Electric element tastes open success at double

Element had last won the title two years earlier.

In the first championship finals nights at Stanley Street Club, Element’s early barrage of attacking shots left Mpundu shell-shocked and trailing 2-0.

In the third set Mpundu hit the ball with more purpose and power, but Element held firm and took the set 11-8 to be crowned Open Singles champion.

Element was not content with one title and then lifted the Open Doubles with Steve Johnson to make it a double celebration.

They defeated Peter Eyre and Jack Kirkland, who played great table tennis to get through to the final.

Element and Johnson won 3-0, but it wasn’t as straight forward as the scoreline might suggest.

All three games were tight with the victors running out winners 11-9, 11-7, 13-11.

Nigel Stent comfortably took the Handicap Singles title against Mark Sansom, who had to start 15-0 down and so had very little margin for error.

Stent is playing left-handed in Worksop this season due to an earlier operation on his right arm.

He executed his tactic of keeping the ball on the table and waiting for his opponent to make a mistake to perfection in the first game, winning it 21-11.

In the second game Sansom hit form and started to eat away at the 15-point deficit in the early stages.

However, Stent eventually got back on track and pulled away again to win 21-12 and take the title.

The Draw Doubles was the closest final of the night, going to a deciding set before the winners were determined.

Peter Eyre and Chris Cattell were paired up against Rick Harris and Orestas Riauba.

Eyre and Cattell took the first game 11-8, but Harris and Riauba hit back to lead 2-1 and put themselves in the driving seat.

Eyre and Cattell bounced back to comfortably take the fourth game 11-5 and force a deciding game.

In a close finale, Eyre and Cattell won by the narrowest of margins, 11-9, to be crowned Draw Doubles champions.