The action continued in the annual Forbes Burnham Table Tennis Tournament at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) on Monday as Elishaba Johnson emerged as the champion for the B Class and 21 Years Open Singles while Narren Persaud was the C Class winner.
21 Years Open Singles
This finale was yet another thriller as the Elishaba Johnson-Jonathan Van Lange showdown continued. The two top athletes battled their way through the group stages with convincing victories over their opponents.
Narren Persaud was able to win the C Class Open
The finale was a different story as Johnson showed why he was the superior player, defeating Van Lange 4-1.
A young Van Lange never stood a chance, but, nevertheless, he gave his all. Johnson was able to dominate the first three rounds 11-5, 11-4 and 11-9 to take a substantial lead. Van Lange dug deep and won the fourth round 11-7, but he gave his all in that round and surrendered the final round to make Johnson the champion.
C Class Open
In the recently-concluded national table tennis championship, Persaud missed out on the C Class Open.
However, taking his chances in this competition, he dominated in the group and knockout stages to reach the final. The same could be said of his opponent Umar Percival who evenly matched Persaud. The final was anyone’s game; however, Persaud somehow managed to edge Percival 3-2.
Elishaba Johnson was able to win the B Class Open and the 21 Years Open Singles
Even though Percival lost, he rarely allowed Persaud any room to breathe, using every table tennis tactic in the book. Persaud was able to take the opening set 11-7, but Percival returned and bagged the next two rounds 11-5 and 11-4 to hold the upper hand 2-1. However, Persaud composed himself and won the final two games 12-10 and 11-7 to upset Percival.
B Class Open
Just like the 21 Years Open Singles, it was another Johnson-Van Lange showdown. This time there was no underdog story, but an act of dominance as Johnson defeated Van Lange 4-3.
While the match-up was a tough game, it could have flowed either party’s way, but it was Johnson who had the last laugh. Johnson lost the first two games 12-10 and 11-4, and to many it looked as though Van Lange had the match in the bag, but Johnson went on to win the third game 11-7.
Van Lange further extended his lead in the fourth round 11-9 to have the games locked at 3-1 heading into game five.
For Van Lange, victory was on the horizon, but Johnson pulled off a stunner snatching any hope of a win out of his hands. Van Lange was left in shock as Johnson went on to win the final three games 12-10, 12-10, and 11-9.
