A total of 30 league players, forming 15 competitive doubles pairings, lined up at the NSC last Wednesday to take part in the ever-popular Fun Doubles table tennis event.

Players were allocated their playing partners based on division and league rankings. This event is cherished as a ‘fun’ opportunity for juniors and lower-ranked players to both play alongside, and compete against, higher-ranked players.

The entry was slightly up on last year, so all matches were played over three ends rather than the usual five.

Group A featured eight pairings, including John Shooter and Thomas Taylor Burt, Sonja Shaw and Geoff Burchill, Ken Mitchell and Jesse Zhang, Neil Ronan and Wasim Khan, Russ Kent and Keith Herrington, Malcolm Lambert and Margaret Forsyth, Kevin Drewry and Seth Hornby-Wheeler, plus Rob Wright and Bob Borland.

The group produced some thrilling battles including Lambert and Forsyth having an exciting tussle with Mitchell and Zhang, eventually taking a hard-fought match 9-11, 17-15, 13-11.

Ronan and Khan also had a very close encounter with Drewry and Hornby-Wheeler, before eventually pulling clear 9-11, 11-7, 13-11.

The latter emerged as group winners with six wins, while Shooter and Taylor Burt were runners-up with five. Ronan and Khan were unfortunate not to go through, also finishing with five wins.

Group B was no less competitive, featuring John Magnall and Christine Wu, Malc Lewis and Tony Fallon, Jon Taylor Burt and Aditya Varshney, Steve Curtis and Kaishi Huang, Adrian Slater and Keith Whiteway, Martyn Howard and Darren Shaw, plus Twiki Choi and Maurice Campbell.

Key match highlights included Lewis and Fallon securing an extremely close win against Howard and Shaw, just pulling through 15-13, 10-12, 13-11.

The latter were involved in another nail-biter when they edged past Choi and Campbell 12-10 in a tense finish.

In the end, group B winners Slater and Whiteway went through to the semi-finals, remaining unbeaten with six wins. They were joined by runners-up Taylor Burt and Varshney who finished with four wins.

The semi-finals delivered high-quality table tennis and were played over five ends.

Slater and Whiteway demonstrated remarkable tenacity to hold off the power of former island champion Shooter who was paired with young Tom Taylor Burt.

The latter took an early lead but Slater and Whiteway pegged them back, taking the next three ends, with the fourth just going their way 12-10.

In the other semi-final, Drewry and Hornby-Wheeler emerged victorious in a topsy-turvy, five-end thriller against Jon Taylor Burt and Varshney 11-5, 11-13, 11-3, 5-11, 11-5.

The final was also played over five ends and it certainly lived up to the billing as Slater and Whiteway and their opponents fought a fierce battle.

The first end went narrowly to their rivals, 10-12, but the eventual champions quickly got back in the groove, taking the second set 11-4 and the third 11-8.

But Drewry and Hornby-Wheeler were not willing to lie down, fighting back to take the fourth end 11-9.

The final end was settled in the closest of circumstances, with Slater and Whiteway just nabbing it 13-11 at the death to claim the title.

Their success is a clear demonstration of how well the two players gelled and harnessed each other’s strengths - a vital key to success at doubles. Great credit goes to them both for this superb victory.

Isle of Man Table Tennis Association wishes the island team good luck for this weekend’s trip to Dublin for the Home Countries tournament.

KEN MITCHELL