TABLE TENNIS - Varsity Match 2011
Saturday 19 February 2011
The 2011 Table Tennis Varsity Match saw exciting Varsity debuts as well
as the last matches of giants whose names have dominated proceedings
over the last few years. Both men's teams came through with decisive
victories, with the first team winning 10-0 for the second year in a
row. The women's team showed promise but a series of unlucky losses lead
to a narrow 4-6 defeat.
It was the end of an era, with past team captains Shaun Hall and Hamish
Yeung playing their final games wearing the Cambridge kit, but it was
also the ushering in of a new age of Table Tennis players, with
ex-England international Wing Yung Chan (Quarter-finalist of this years
BUCS individuals), Gengshi Chen and Takehiro Kojima winning all their
singles matches.
The women's team started off shakily against Oxford losing the first two
in straight sets, before Chen claimed one back. Ky Nguyen then played
the first of several epic matches to go the distance. It went all the
way to the wire, with both Nguyen and Jiexin Cao sharing several match
points before finally Cao pulled through. The audience did not have to
wait long because the next match went straight to five sets, with Vanda
Ho and Yudan Ren finding their form as a doubles pair and clinching the
last game 11-8. However, the second doubles did not go as successfully,
and the score was now 4-2. Cambridge tried valiantly to make a come back
but after Yudan fell just short of a surprise win against Yiqi Zhang,
the match was lost. Gengshi and Ky played especially well to win their
last two matches, bringing the final score to 4-6. The women's team
would like to thank Arti Krishna for coaching, unrelenting encouragement
and superb 'behind the barrier coaching'.
While the women's team were embroiled in their fascinating struggle, the
men's second team produced a strong performance and were just too much
for the Oxford team, eventually winning 7-3. The team made up of Ping
Kittipassorn, Rick Chen, Justin Drake and captained by Raphael Assier,
found their form and were very impressive indeed.Special mention has to
go to Kittipassorn who won all of his matches comfortably. The Oxford
team was unable to pose much of a threat, except from a much improved
Horatio Boedihardjo who played out of his skin to take two singles for
Oxford.
The thorough beating delivered by the Cambridge Men's first team to
Oxford's top four was a surprise to the Oxford team, who had publicly
predicted that they would be the ones on top. Flashes of brilliance were
displayed by the Oxford team, but the crushing defeat was no accident
but instead the result of weeks of preparation and training. For Hall
and Yeung, Varsity was far from a new experience, but for Chan and
Kojima, it was their first time on the big scene. The much-anticipated
thriller between Varsity number ones, Hall and Jingyu Sun turned out
disappointedly for Oxford and there were even spare points for some
exhibition play for the Cambridge crowd. After an on form and energetic
Wing outclassed Jingyu, Shaun repeated the carnage on Oxford number two,
Phil Hartley and there was nothing that Oxford could do in response.
Freshers Chan and Kojima had an excellent debut, winning all matches in
straight sets, and CUTTC rewrote the history books again (after winning
both men's matches 10-0 last year) by losing only two sets.
We say thank you and farewell to the players who have represented CUTTC
thus far and will no longer be with us next year but also a warm welcome
to the new players. CUTTC's success is set to continue as we send a team
to compete in the European Universities Championship in Madiera this
Summer. CUTTC leads in every all-time series record by a comfortable margin.
Men's 1st
Cambridge 10 : 0 Oxford
Men's 2nd
Cambridge 7 : 3 Oxford
Women's 1st
Cambridge 4 : 6 Oxford
