St Columba's School Under 11 Girls Team
South Cumbrian teams won six of the seven events at the county finals, held at the Barrow Table Tennis Centre, while there were three champions and three runners-up at the North West event.
The Cumbria finals saw Holy Family, Dane Ghyll and Storth in the under-11s girls qualifying group.
Dane Ghyll and Holy Family had a close match, which just swung in the former’s favour, 5-3.
Ife Bamigboye and Megan Turnough were unbeaten, while Jessica Livesey featured strongly for Holy Family with two wins.
Holy Family went down 6-2 against Storth, Livesey winning twice.
The decider between Dane Ghyll and Storth was as close as possible.
Two wins each for Caitlyn Walker and Bamigboye secured a draw for Dane Ghyll. The teams were level on countback, but Dane Ghyll won on points, 288-287.
This put them into a final group against Askam and St Columba’s.
Despite some close matches, and a win each for Walker and Bamigboye, Dane Ghyll were unable to prevent their opponents facing off in the final once more.
Wins from Mia Gwynne and Tyra Rushton put the Walney team 2-0 up, before Sophie Ridgway edged Jasmine Halcrow in a real tight affair, coming from two games behind to win for St Columba’s.
Another win for Gwynne made it 4-0, before Askam staged a fightback with wins from Katie Moncrief, Jasmine Halcrow and Robyn Halcrow.
The title was secured for St Columba’s when Rushton came to the table and beat Robyn Halcrow in three games.
In the under-11s boys event, the same two schools reached the final.
Askam knocked out last season’s champions, Holy Family, with a 6-2 win, Brandon Corrie and Luke Greenway winning for Holy Family.
Askam also defeated a St Columba’s B team by the same score, Columba’s winners Louis Rourke and Ryan Cotton.
Luke Reid won all four games played for Askam, with Keir Shepherd winning three from three, Lee Irving and James Wallis two each, and Lian Knowles one.
On the other table, St Columba’s were comfortable winners against Dane Ghyll and beat Storth 7-1. Dane Ghyll lost 5-3 against Storth, Luke Maddox, Aaron Solsby and Cameron Bell all winning.
St Columba’s top pairing of Harry Mellen and Ben O’Flynn started the final against Askam powerfully and recorded straight-game wins against Reid and Shepherd respectively. Morgan Gwynne added to the total with a four-game success against Wallis.
The next three games saw the match hanging in the balance.
Knowles gained Askam’s first win, beating Lashmar.
Then Reid and O’Flynn showed some top-quality table tennis. The St Columba’s player took a two-game lead, but the Askam number one showed his fighting qualities and drew level.
Only at the end of the decider did O’Flynn find enough to take the win.
Gwynne still needed to hold on against Shepherd, before Mellen confirmed St Columba’s as champions.
One of the most keenly-awaited finals came in the under-13s girls, where both St Bernard’s and Dowdales had reached the national finals last year.
Emily Bolton presented with Primary School International Table Tennis Championships trophy
Robyn Holden pulled one back for St Bernard’s against Ebony Miles after a close battle.
Despite this win, and Louise Keneally’s victory against Hannah Grimes, it was Dowdales who looked to have victory in sight when they led 4-2, Amy Moncrief and Miles both contributing.
But there were two further twists in the match.
Emily Cotton started a St Bernard’s revival by beating Moncrief.
In the final match, Grimes held a 2-1 lead after taking two deuce games. Katie Linton then suddenly found her touch and, with her own deuce-winning game took a 3-2 win.
This left the match score at 4-4, however, Dowdales took the Cumbria title with a superior games ratio of 16-12.
The rivalry continued in the under-13s boys event.
Both teams had comfortable victories against Dallam School to reach the final, where the strength in depth of St Bernard’s took them to the title.
Anton Vacca won both of his matches, while Ross Ahern beat Adam Brown and Brendan Trainor defeated Chris Lloyd.
St Bernard’s number one James Coward defeated Dowdales number two Jack Walker in four games.
Walker did make his mark with a straight games win over Ahern.
The star of the Dowdales team was number one Luke Walker, who finished undefeated with wins against Trainor and Coward, without dropping any games.
The final event of the Cumbria championships was the under-16s boys.
Here, St Bernard’s gained another win against Dowdales, 6-2.
Stefan Weatherburn and Dien Curtis won both their matches, while Tom Clements and Oliver Shipley both won one. The Dowdales wins came from Daniel Armstrong and Aaron Murray.
However, neither team could match the strength of the visitors from Dallam School, who only lost two matches in the three rubbers they played.
James Turner, of Millom, won one of those and proved the top Furness player, winning five of his six matches.
It was Cumbria girl power that led the way at the North West Finals against the best teams from Lancashire, Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Shropshire.
The under-13 girls teams from Dowdales and St Bernard’s gained wins against Sir Thomas Boteler High School, from Warrington, and, in very close matches, also defeated Bramhall High School.
The two teams then met for the second time this season, St Bernard’s reversing the result from the Cumbria finals to beat Dowdales.
Bolton was again the pick of the Dowdales players, while Holden showed she has returned to form with good attacking displays.
St Columba’s under-11s girls also enjoyed a good day.
They started their group with a draw against St Mary’s Preparatory School, Blundellsands.
Rushton and Gwynne both won their two matches, while Ridgway and Jenny Williams took games to give the Saints the count-back advantage.
They won their next match against Bradley Primary, from Nelson. Again Rushton and Gwynne won their matches, but there was a notable win for Williams, who is two years younger than her team-mates.
This put them into the semi-finals against Nevill Road, from Stockport, a team who always do well in the North West Finals.
Rushton and Gwynne continued their good form, however Neville Road led 4-3.
