Final Match Report – Lydia v Jake 12.2.14

This was it…The one everyone had been waiting for. Weeks of sleepless nights had been caused by this great monstrosity and today was the day the two table tennis knock-out tournament finalists duelled to see who the table  tennis crown belonged to once and for all! But before we begin lets have a brief overview of our two competitors. On one side of the table is Jake; a new face among table tennis player who proved he was the real deal by beating Jacob Martindale in the semi-final. Then we have Lydia; the first ever female finalist in Park Grove Primary Schools history and one fifth of the schools table tennis committee. She helped organise the tournament itself. Back to the game. As the two history making players strode over to the table you could see that the crowd were getting on edge. Class Seven had made custom signs telling Jake that he was going to win whereas Class Eight were using their vocal cords to express their opinion on who was going to win. The match started with a bang because of Jake cunningly getting the first serve using the infamous Park grove power shot,a table tennis move in which the player slams the ball really hard against the table making it fly at supersonic speeds and score easy points. The power shot has been adopted by some of the best players in the school including William Gibson(2013 Table Tennis Tournament Champion). But as the game itself started to begin both players were snatching points from victories hands with Jake and Lydia being neck and neck. Things started to get wild and Jake managed to send a ball flying into the ceiling of the hall! At least amusement was still apparent between the two competitors because it probably wouldn’t be for much longer. When Jake started to slip back a little Lydia seized the opportunity to take back the set and started working on overdrive. She followed through and scored point after point resulting in her being the master of the first set. Final scores on the doors being 11-7 to Lydia Noble!

Brace yourselves, this is going to be one heck of a ride. At this point everyone was tired and in need of a rest. But no! The show must go on… Lydia was granted the wish of serving and scoring the first point which disheartened Jake but only boosted her confidence. The early stages of the second set were by far the best with Jake and Lydia fiercely battling for the title of champion. All other thoughts were forgotten, the only thing that mattered to these people right now was if they won or not. To make everyone proud and to stand in awe of yourself was the motivation behind these two. There was blood, sweat and tears as these children with god given gifts of table tennis clawed at the champions crown. But then it happened. Almost miracle like  Lydia superhumanly started scoring points at a ferocious rate. What a sight to see that was! The crowd saw a future champion when they looked at  Lydia, she had won the set 11-8 and become the first female Park Grove Table Tennis Tournament winner!

Commiserations to Jake, who has two more years to prosper and conquer the table tennis leagues. His hard work has got him so far and  I shall think he will continue with table tennis with his head held high! Also congratulations to Lydia, a great player whose talent makes me faint. Keep up the good work and continue to pursue your table tennis dreams. So that rounds up the final that everyone in Key Stage Two witnessed on 12th February 2014.  I hope you enjoyed the match and hopefully there will be more table tennis fun to come!

George Horberry (Class 9)