Arla Foods Junior Table Tennis championships

In the under 12s section Paul Sissons from the Llansilin Club retained his title with relative ease.

In the first round Paul had a win over Owen Tomlins before defeating Joe Griffiths in the semi-final. In the other half of the draw the competition was much closer. Max Penderleath had a close win over Leo Thomas, but then came up against Jonty Lewers (Morda Club). Lewers won the first set, Penderleath took the second, and Lewers the third, to set up a final with Sissons. The experience that Sissons has gained from his Oswestry League play was too much for Lewers, and Sissons took the title 11-5, 11-6.

Sissons success in the under 12s did not follow on to the under-14s, as he was beaten in the first round by Elliott Birch 10-12, 11-6, 11-5. Birch then moved through to the final with a win over Owen Tomlins. Harvey Greig, after a hard match with Jonty Lewers 14-12, 9-11, 11-5 had another win over Leo Thomas, but was then defeated by Joe Griffiths in a very entertaining match. Greig’s all-out attack and Griffiths stubborn defence finished 5-11, 11-9, 11-9. The final between Griffiths (Criftins Club) and Birch (Morda Club) went the way of Birch who found the defence of Griffiths was very much to his liking.

In the under 16s age group the numbers of entries was well down on last year. Alex Jones (Criftins) was playing well and despatched Zac Penderleath and Harvey Greig both in straight sets. In the other half of the draw Elliott Birch was again in command of the situation and only Kit Lewers put up any real resistance, but was still beaten in straight sets. The final went the way of Alex Jones, again his League experience was too much for Birch.

A Round Robin competition was played in the under 18s, as only four players had entered. Tim Mytton, Dylan Evans, Zac Penerleath and Alex Jones, all from Criftins club would do battle. Mytton and Evans were the favourites for the title. The matches were played out with both Mytton and Evans dropping very few points against the other players. Alex Jones defeated Penderleath to take third spot. The match between Evans and Mytton was the decider for the title. As expected it was close, with Mytton coming out on top 11-9, 11-9.

The Doubles, (drawn partners), saw some of the closest matches of the night. Tim Mytton and Harvey Greig looked to be a formidable partnership and took their first match over Paul Sissons and Jonty Lewers 11-3, 10-12, 11-4.

Alex Jones and Joe Griffiths were there next match. Mytton and Greig winning 11-8, 12-10 to reach the final. Earlier Jones and Griffiths had beaten the brother partnership of Zac and Max Plenderleath13-15,11-8, 14-12 in a match which could have gone to either paring, with both sets of players having had match points. In the other half of the draw Dylan Evans and Kit Lewers were having no easier time winning 11-7, 8-11, 11-8 in the first round over Jones and Thomas. Lewers and Evans semi-final was again close winning in three sets over Birch and Tomlins.

The final was Mytton and Greig v Evans and Kit Lewers, The first set went to Mytton and Greig 12-10. With the change in the second set, Greig found great difficulty in returning Evans defensive shots, Evans and Lewers taking the set 14-12. One set each, the battle continued and Mytton and Greig took an early lead which was pulled back by Lewers and Evans. A couple of attacking shots by Mytton then took it the way of Mytton and Greig, and they rounded of the final set 11-9.