Kevin Farley ended as double crown champion while Krystle Harvey became the queen of the local tables when the finals of the Barbados Table Tennis Association’s national championships took place at the Table Tennis Centre, Nursery Drive, on Saturday night.
Players, officials and spectators braved the inclement weather to bring a fitting finale to the local season with intense rallies in front of an appreciative crowd.
Farley got the better of perennial rival Mark Dowell to secure the “A” Class and Men’s Islandwide Open titles, while Harvey denied Nicole Alleyne what would have been her first women’s singles championship.
Farley and Dowell fought a close battle in their first encounter, thrilling the crowd in a “topsy turvy” display that went the distance.
Farley won the ‘A’ Class final 11-6, 11-5, 6-11, 7-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-6.
In the final match of the night which once again featured the left-handed Farley and Dowell, the former seemed to have run out of steam especially after falling behind two games to three.
Dowell’s serving let him down badly and he was equally weak on the receiving end as Farley confidently finished him off 4-2 to take the set 11-5, 9-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 11-3.
Harvey, a former winner of the women’s title, enhanced her trophy cabinet by downing Alleyne in emphatic fashion 11-4, 13-11, 12-10, 11-9. (PH)
