18th October Write Up
The Matrix TT Cup has now come to its conclusion, with 15 groups of up to 7 battling it out for 2 places to advance into the last 32 draw. The top 2 seeds finishing 1st in group one and two getting a bye to the last 16.
We had some late entries from Larry Trumpauskas in an unseeded position (England number 9) who will be representing his country and next weeks WTT (international ranking event) in London.
Our number 1 seed for the day was also representing Team GB at the same event, Joe Hunter (current England number
We also had a Chinese representative, Chen Haotian whose best win is current world number 2 (ex-world number 1) Lin Shidong. Unfortunately, he was unable to make it in the end which was a shame, we wish him the best of recoveries and hope to see him at the next event.
We had our usual entries, including Doniyor Makhkamov from Uzbekistan, Bodhit DC and Mitesh Gurung from Nepal, Niall Cameron from Scotland who represented his country at the Commonwealth games in 2014 who also unfortunately had to pull out, we wish him a speedy recovery.
We also had Delyth North who recently represented Wales in the Home nations and is a coach at the Maidstone Table tennis club. Amongst the names were Kent players, including the Kent champion, Jack Roberts and runner-up, Richard Carden. We also had the 3-time reigning Kent doubles champion and previous Matrix TT singles winner, Harry Law
Notable others in attendance were Umair Mauthoor (Pocket Rocket from Mauritius), who lived up to his mantle throughout the tournament, which I will go onto discuss later in this write up. Umair, who is best known for his series of videos with Daniel Ives, Table Tennis Daily, please check them out on YouTube.
A lot of the group matches were tightly contested with some very close encounters however the following people progressed to the last 32 with Joseph Hunter and Larry Trumpauskas getting bye’s to the last 16.
Joseph Hunter progressing relatively unchallenged in 1st place getting a bye to the last 16 matches. He had one encounter with Alan Taylor which was a clash for the ages. The Scotsman pushing Hunter to all 5 games, the latter eventually getting the better of his man. A very admirable score nonetheless that unfortunately for Alan, did him no favours as he crashed out of his group in 3rd place after his heroic efforts here, losing to Luke Holdstock 3-0.
Unfortunately, this group had 2 pulls I was unable to replace on the day therefore why there are some gaps.
Ultimately, Luke Holdstock proved too strong for the rest of the competition overcoming the likes of Tommy Selecky and a strong Alan Taylor to progress himself into a tasty last 32 draw. The finishing positions of each player are listed.
The Group standings are below.
Group 2 had some equally close contested matches.
The 2 players to progress from this group were Larry Trumpauskas and Matthew Emery.
Larry was in imperious form, carving his way past everyone in his sight other than Matrix TT co-organiser, Forest Sage, though I feel there was an element of bribery in this match, nevertheless the Thai representative went down to her opponent with a scoreline 3-1 thus cementing her drastic improvement of late. Larry having topped group 2 will now progress to the last 16 stage and receive a BYE from the last 32 stage.
Some other notable matches in this group were George Spillett, captain of New House 2, currently sitting second in the C8 division, taking a set off the eventual champion, Larry Trumpauskas. Nana Ansah, a Guinean representative with possibly the biggest lefty forehand I have ever faced and John Glass who recently broke into the top 100 of the over 60s VETTS category.
Final finishing positions are as follows.
Group 3 had some carnage from the off with 28th seed and one of Kents top players, Scott Dawtry taking a loss 3-2 to Jozef Krakovsky. The latter man revelling in his first victory against a Kent player on Kent soil.
Joshua Bruce, our 3rd seed for the tournament was in good form, only losing a set to Scott in one of the final matches of the group.
Robin Loft making his tournament debut outside of local league seemed to have a tough day against stiff competition, we wish him the best for future Matrix TT events.
Paul Waumsley, ex England number 2 class 8 para-athlete was also in attendance in this group succumbing to some high intensity battles with Robin Loft and Scott.
Final standings of this group are as follows.
