Welsh Closed Success

Day 1 saw the Junior (under 18), Cadet (under 15) events take place. Ferndale were represented by Liam Winder and Chris Griffiths.
The junior event had Chris seeded in his group but Liam up against Number 2 seed Lewis Williams in his group. Liam played well in his group to finish runner-up but against Lewis he just struggled against a more experienced player. Chris won his group dropping only 1 set in the process to Jac Jenkins. Liam had to then play a preliminary match against Tom Goodall to book his place in the quarter final. Sadly Liam struggled to really dominate in the match and after being up in the 5th set he could not finish it and went crashing out. Chris went straight in to the quarter final stage. Chris was drawn against Alex Prosser, who beat him in last year's cadet semi final. Chris started very strong and went 2-0 up for Prosser to then win the 3rd set. It looked like it could be a repeat of last years semi but Chris held his nerve and went on to win the 4th set and book a semi final place. The semi final had Chris against Liam's group winner Lewis Williams. Chris had never beat Lewis before but confidence was high with Chris and once again a strong start put Chris in a commanding position. Once again Chris lost the 3rd set and struggled through-out the 4th set but again showed great character to go and finish the game in a deuce set and book a final position against Conor Edwards. Sadly for Chris the final was one step too far for him and lost 3-0. The amount of matches that Chris had played during the days caught up with him and he could not get himself playing like he had earlier. He had a deuce set in the 3rd set with set points but sadly he could not take that and ignite a come back.
The Cadet event had Chris and Liam seeded in the top 4. Liam was unlucky in to finish runner-up in his group, losing to John Bisp 3-1, but winning his other two to finish the group as runner-up. Chris won all three group matches 3-0 to come out top of his group. The quarter final draw saw Liam and Chris playing against each other. Chris came out on top in this battle between the boys 3-1. This put Chris in to the semi-final against Callum Evans, setting up and old TTk meeting between Ferndale and Tonyrefail. On this occasion Ferndale came out on top with Chris winning 3-0 and booking his place in the final. The final saw Chris playing against the on form, and county team-mate, Ryan Oyler. This was always going to be a tough match for Chris but he stepped up to the challenge and played very well to win the match 3-1. The match could of gone either way at points but Chris stuck to his tactics and played very well.
The junior doubles saw Chris and Liam play together. The boys didn't perform as well as they could of but gave it a good effort in getting to the semi-final and losing to Jac Jenkins and Callum Evans.
Overall it was a fantastic day for Ferndale. Liam will feel disappointed in not getting further in the main events but will have learnt a lot at how he must play in these larger events as everybody steps up there level for the event. Chris had a fantastic day by winning the Under 15 and runner up in the Under 18. Chris has shown to everybody in Welsh table tennis that he is a force and must not be taken lightly. Well Done to both of you.