Williams played Rana Rofifah in the last match and, although she lost, she won two vital games, enough to take St Columba’s into the final on count-back.
Cumbria’s other representatives, Askam, also made progress from the group but were narrowly defeated by Bradley in the semi-finals.
This meant a replay for Bradley and St Columba’s, and in this match the school from Nelson played with more confidence.
Gwynne and Rushton remained unbeaten, but not before both players had dropped games against Aminah Daar.
Although Ridgway and Williams did not win their matches, they both won important games that meant the score was tied after count-back.
The organisers then had to calculate the total points won and St Columba’s took the title, having won four points more than their opponents.
St Bernard’s under-16s girls beat Lancashire representatives, Garstang, but then met a team they have been keen rivals with since their under-13s days, Bramhall High School.
On this occasion, the Stockport team took the win, but St Bernard’s still qualified for the regional heats.
Perhaps the most impressive performance of the day from a Cumbrian team came in the under-13s boys.
There were 10 teams from as far as Ludlow competing, with the two Cumbria representatives in different groups.
Dowdales finished as group runners-up and progressed to the semi-finals, while St Bernard’s eased through their group and gained impressive wins in both the semi-finals and final to beat Garstang and Calday Grange, West Kirby.
In the under-11s boys, the result went against the form book. Cumbria champions St Columba’s topped their group with victories against Buildwas Primary, from Shropshire, and Oldham Hulme Grammar School, O’Flynn winning all his games.
Askam also made good progress.
Although beaten by Garstang Community Primary, they won against St Mary’s Preparatory School to put them into a semi-final with St Columba’s.
This match was a completely different story to the county final.
Askam Village School Under 11 Boys Team
Askam raced into a 2-0 lead as Shepherd beat O’Flynn and Reid defeated Mellen.
Gwynne pulled a match back by beating Irvine, but the Askam lead was stretched with wins from Knowles and Reid, in a five-game battle against O’Flynn.
Saints rallied as both Mellen and Gwynne posted wins, but it was Irvine who won the decisive match against Lashmar in another gruelling five-game battle. The win meant Askam qualified for the regional heats despite losing for a second time against Garstang when the two met in the final.
CUMBRIA ROLL OF HONOUR
Under-19s Boys Champions (not played for): Barrow Sixth Form.
Under-16s Boys: Champions – Dallam School. Runners-up – St Bernard’s.
Under-16s Girls: Champions (Not played for) – St Bernard’s.
Under-13s Boys: Champions – St Bernard’s. Runners-up – Dowdales.
Under-13s Girls: Champions – Dowdales. Runners-up – St Bernard’s.
Under-11s Boys: Champions – St Columba’s. Runners-up – Askam.
Under-11s Girls: Champions – St Columba’s. Runners-up – Askam.
NORTH WEST ROLL OF HONOUR
Under-16s Girls: Runners-up – St Bernard’s.
Under-13s Boys: Champions – St Bernard’s.
Under-13s Girls: Champions – St Bernard’s. Runners-up – Dowdales.
Under-11s Boys: Runners-up – Askam.
Under-11s Girls: Champions – St Columba’s.
Ross Ahern
The 11-year-old Cumbria County Schools Championships under-11s title after taking the tournament by storm at Kirkby Stephen Grammar School and is a great prospect.
Ross progressed through the group stages and eventually overcame his opponent 3-0 in the final to lift the crown.
The Holy Family RC primary school pupil also progressed to the quarter-finals of the under-13s tournament where he was eventually beaten by older opposition.
This success comes at a time when Ross is pushing ever-upward in the sport, with the help of regular coaching sessions at Parkview Table Tennis Centre, often under the tutelage of former England coach Dennis Neale.
“He’s been playing for three years now,” said dad Steve.
“A mate asked him if he wanted to go along to training one night. One of the coaches thought he had potential and we’ve taken it from there.”
Ross Ahern being coached by former England coach and Barrow player Dennis Neale
Ross himself puts his initial enjoyment down to that first coach who came to teach him at school – Duncan Crawford.
“I really enjoy it and it was good when I started because Duncan is a very good coach,” he said.
“I like serving and hitting the ball, but I think I need to improve my backhand.
“I’ll be playing against older players next year so it will be harder.”
Following on from Ross’s success at the county event, he will represent Cumbria at the English Schools Championships in Doncaster this weekend.
Winning the tournament did not faze Ross and he left the celebrating to his parents. “He just had a laid back attitude towards winning,” said dad Steve.
“He doesn’t tend to get over excited, he leaves that to me and his mother!
“I texted all my mates and rang family members, I think I was more excited than Ross.”
Ross will continue playing the sport when he starts at St Bernard’s in September and the school already has a good pedigree within the sport.
The Dalton youngster was also invited to join the North of England under-11s set-up, following his recent success.
Ross Ahern playing a forehand drive
He trains at the table tennis centre at Parkview School where he receives top coaching from the likes of former England player and coach Neale.
As the sport looks to develop in the county, coaches have begun investing time in school sides and generating a buzz about the game as they look to encourage more youngsters to take up table tennis.
The sport has a strong following across the country and it is hoped the sport will progress in Furness.
“You don’t realise how much interest their is in the sport until you go to the national events,” added Steve.
“It’s more the southern counties that are keen on the sport but with all the distractions it’s not as popular around here.”
As Ross will be starting senior school next year he will not be able to defend his title and he will be making the step up in age groups to the under-13s and the under-16s.
The step up in age will be a new task for the youngster, but his dad is confident he will have a bright future in the game.
“It’ll obviously be a bit harder for him with the age difference,” he added.
“It just depends if he can play well on the day. We’re really proud of him.”
Article courtesy of the North West Evening Mail.