Group 4 featured Umair Mauthor (pocket rocket) and the likes of up-and-coming Kent junior Johann Le.
Umair progressed unscathed whereas the others battled it out for their position in the last 32. The 2nd seed in this group was Max Gonpot. Johann proved his worth defying Max of his position in the last 32 with their match, going into that match, Max and Johann were even on wins so this was a must win for the Kent junior to progress and he did not falter winning in 5 closely contested games.
Final finishing positions are below
Group 5 featured eventual runner up Alim Hirji amongst others.
The top seed of group 5 and 5th seed overall made short work of his opponents not dropping a set at this stage of the event to progress into the last 32.
Final finishing positions are below.
Group 6 had some tighter encounters than some of the other groups with 5/21 matches going the distance to 5 sets.
Emmanuel Kwesi Asante, the Ghanian number 2 Senior player had some moments of pressure in his group facing an in-form Adrian Moore (coach at the MTTC) and Richard Farthing, dropping a set to both. He also lost a set to surprise package Lukas Keys who was a late entry into the event.
Final finishing positions are as follows.
Group 7 started with a titanic battle between Edward baker and Ryan Farthing. Ryan got the better of his man after going 2-1 up, only to be pegged back to 2 sets all. Ryan finally getting over the line with some devlish forehands to finish, winning the final set 13-11.
Munib Ahmed was unchallenged in his group, winning all but 2 of his matches 3-0 only dropping a set to Edward Baker and Ryan Farthing. Unfortunately we had one pull out of this group on the day so those matches are scratched.
Final finishing positions are below
Group 8 had some good matches, 2 players (both seeds) unfortunately pulled out of this group so it was up to late entry and Kent champion to spearhead his way through the group with much success only dropping 1 set along the way.
Simon Bradleigh was a late entry meaning this group was able to field the full 7 players we expected.
Jack Roberts topped the group with Abdur Kelani also progressing to the last 32 stage.
We had a few repeat Matrix TT entries in this group with Nooruz Chowdhury, Toks Apata and Mitesh Gurung all bundled in one group.
Group 9 featured some shock results that seemingly didn’t change the course of the order.
Group 9 was blown wide open with the withdrawal of Sammy Kaye. The match of this group was Isle of Wights, Ryan Cates beating Doniyor Makhkamov, a player ranked hundreds of places above him in the national rankings cementing him with a chance to progress to the last 32 which he duly earned.
Doniyor still topped the group due to the results going on a overall countback between himself and Ryan. The only thing separating them after wins and sets won was sets lost, the Uzbekistani player losing 2 sets less than his Isle of Wight opponent and therefore progressing in 1st place.
Other notable results were Martin Ball finishing in 4th place after competing in a football match showcasing his raw athleticism.
Group 10 had some very interesting encounters, with the ever in form Mario Ioakim, trying to book his place in the last 32 against tough competition. The match that swung his chances of qualifying was his 3-0 loss to Gábor Bodnár
Niall Cameron unfortunately had to withdraw from this event leaving the door wide open.
Ultimately it was Benjamin Palmer-Jones and Gabor Bodnar who progressed in that order.
A few serial entries into the Matrix TT events in this group. Mario Ioakim, Rajesh Patel, Lois Perryman and Jerzi Meyer.
Group 11 featured some of the most tantalising match ups in the groups of the day.
Only one match went the distance ironically the one which decided who would qualify. This match was between Kents top, Richard Carden and Oleh Bileyskiy.
The latter man pushed the 2-time Kent champion the distance and ultimately getting his reward with a classy 3-2 win cementing his place in the last 32. Richard having been 2-1 down in this match, showed his prowess and mental fortitude to push the game to the distance.
Final finishing positions are as follows
Yameen Al-Dahiri was the final man to qualify having earlier also beaten Richard Carden.
Group 12 had 2 pull outs one of which we were able to replace and therefore field a group of 6
The match that decided the positions in this group was Brandon Sangchin (Fulham Brunswick – London) Vs Abdul Raqueeb (Morpeth TTC - London). The former man taking his opportunity and capitalising on a tidy 3-1 win.
