West of Scotland Table Tennis League

West of Scotland Table Tennis League
West Open 2009 & 2010

 >>West Open 2010 Report

West Open Day 1

The 2009 West of Scotland Open, Scotland’s premier tournament, took place on Saturday 31st January & Sunday 1st February. It attracted a high quality entry including the top ranked national players along with Welsh wizard and 5 times Men’s Singles champion – Ryan Jenkins and Chinese sensation Lei Shu. There were also squads from Ulster, Dublin and Wales.

Men’s Singles

Seven of the top seeds made it through to the quarter finals in the Men’s singles event, with Gerry Campbell being the only casualty.
 
Quarter Finals
Ryan Jenkins (Wales) beat Craig Hardie (Glasgow) 3-0
Gavin Rumgay (Perth) beat Sean Doherty (Glasgow) 3-1
Stewart Crawford (Falkirk) beat Niall Cameron (London) 3-0
Lei Shu (China) beat Craig Howieson (Edinburgh) 3-0
 
Semi Finals
The semi finals were action packed and watched by a large crowd.
 
Gavin Rumgay - Men's Runner UpThe first semi-final saw Ryan Jenkins up against Scotland number 1 Gavin Rumgay. Ryan raced to a lead in the first two sets only to see Gavin regain the lead and take each end. This was to be Gavin’s day and he was a worthy winner securing the match 3-1 to reach the final. With the title holder out we would have a new champion – but who would it be?Stewart Crawford - Semi Finalist
The second semi final brought Stewart Crawford up against Lei Shu. Stewart played some powerful shots, but Lei Shu was able to control them and then apply his own winning strategy, winning 3-0 to reach the final.
 
Final
So the scene was set for the 2009 Men’s singles final. Gavin started off well coping with Lei Shu’s topspins and they traded loop to loop rallies but Lei more often than not played that extra shot to win the point. In the last two ends Lei changed his serve to a very innocuous looking back hand serve – or what appeared innocuous! This gave Lei an advantage in his opening attack and with Gavin trying to cope with cramp Lei went on to secure a 4-1 win and the title.
 
Ladies Singles
Jenny Weiss - Ladies ChampionA high standard was set in the ladies event. Leading the ladies was defending champion Jenny Weiss, who had just won the Lothian’s Ladies title the week before.
 
There were plenty of shocks along the way in this competition, starting with Josie Bruce winning her group, beating Scottish number 2 Gillian Edwards, then beating former Scottish Champion Rebecca Russell, Josie’s run came to an end at the hand of Jenny losing 0-3.
 
Perhaps one of the best matches in this event was the quarter final between Jenny Weiss and Natasha Milliken. This was a battle of the left handers, and both players went all out attack, in the end Jenny used her experience to gain the upper hand winning the match 3-2.
 
In the final, a repeat of last year’s final, Jenny retained her title beating Amanda Mogey (Ulster) 4-0.
 
Mens Doubles
The men’s doubles was a very high standard, with top seeds Gavin Rumgay / Niall Cameron reaching the final with wins against Callum Main/ Callum Morgan, Gerry Campbell/ Stuart Fowler, Craig Hardie/ Sean Doherty.
 
In the other half of the draw, Stewart Crawford / Craig Howieson came through with wins against Scott Johnston/ Jonny Gregory, Richard Main/ Chris Main, Ryan Jenkins/ Patrick Thomas.
 
In the final Stewart and Craig won a five set thriller against Gavin and Niall.
 
Ladies Doubles
In the ladies doubles event Corinna Whitaker and Natasha Milliken reached the final with a good win against Amanda Mogey and Ashley Givan. In the other half of the draw Gillian Edwards and Elaine Forbes came through after a five set tussle with Jenny Weiss and Josie Bruce.
 
In the final Gillian and Elaine managed to get the better of their younger opponents, winning 3-1.
 
Ladies Band 1
This event provided a few surpise results; Stephanie McCallum secured Stephanie McCallum (Drumchapel)good wins against Maureen Moran and then against Scottish junior number 2 Lynda Flaws. Her run came to an end at the semi final stage losing to Charlotte Cairey 3-1.
Ashley Givan was also making good progress in the bottom half of the draw beating Sadie Edwards, then securing good wins against Josie Bruce and Rhian Williams.
 
In the final Charlotte held on to win 11-9 in the final set against Ashley.
 
Mens Band 1
 
This event produced plenty of exciting matches. Luc Leboutillar (Edinburgh) reached the final with victories over L.Oseni (Ireland) and Scott Johnston (Auchterarder).Chris Main (North Ayrshire)
 
In the bottom half of the draw Chris Main (Saltcoats) reached the final with wins against Blair Fowler (Falkirk), Andy McFadyen (Glasgow), and Alan McCarry (Ayr).
 
In the final, both players produced some tremendous rallies and as the clock struck 8pm Chris secured the win, 11-7 in the final set.