Warner’s supremacy in Britannia Top 12

Report courtesy of Andrew Dosher.

Sunday 24th.Septmber’06 saw the first 'major' table tennis event of the season - the Britannia Ipswich Top 12 played at the Britannia Club, Defoe Road in Ipswich and saw witness to many top class matches on the day including a memorable climax.

The format was two groups of six players with all in a group playing each other with the top two players on games won going through to the semi finals & the others playing for other placings.

In group one the number one & two seeds Ryan Collins & Andrew Warner were unbeaten until their last group match, when they faced each other which meant they had already qualified. Ryan won this encounter as he had in his other games winning in straight games.

In the fight for other placings in this group Martin Bozier, Malcolm Collins & Ian brown all finished on two wins & three defeats, which meant it went to countback on games & then points as Malcolm & Ian had the same games ratio, Malcolm third, Ian fourth & Martin in fifth place, Colchester player Greg Green narrowly went down deuce in the fifth to Bozier in their game. 

Group two was anything but straight forward as former Essex & currant Suffolk singles champion Dave Cole who was jointly seeded one on the day went down to Michael Andrews 3-1. In another seeding upset Jimmy Farrow overcame Andrew Dosher 3-0. Farrow then put real pressure on Jake Collins who had to come from 1-2 down to win in five sets. Dosher who had got off to a bad start eased the pressure with a tight 3-1 win over Andrews & then followed it up with a 3-0 with over Cole to give himself a chance of qualifying. Cole though who had already beaten John Leith, beat Farrow 3-0 & then in the final match of the group beat Jake 3-1.

The countback potentials on this group were enormous as Jake had already qualified before his match with Cole which meant depending on their outcome one of three players had a chance to go through, in the end Dosher’s slightly better sets ratio saw him through.

Both semi finals were classics, the first one was special as Dosher & Ryan had never played before, & it didn't disappoint as Dosher got of a perfect start blocking the power of his opponent easily, in the next two Ryan’s serve caused Dosher problems, & though Dosher came back well to equate the score at 2-2 Ryan just had enough in the decider to get to the final.

Warner against Jake is always a lively encounter & Jake had never before beaten his opponent despite pushing him close a few times. Twice Jake led by a set & at 6-2 in the fifth set looked to be heading for a showdown with his brother, but Warner dug in & with a touch of luck at the right time & with some positive play won through.

In the ‘playoff’ for third place, Jake & Dosher played for a second time. In their group encounter Dosher perhaps should have won having led 6-2 in the decider, this again went the distance with the same result.

In the history of the top 12 only one player has ever won it more than once & in all but one occasion the previous years winner has been beaten in the final & this was again the case.

Ryan & Warner are two of the best players to watch when they are playing well, & with Ryan’s success against the same player in the groups stage, he had very reason to feel confident in the final.

Warner got of to a great start by taking the first set to 6 with a mixture of tight serves & loose play by Ryan, in the second set Ryan was determined to get in his stride & forged ahead, but Warner started to retrieve superbly from the base of the court & against a barrage of loop drives kept getting the ball back to force mistakes from his younger opponent.

With Ryan getting increasing frustrated Warner was now in his element & showed in the final all his attacking flair, at 10-7 up Warner was pegged back to 10 all but kept his nerve for a superbly crafted win that will rank as one of his best performances.

Scores from the dome

Semi Finals :

Ryan Collins beat Andrew Dosher -5, 7, 4, -8, 5.

Andrew Warner beat Jake Collins -2, 6, -6, 5, 8.

Final :

Andrew Warner beat Ryan Collins 6, 9, 10.

Placings -

5th & 6th Dave Cole beat Malcolm Collins 10, -9, 9, -10, 1.

7th & 8th Ian Brown beat Jimmy Farrow 9, 6, 7.

9th & 10th Martin Bozier beat Michael Andrews 5, 11, 9.

11th & 12th Greg Green beat John Leith -8, -13, 6, 5, 6.