BATTS U-13 2*: Lusio is grandmaster after ‘chess match’ final – Table Tennis England

BATTS’ 2* Star Under-13 Open kicked off yesterday with our strongest ever line-up. With four in England’s top 10, three more in the top 20 and a further four in the top 30 we knew it would be an exciting tournament, and we were not disappointed.

The players must have been excited too, as all the expected 48 players arrived so quickly that we were even able to start 10 minutes before our scheduled time.

As usual we had a wonderfully diverse group of participants with players from 21 different clubs and 14 different provinces. I stand by the somewhat controversial decision taken earlier this year to limit clubs to a maximum of eight registrations. There is a huge advantage to be gained from competing against people from other clubs and areas.

During the morning group play, the tension rose as the matches drew closer and a number of newer players overcame their initial nerves, presenting their more experienced opponents with some unsettling moments.

We had some notable performances in the group matches where players achieved unexpected victories. Callum Campbell (Hampstead) won four of his five group matches to secure a place in Band 1. Three players defeated more experienced opponents to reach Band 2: Bradley Prosser (BATTS), Noah Clarke (Kingfisher) and Matthew Boa (Woodford Wells).

All three girls who participated performed well. Saskia Svoboda (Brighton) reached the semi-final of Band 2, while Sky Brafield (Rougham) and Hanusri Mohansundar (Britannia) met in the semi-final of Band 3. Hanusri won that and then defeated Samuel Hamilton (Ellenborough) in a very hard-fought final.

We hope that all three girls, and many others, will continue to participate in our mixed events and in our first girls-only open tournament, scheduled for July 5 next year.

The Band 2 final was again an extremely exciting encounter. The finalists, Elias Amin (Ellenborough) and Kenzo Boulton (Clissold), had met in the group stage. In the morning match, Kenzo had narrowly won in five sets, after Elias had taken the first two sets. The final started to look like an exact replica, with Elias winning the first two sets, Kenzo refusing to give up and taking the next two before building a big lead in the decider. But Elias had other ideas. He showed calm determination to regain the lead and win the decider. The final scores: 13-11, 11-9, 13-15, 9-11, 11-9.

The Band 1 final between the top two seeds was fascinating. We expected top-notch table tennis and were not disappointed. But there was something more to it than that, almost like a chess game.

Both finalists were extremely impressive. Li Hao Chen tried his best to figure out how to deal with Lusio’s highly skilled bat banter. There were moments when it looked like he might have found an answer, but Lusio managed to stay one step ahead and emerged as the grandmaster, winning 11-5, 11-8, 11-9. A well deserved winner of the £80 top prize.

We are now looking forward to our next junior open tournaments at BATTS. The Under-17s on Sunday 23rd November are almost full, and the Under-15s on Monday 29th December have only a few places left.

Thanks to our wonderful team of officials: Linda March, James Pettigrew and David Gatheral and to Neil Brierley for all his help and continuing to keep the club in such pristine condition.