The final of the Basildon Table Tennis League Handicap Cup took place on Thursday 10 April, at the Lee Chapel South Community Centre. Two Basildon TTC teams battled it out as the reigning champions Basildon A took on Basildon F.
Basildon A came into the final in the unfortunate position of being without their star man Liam Squirrell, due to a prior commitment. Things went from bad to worse for the A team when one of their players pulled out a couple of hours before the match! The F team had no such troubles, as they had the whole squad come along. Those that weren’t playing were on showing their support in the crowd. After much deliberation with tournament organiser Peter Moxham and scrambling about to find a replacement, Basildon A managed to get a third player and the final was on.
The usual suspects of captain Ian Wall (A-1) and Eric Green (A) called up Rob Burton (D) from the B team to complete the A team squad. The F team selected captain Jeremy Giffin (H), Tony Molisso (J) and Kieran Wood (J).
The first match of the night saw Wall fly out of the gates and take the first game, with the loss of only 2 points. In the second game however, Molisso upped the aggression and with the aid of a few net cords, managed to take it 22-19. The deciding game turned out to be damp squib, as Molisso impressively took the opening 3 points and left Wall with no hope.
The second match saw Green take on Wood, with a 15-point deficit to overcome for Green. The match turned out to be fairly one-sided as Wood’s steady play saw him get the 6 points he needed in both games and get over the line.
The third match saw the A team hopeful of a victory, as Burton only had to catch up from a 0-10 start against Giffin. Burton’s consistent defensive style saw him pull the game back to 19-20, only for him to then dump his serve into the net! He dusted himself off however and played some excellent retrieving table tennis to take the match into a deciding game. Burton started well and looked like he was going to claw back the handicap, only for Giffin to up his game and hit some great attacking shots and take the match.
The fourth match saw Wall up against Wood. Again, Wood was too consistent and with some impressive winners thrown in for good measure, he took the match in straight games. The F team were now 4-0 up and one win away from victory. Could the A team pull off a miracle?
In the fifth game, the A team started their comeback when Burton fought valiantly to beat Molisso 2-1. The comeback was well and truly on when Green showed his usual grit and determination to beat Giffin in straight games. However, the seventh game saw the F team’s star man Kieran Wood take his third victory and the man-of-the-match award, as he comfortably saw off Burton 21-9, 21-15.
So with a final scoreline of 5-2, Basildon F were crowned the new Handicap Cup champions, much to the delight of their teammates and the supporters in the crowd hoping for an underdog victory.
