North Open Report & Results

North of Scotland Open Table Tennis Championships – Saturday 14 September 2024

Aberdeen and District Table Tennis Association would like to thank all leagues and players for helping to make the North Open such a resounding success. With over 100 players from as far afield as Shetland to Norwich, with nearly all Scottish leagues represented, the eleven events were keenly contested and it was a relief to the organisers that play finished on time at 5pm.

A large vote of thanks also to Phil McCallum and TeesSport for their continued support and also Acumen Financial Services for their contribution – both much appreciated. We would also like to thank Tony Carroll and Dave Lee who took some fantastic photos on the day. Players can view Tony’s photos by visiting the following link: https://www.carrollsphotography.co.uk/Sport/North-of-Scotland-Open-

Please find below a short report on all of the events together with the complete results file.

Hope you all enjoyed the event and return again next year!

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Men’s Singles

Play started in groups of 3 and 4 with only the top seed progressing to the next round. There were a few casualties among the seeds here – Harry Blackhall and Ian McLean lost out to Murhad Hussain and Noah Fletcher respectively following five set battles while Craig Christie won his group on countback and Joe Mulhern easily topped his group without the loss of an end. In the next round Noah Fletcher had an epic five set win over Charlie McGowan while talented Norwich youngster Daniel Chang easily saw off Daniel Tibbetts and Murhad Hussain defeated Craig Christie. Ben Hart and Joe Mulhern disposed of two higher ranked players, Rhoari Rowan and Ross Martin, to make it through to the quarter finals. Daniel Chang continued with his giant-killing results seeing off both Jamie Johnson (2) in the quarters and Nathan Hogg (3) in the semis in straight sets while Danny Bajwa eased past Joe Mulhern. It looked like there was going to be an upset in the final as Daniel took a two set lead however Danny fought back, eventually emerging victorious 11-6 in the deciding set to regain the title he won two years ago and lift the prestigious Rubber Shop Trophy.

Ladies Singles

Top seed, and number 7 ranked England player, Lauren Charles from Wensum TTC was in imperious form and strolled through to the final without the loss of an end. Defending champion Ilona Obst-Wojcicka defeated Alisa Khalid in four sets in the semis but Lauren showed her class in the final running out an easy winner to take her second Scottish title in just a few weeks.

Junior Boys

There was a great entry in this event and all of the top eight seeds, barring Jamie Toner who lost out to Allan He, made it through to the quarter finals. Ben Hart had a great five set win against number 2 seed Harry Blackhall while Daniel Chang again got the better of Nathan Hogg, this time in four sets. The final, which was the last match of the day, was a highly entertaining affair and saw Joe Mulhern come back from 2 sets down to level the match, much to the delight of the large Drumchapel contingent, however Daniel came through 11-7 in the final end to take the title and cap a great day.

Junior Girls

With only four entrants, this was played as a single group with the fast improving Kiishi Adekola taking the title following emphatic wins over Maja Wojcicka, who finished runner up, Megan Mulhern and Lucy Mitra.

Cadet Boys

Another keenly contested event saw the top 12 ranked players make it safely through their groups. The main surprise at the quarter final stage was a great win by Alexander Stepney over number 2 seed, Mathew Pszonka. Alexander lost a close semi to William Wang while Rory Thomson defeated Dean Robertson in straight sets. The final between Rory and William was a closely fought battle with Rory coming from 1-2 down to take the title.

Cadet Girls

Kiishi Adekola claimed her second title of the day with a straight sets victory over Alexandra Hart in the final. Both girls had cruised through their groups without the loss of an end, Alexandra recording a fine victory over second seed Nikki Mo.

Minor Boys

Alexander Stepney was top seed for this event and duly lifted the title after a four set encounter with James Huang.

Minor Girls

All seven youngsters played in a single group to give them plenty of matches in the afternoon. As expected Alexandra Hart and Nikki Mo finished in the top two with Alex again getting the better of Nikki to take the Minor Girls title.

Veterans Over 40

With a number of vets over in Guernsey for the Home Internationals the entry was slightly diminished however the ten players were split into two groups of five with cross overs for the semis to ensure competitive matches. The top two seeds made it through to the final virtually untroubled however it was Ukranian national Vitalii Sazhniev who emerged triumphant in the final with a four set win over Craig Christie.

Veterans Over 60

This went largely as expected with Ian McLean and Peter Aird making it through to the final with victories over Nigel Herbert and Joy Daniels respectively. ‘Pimple Pete’ was delighted to take the title in four sets.

19 to 40 Singles

In an increasingly popular event the top four seeds made it safely through to the semis where last year’s runner up Rhoari Rowan defeated Callum Riddoch and Lauren Charles saw off Yubo Rasmussen. Lauren was again in scintillating form in the final and claimed a straight sets victory to take her second title of the day.