Davies-Stokes wins first Title after a disastrous start!At the weekend James Davies-Stokes aged 17 won his first Mens Singles title at the Ipswich & District Annual Table Tennis Championships played at Kesgrave Sports Centre, after losing the first set to Richard Hutchinson, the reigning champion, 11-0 !This was something the crowd had never witnessed before, a first set whitewash in any of the major finals dating back over the last twenty odd years.Richard Hutchinson playing some unreturnable topspin drives, left James still in the starting blocks, and whether nerves played a part in his first final is unknown. He soon settled and started to play consistent topspin forehand loops, which had earned him the number one seeding. Although Richards defensive chopping was causing James some problems, we won the next three tight sets to claim his first Ipswich Mens title.In the Ladies events Alice Flatman was in fine form, winning the Ladies Singles, Ladies Doubles with Clair Westlake and Mixed Doubles with Richard Hutchinson.One other noticeable performance of the weekend was from Henry Shaw, aged 12, who collected an armful of trophies. He won all three junior events, Cadet Singles, Junior Singles and Junior Doubles. Currently playing in the league’s lowest division, three, he claimed the division three title, but then went on to beat a number of players in the adult format from division two and division one and reach the Restricted Final, (open to all players below premier standard) a feat which had never been achieved in local league table tennis, when you consider the strengths of the higher divisions.Following on from his success on the Saturday, he then progressed to the last sixteen of the Mens singles, and beat the number seven seed Paul Broxton, before losing to Richard Hutchinson. His efforts over the weekend earned him the Bernie Studd Performance Award, for the best performance in the Championships. If Henry continues the progression he has made to date, he has the potential to challenge James Davies-Stokes over the coming years.
