No.2s Viren Rohira, Peter Retallick and Chris Hawking took home the title on Wednesday night. Photos: Matthew Kappos
After an impressive finals campaign, No.2s were crowned the number one side in the Echuca Table Tennis Association, winning all the important rubbers to log a comprehensive grand final victory and claim the Geoff Nesbitt trophy.
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The decider was played on Wednesday night at the Moama Sporting Complex and No.2s, the last finals qualifier, faced off with The Odd Bunch.
Things went to form early, with the higher-ranked players winning their early singles, although No.2s’ number two, Chris Hawking, pushed Odd Bunch’s top player Hank Doller to five games in the opening block.
The always hotly-contested doubles would be where No.2s would earn the advantage, surviving two nail-biters to wrest control of the game.
Their pairing of Hawking and Peter Retallick faced off with Doller and Ryan Smith in the first doubles, the match going the full five games.
Hawking and Retallick took the first comfortably 11-3, but The Odd Bunch pair would grab a 2-1 lead after 11-5, 11-8 wins in the next two.
The No.2s duo got back in form to level things 11-5 and would come from 7-4 down to claim the final game 11-9.
The Odd Bunch of Ryan Smith, Kate Schultz and Hank Doller had a strong campaign, but fell short in the decider.
The second doubles, which saw Hawking and Viren Rohira take on Doller and Kate Schultz, saw each side have a clear advantage at one end with a favourable hitting combination, resulting in the first fours games again split 2-2.
The fifth, where players play both combinations during the game, saw the No.2s pairing find the early advantage and surge home 11-6 in another 3-2 victory.
The two doubles wins put No.2s within one match of the title heading into the most evenly matched singles block.
With two tables playing at once, the now-champion would make no mistake, Rohira defeating Schultz in five games, and Hawking downing Smith in three to lock up the title 7-3, with the Retallick-Doller rubber not required.
It was a nervous lead up to the decider for No.2s, only making finals by game difference and surviving a glut of five-gamers to scrape through the semi-final round, but there were no such worries on the big stage.
The competition goes on a short break this Wednesday, with the club instead hosting a free hit-up night for members or new players who want to try out the game or sign up for the next competition, which will begin the following Wednesday, May 28.
The club plays at Moama Sporting Complex, corner of Echuca and Martin Sts, Moama, with doors opening from 6.30pm.
