Table tennis extravaganza
SUSSEX champion Ritchie Venner (Crawley) and his county team-mate Nigel Eckersley (Uckfield) provided plenty of entertainment when the star attraction of a table tennis match, former England No.1 Matthew Syed, went down with a 'flu bug.
There was still plenty of action for the 300-strong crowd from all over Sussex to enjoy at the Generations Exhibition match at the Olympos sports centre in Burgess Hill on Sunday night.
Syed – who fronted the TV coverage of the sport at the Beijing Olympics – texted organisers just three hours before the show was about the start saying he was pulling out of the event.
However there was still a great spectacle to savour as another former England No.1 and world veterans champion, Alan Cooke, wowed the crowd with a tremendous display of attack.
The Chesterfield maestro showed he has lost none of his ability despite his 42 years and beat current England No.2 Darius Knight 3-1 in a contest which was an eye-opener for many of the spectators who had never seen top class table tennis before.
Earlier, Knight – who is tipped for glory at the London 2012 Olympics – struggled to overcome 11 times Sussex champion Venner 3-1, winning the final game 13-11.
For full story see this week's Crawley Observer.
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Weather for Crawley
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -1 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Light sleet showers
Temperature: 0 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
