Condors grab the glory in the Handicap Knockout Cup final

Colin Stallwood, Greg Green and Annabelle Rodriguez, a team boasting eight Closed Singles titles, triumphed over Sam Hume, James Denyer and John Hatley, of division one champions the Panthers.

As befitted an encounter between the league's top two teams, it was a match high on quality and entertainment.

The Condors took the lead by winning the opening doubles 11-6, 11-4, 11-9, Green and Rodriguez (+1) never conceding their handicap advantage against Denyer and Hatley (-3).

The second match saw the eagerly-awaited encounter between men's singles champion Stallwood (0) and 16-year old Hume (0), unbeaten in league and cup singles all season.

The livewire Hume set off like a steam train to race through the first set but he was pegged back by the experienced Stallwood in the next two.

However, Hume regrouped to gradually exert his dominance, winning 11-4, 8-11, 3-11, 11-6, 11-2.

The Panthers moved into the lead - for the only time - when Denyer (-6), always in command, defeated Rodriguez (+1) 11-8, 11-6, 11-8.

But Green (-1), celebrating his 27th birthday, levelled the scores with an 11-8, 11-8, 4-11, 11-8 win over Hatley (+1), despite a blistering third-set performance from Hatley in which he could do little wrong.

Match five proved the pivotal match, with the established championship-winning mixed doubles pairing of Stallwood and Rodriguez (0) taking it 18-16, 12-10, 11-8 against Hume and Hatley (0).

In a see-saw match even better and closer than the scoreline might suggest, Stallwood and Rodriguez had to come back from 9-5 down in the first and 10-7 down in the second.

Stallwood (0) extended the Condors' lead to 4-2 with a 15-13, 11-6, 7-11, 11-5 victory against Denyer (0) in a feast of table tennis action which elicited spectator applause for almost every point.

The Panthers needed to win all three remaining matches - and they started well with the athleticism of Hume (0) defeating the retrieving of the stylish Green (0) 7-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-8.

So to the tensest contest of the evening between the two team captains, Rodriguez (+1) and Hatley (-5).

Although it may have lacked the outstanding quality of earlier matches, it made up for it with a rich tenseness that permeated from table to the spectators, with Hatley torn between the need for defence to retrieve the handicap and his natural aggressive desires.

In the third, Hatley edged into a 10-8 lead but Rodriguez, showing gritty determination, dug in to clinch the match 11-5, 11-6, 14-12 - and with it the cup for the Condors.

It was a first cup success for Green and Rodriguez but a second for Stallwood, a winner with the Condors in 2011.

The victory extended the recent dominance of the Windsor club in this competition, a Windsor team having won the cup in seven of the last ten seasons.

Alas for the Panthers, their hopes of a league and cup double were dashed, the double achieved previously by only six teams - and only once since 1987, when the handicap system was revised, by Brotherhood A in 2006.

Cup final results: (Windsor Condors' players named first): G Green/A Rodriguez (+1) beat J Denyer/J Hatley (-3) 11-6, 11-4, 11-9; C Stallwood (0) lost to S Hume (0) 4-11, 11-8, 11-3, 6-11, 2-11; Rodriguez (+1) lost to Denyer (-6) 8-11, 6-11, 8-11; Green (-1) beat Hatley (+1) 11-8, 11-8, 4-11, 11-8; Stallwood/Rodriguez (+1) beat Hume/Hatley (-3) 18-16, 12-10, 11-8; Stallwood (0) beat Denyer (0) 15-13, 11-6, 7-11, 11-5; Green (0) lost to Hume (0) 11-7, 7-11, 8-11, 8-11; Rodriguez (+1) beat Hatley (-5) 11-5, 11-6, 14-12.

The league’s ‘come and try’ table tennis taster sessions begin on Friday, June 2 at the Brotherhood Hall.

They continue at 7.30pm every Friday during June.

Anyone wanting to take up competitive table tennis can attend on one or all of the evenings.

All equipment is provided and there is no charge.

For more information, ring Ferdy Rodriguez on 01255 830951.

The league's annual general meeting takes places on Tuesday, June 6 at the Brotherhood Hall.