Some repeat Matrix TT entries in the form of Dolma Lama and Ed Matthews both getting a win or 2 themselves showing their recent improvements.
Group 13 had some very interesting players, with some new entries in the form on David Wong (MTTC player) and Timothy Tian En Thai from Birmingham.
Harry Law and Timothy were the top seeds and duly progressed however not without challenge from David Wong, Hurey Ahmetoglu (Turkish Cypriot player currently ranked number 2 over 40 women in the country having represented England) and Maxwell Antrim.
Final finishing positions are as follows, Timothy defeating Law in 4 sets after his recent success in getting to a career best ranking of 75 in the UK.
Group 14 had a match that was brewing up to a battle of the ages between Rayan Ansari and our Nepalese representative Bodhit DC.
Unfortunately, Bodhit did not manage to challenge his man in this highly anticipated match going down 3-0 to Rayan.
Rayans cousin Rayyan was unable to make it to the event so therefore this group was also a 6.
Perry Oliver finished a respectable 3rd place with a 3 way countback for 3rd 4th and 5th in the group which was decided on sets won and lost.
Niyi beating Anthony Orridge to 4th place by losing 1 set less than his man.
15th and final group was without doubt the one I was looking forward to the most.
Fabio was unfortunately unable to make this event. However, this did not detract from the highlight of the day which was the highly anticipated Dan Howard Vs Hassan Kaakour match which occurred at the dying moments of this group.
Some other notable matches were with Jake Saxby making his debut, son of Kent legend, Phil Saxby , a name most of you will remember. Moving on to one of the final matches of the group between Dan and Hassan, the anticipation build in the stadium. Dan’s consistency and feel for the ball eventually proving too much for Hassan who has immense fire power and prowess on the table. Both men qualified but the match result meant Daniel qualified 1st and Hasaan 2nd. Both moving on to the last 32 matches.
Knock out round of 32.
The matches above were the last 32 encounters. Joseph Hunter and Larry Trumpauskas had auto qualified for the last 16 with their respective group victories.
Joshua Bruce firstly faced off against an in form Luke holdstock with the latter man putting up little resistance against the Fusion TTC – London based player who himself has been ranked around top 20 in the seniors for some time.
The second match was Umair Mauthor Vs Matthew Emery. Similar story in this match with the former of the two men being a bit above the level required. Umair showcasing some of his qualities which propelled him to a career best ranking of 12 in the senior ranking list less than one year ago.
Alim Hirji faced off against Jozef Krakovsky, the latter man could not recreate his success from the group stages to progress any further, going down with a reasonable 3-0 loss.
Emmanuel Asante faced off against Kent junior, Johann Le who himself had a good win in his group to progress to this stage knocking out Max Gonpot, unfortunately this proved to be a step too far and the Ghanian international pushed aside his man to progress.
Munib Ahmed and Evgeni Genchev clashed in their last 32 match, the former man taking this encounter 3-1 with a very respectable score line, Munib who has pushed the boundaries of a top 40 in the UK senior rankings proved too much in the end.
2 matches were absolutely stand out at this stage of the event; this next match was one of them where Doniyor Makhkamov faced off against Ryan Farthing. The former man taking victory but needing all 5 games to do so and being stretched all the way to the very final point to get over the line and having been 2-1 down.
Benjamin Palmer-Jones faced off against Abdur Kelani with the former man getting the win relatively unchallenged against his opponent. There was some resistance and fight back in the 3rd set from Kelani but he ultimately went down 3-0 and Palmer-Jones progressed to the last 16.
Oleh Biletskyi faced off against a somewhat surprised Ryan Cates in his last 32 match, Oleh took the match 3-0 with some excellent loop and counter drive control.
Brandon Sangchin faced off against Gabor Bodnar in his last 32 encounter. Sangchin proved too strong and advance with little resistance, he will face off in the last 16 against a very strong opponent.
