NEWTON Abbot Table Tennis Club introduced a new pairs competition for the early summer months and invited teams form the local area to take part.

It started at the beginning of April and ran on every Friday night until the final on June 17.

Fred Wakefield of PARKHOUSE furniture restorers, Marsh Barton, agreed to sponsor the tournament which was well supported and a great success.

Twenty teams were split into three divisions named by the sponsor – the Wobbly Table, Missing Veneer and Knackered Chair Divisions.

A simple handicap system gave all teams a chance to compete. The winners of all the divisions and the best runner-up would play off for the PARKHOUSE Pairs Cup.

Taverners topped the Wobbly Table Division with 24 points, with the Eagles in the runners-up spot. The Missing Veneer Division saw the Condors top, undefeated on 23 points. Dawlish were second.

The Knackered Chair Division provided the closest finish, with three teams all vying for the title on the final week of the divisional competition. It was eventually won by D.A.R.T.S., 22 points, with Halwell finishing the best runner-up.

The semi-finals pitched the Condors team of Dan Webster-Hall and Bob Parkins against Halwell’s team of Chris Dunn and Mark Smith.

Chris Dunn put Halwell in front with a fine win over Bob Parkins but that was as good as it got as the Condors and the undefeated Dan Webster-Hall took control, winning his two sets, with Bob Parkins sealing the victory with a win over Mark Smith.

The Taverners team of Martin Dilkes and Colin Harrop took early control of the second semi-final winning their first two singles against the D.A.R.T.S. team of Mike Dummett and Tim Shears.

Mike Dummett fought back with a win over Martin Dilkes but Colin Harrop sealed the final place for the Taverners with victory over Tim Shears.

The Taverners brought in Geoff Read to partner Martin Dilkes in the final, the Condors with just the two players playing throughout the tournament, Dan Webster-Hall and Bob Parkins, had no selection issues.

The first two sets were very close affairs, Bob Parkins fighting back from 5-0 down in the fifth to beat Geoff Read and Dan Webster-Hall recovering from two games to one behind to defeat Martin Dilkes, 2-0 to the Condors.

When Dan Webster-Hall defeated Geoff Read, his 16th win out of 16 games in the competition, the match was over, victory to the Condors.

Taverners did make the scoreline respectable, winning the last singles and the doubles where they introduced ‘third man’ Colin Harrop to partner Martin Dilkes.

Congratulation to the Condors, the inaugural winners of the PARKHOUSE Pairs Cup, which will become an annual event staged at Teign School during the Spring.

Trophies and embroidered caps were presented to the finalists by Sponsor, Fred Wakefield of PARKHOUSE Furniture Restorers.