Sport
26 June, 2026
Young table tennis players show improvement
IT may have been foggy outside but the vision indoors was clear for some of Orford and District Table Tennis Association players who performed some great shots in week nine.
There was some closely contested five-game battles throughout the night on Wednesday, with continued improvement from some of the younger players.
There was no change on the ladder after this round, with Warrnambool Warriors remaining a game clear on top.
However, St Helens is closing the gap following a dominant victory over Glengleeson and a significant boost to their percentage.
With the season now just past the half-way mark, teams are starting to establish their positions on the ladder.
This is setting up an exciting and closely contested second half of the season.
This week saw Tower Hill defeated by Warrnambool Warriors 4.16-7.25.
The Warriors began the night strongly, with Peter Owen defeating Tower Hill’s Darren Smith in a thrilling five-game contest, 12-10, 4-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-6.
Warriors also gained an important advantage by winning both doubles matches.
The match of the night came late when Tower Hill’s Mary Wealans claimed an impressive victory over Warriors’ tricky spinner David Cranwell in another five-game encounter, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 9-11 and 11-8.
Glengleeson lost to St Helens 1.6-10.31.
St Helens proved too strong for Glengleeson, remaining unbeaten in the doubles while Ally and Aaron Rowbottom were both undefeated in singles, winning all three of their matches.
Glengleeson’s Linton Price was involved in the longest match of the evening, narrowly going down to St Helens’ Jenson Rowbottom in a marathon five-game battle, 11-9, 6-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6.
Broadwater lost to Koroit 3.12-8.26.
Koroit’s Ray Young was involved in two of the night’s toughest contests.
He opened with a hard-fought five game victory over Broadwater’s Andrea Drendal, 12-10, 13-15, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7.
He was later defeated by Peter Drendel in another close five game battle 12-10, 8-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-8.
Koroit secured both doubles matches, while Fergus Monsbrough remained undefeated, winning all three of his singles encounters.
Attunga defeated Orford 7.25-4.18.
As if often the case at Attunga’s home venue, it was a long night of extended rallies and closely fought games.
This made the contest much tighter than the scoreline suggests.
The quality of table tennis reflected the continued improvement of the Orford team.
Attunga battled hard to secure both doubles matches, while Russell Hussey was Orford’s standout performer, remaining unbeaten and winning all three of his single snatches.
Ladder: Warrnambool Warriors 36 points, St Helens 32, Attunga 24, Tower Hill 20, Koroit 16, Orford 8, Broadwater 8, Glengleeson 0