Timothy Tian En Thai and Yameen Al-Dahiri was the absolute highlight of this last 32 stage. The match ebbed and flowed, one man taking a lead only to be pegged back, the next gaining a lead, again to be brought back level. The match was all tied at 2 sets a piece going the distance with both men having match points, neither able to convert. Finally, a breakthrough saw Yameen take victory 15-13 in the final set to set up an encounter with one of the top players in the next round. Some reward for all his efforts.
Rayan Ansari faced off against his fellow London player Abdul Raqueeb, the latter man getting the better of his opponent 3-0, Abdul showcasing his incredible paced shots.
The second to last match at this stage saw Harry Law face off against Daniel Howard, a clash which was the final of the Burgess Hill 2 star event recently with Daniel taking the win to claim his first 2 star event win leaving Harry with some heartbreak only a Mcdonalds takeaway could fix.
Howard started the better of the 2 men closely winning the opening set 12-10 only to immediately be pegged back by Law 11-6 to level. Howard took the 3rd set 11-5 so the only way back now for Law was a fight which his duly did winning the final 2 sets 13-11 and 11-7 to take victory for his place in the last 16.
The final match at this stage was between the Nepalese super star and Hasaan. The latter man taking quite a swift victory from his man 3-1 to progress to the last 16.
LAST 16 STAGE.
The last 16 stage saw the re-emergence of Joseph Hunter and Larry Trumpauskas after receiving a BYE in the previous round.
Joseph was on first facing off against his Uzbekistani opponent, Doniyor. The latter able to offer much resistance to the fire power and precision of Hunter.
Table 2 had a lovely encounter between Larry and Benjamin Palmer-Jones. Larry took the match 3-1 but the score line was extremely close showing Benjamins exceptional run and form throughout the day.
Joshua Bruce faced off against Oleh Biletskyi. Bruce also dropping a set in a very similarly tight contested match. Bruce eventually progressing to the quarter final stage.
Umair Mauthor faced off against Brandon Sangchin. The latter mans run ending the last 16 stage at the hands of the self-proclaimed ‘pocket rocket’. The encounter was decided by the score line 3-1 in favour of Umair.
Alim Hirji proved his determination to progress as far as possible in this event with an outstanding show of power, patience and game plan to oust the in-form Yameen Al-Dahiri 3-0.
Perhaps one of the matches of this stage was Emmanuel Asante Vs Adbul Raqueeb. The latter man had progressed quietly without anyone really hearing of his results. This match however promised to showcase raw fire power, precision with the deft touch, it did not disappoint. Asante however proved why he is an international representative beating his man 3-1.
Munib Ahmed and Harry Law faced off in the penultimate last 16 encounter, Munib took the encounter with little resistance in terms of a straight sets win albeit, knowing Law, he would have made Ahmed’s life somewhat difficult on his way.
The final encounter saw the Kent champion; Jack Roberts face off against Hassan Kaakour. Jack stormed to a 2-0 lead only to be pegged back with a score line of 11-5. Jack composed himself and went on a rampage in what proved to be the final set in the 4th to take that 11-8, progressing himself to the quarter final stage.
All the men who remained knew what was at stake at this stage as they would all walk away with some money. It was down to them to see how far they would progress to see how much money they would be taking home with them.
QUARTER FINAL STAGE
After a slight pause to dismantle half the room and make the final remaining 4 courts bigger, we began with our quarter final match ups.
First match on table 1 was Joseph Hunter Vs Alim Hirji. Alim and Joseph battled hard in the first 2 sets splitting the difference by the narrowest of margins of 2, both equal on points going into the 3rd set. Joseph took the first set 13-11 and Alim taking the second set 19-17. The 3rd set went the way of Hirji and then came the 4th set. Hirji lead only to be pegged back by the WTT player, eventually Hirji drew ahead and Hunter could not catch up finally succumbing to his opponent 3-1 in a very high level match.
