proved, however, to be a very competitive event.
Local stars Andrew Eggleton and Nick Cresswell sustained Aylesbury's challenge to Leicester's Andy Le Butt and Nuneaton 's Sohail Caratella. Nick played very patiently to outfox Arun Yogi from Bicester over 3 sets in his quarter final and provided stiff opposition for Sohail in the first semi final. Losing the first set 11 ? 3, he regrouped and prevented Sohail using his devastating backhand attack to take the second set 11 ? 7. The deciding set went point for point in fast rallies with Sohail taking it 12 ? 10.
Andrew Eggleton proved too strong for Bicester's Andy Crofts in his quarter final and took on the might of Andy Le Butt in the other semi final. Matching Andy point for point initially, Andrew eventually gave ground to Andy's accuracy and persistency losing out 11 ? 6, 11 ? 6.
We were set for a thrilling final but with Sohail's style of play it was never likely to last long. Andy maintained his fitness and proved what we all suspected, that he was the best exponent of the hard bat on the night, winning 11 ? 4, 11 ? 9.
Many thanks to the Organiser, David Ballard, for a very enjoyable evening of table tennis.
Quarter Finals
Sohail Caratella beat Roger Mott 11 ? 6, 11 ? 6
Andrew Eggleton beat Andy Crofts 11 ? 5, 11 ? 5
Nick Cresswell beat Arun Yogi 11 ? 6, 8 ? 11, 11 ? 9
Andy Le Butt beat Geoff Loder 11 ? 3, 11 ? 7
Semi Finals
Sohail Caratella beat Nick Cresswell 11 ? 3, - 11, 12 ? 10
Andy Le Butt beat Andrew Eggleton 11 ? 6, 11 ? 6
Final
Andy Le Butt beat Sohail Caratella 11 ? 4, 11 - 6
Dave Ballard Presents the trophy to Andy Le Butt