A little piece of history was made as the Spalding and District League Table Tennis League closed 2017 with the Paddy Palgrave Hard Bat Competition.
This event sees all players using wooden bats with just a piece of rubber that most players used when they were younger.
Some 15 entries were divided into two groups for a round robin format.
Each game consisted of two ends played under normal rules.
However, winners were awarded three points, while those winning one end each received one point.
The top four out of each group then went into the knockout phase.
Group A, with eight players, was won by title holder Daniel Dorey, who got his defence off to a perfect start by winning all seven games.
Behind him, Jean White and John Gilbert were tied on 12 after both managed three wins, three draws and a loss.
As their game was tied, a tie break was used off alternate serves until one had a two-point lead, which White won 2-0.
Jeremy Hitcham was fourth with two wins and four draws.
In Group B, which had seven players, Kelvin Preville bagged five wins and a draw to top the standings on 16 points, with Andrew Hay second having scored 12. Guntars Briedes was third on ten.
Fourth place was tied on seven, but the junior qualifier had to leave – so Garry Wilkinson went through.
In the quarter finals, Dorey defeated Wilkinson 11-6, 11-6, while Gilbert tied with Hay 9-11 11-8 but went through on the tie break 2-0.
White tied with Briedes 11-6, 9-11 and won through 2-0, while Preville won against Hitcham 11-7, 14-12.
The semi-finals saw Dorey win 11-4, 11-3 against Gilbert, while Preville defeated White 11-2 11-4.
The final, also played under the same rules, went to Dorey 11-6, 11-9.
It was Dorey’s third appearance in the final and he is the first-ever player to retain the title.
Late in the evening, Gilbert and Dorey played a game from their league match unfinished in October, which the former won for South Holland to give them a 3-0 lead.