Simultaneously on table 2 the match between Larry Trumpauskas and Emmanuel Asante was being played out. The Latter man getting the opening set with some excellent counter topspin encounters which no man on earth could stop. The second set Larry was able to up his game enough to sneak 11-9 and this proved to be the defining moment of the match as Asante was able to find that final gear to push back and therefore lost the next 2 sets, 11-7, 11-6 to lose the match with a score line of 3-1. Larry then progressed to the Semi final stage for a much awaited encounter between the winner of Umair Mauthor or Jack Roberts.
Joshua Bruce faced off against Munib Ahmed at this stage of the competition. The Man from Morpeth TTC was in imperious form, downing Bruce in 4 sets, much to the surprise of the watching crowd. Bruce went 2-0 down in this encounter, was able to find some very good form in the 3rd set to win 11-3, and eventually went down in a close 4th set 11-9 to hand the win to Ahmed. This meant an all Morpeth TTC semi final for a place in the final looming.
The final quarter final match was Umair Mauthor against Kent champion Jack Roberts. The latter man has previously managed a win against his Mauritius opponent, however in their previous meeting at the Sussex 4 star, Umair proved too strong. This, then, promised to be a show of the ages. Jack, however, showed very little resistance at this stage unfortunately losing to Mauthor in 3 straight games.
SEMI FINAL STAGE
After a small break, we were ready to get the final 3 matches on the go, first come the semi finals.
The matches were both played simultaneously for the semi-final stage.
First up we had Alim Hirji Vs Munib Ahmed on table 1. Alim again proved his form from the day having only dropped 1 set to get to this point. Ahmed offered up very little resistance losing to his Morpeth team mate 3-0. The score line however doesn’t suggest the quality of rallies which were contested. Munib deserved more than a 3-0 loss and that is exactly what the crowd wanted, however that is exactly what they got from the second semi final on table 2.
Larry Trumpauskas had been in excellent form all day dropping the occasional set here and there which seemed more of a professional courtesy especially with his matches against Matrix TT representatives, Forest Sage and George Spillett in the groups. Nevertheless, Larry found himself up against an inspired performance from Umair.
Both of the first 2 sets could not have been any closer with Umair taking both with a score line of 12-10 and 11-9. Larry, the WTT representative was not to be deterred and the lion inside roared back with 2 close sets to level the match 2-2 with set 3 being a 11-8 win and set 4 being an 11-7 win. Umair showing no signs of letting up and Larry no signs of panic, both men locked horns at 2-2 and the 5th set did not disappoint. Both men traded blows, one stepping ahead only to be pegged back. Neither man would relent, both locked in with the score line at 9-9, Larry was able to win the final 2 points and push himself into the final breaking the heart of the pocket rocket after leading 2-0.
FINAL
The final was anyone’s guess with Larry having had the scare of his life against Umair in the previous round and Alim in his current form, destroying opponents along the way to the final. This promised to be a close encounter, and it was nothing short of that.
The umpires for the final were none other than Alao Tajudeen and Andy Prince, David Cue stepping down to watch the spectacle with a front row seat.
This encounter started off with some huge counter topspin shots from Larry only for Alim to show his capabilities with heavy spin shots with high arc. They were both locked in, concentrating on securing their maiden Matrix TT cup win. Larry succumbed to the pressure in the first set losing 12-10, advantage firmly with Hirji at this point but Larry was sharp and wise to this.
He then went on a rampage of strong and powerful shots which earned him his position to go 2-1 up and this momentum change seemed like it would proved to be the final blow to Hirji’s campaign. Larry won those 2 sets with an onslaught of counters and feeling shots to go 2-1 up with scorelines of 11-7 and 11-8.
This looked like it could prove costly for Alim but he had other ideas going 10-0 up in the 4th set, Larry letting out a cheeky ‘NEVER’ comment to the possibility of losing a set 11-0 and gaining the infamous doughnut, this was not meant to be, however Larry lost that set 11-2 to take us to the 5th and final set to decide all at the Matrix TT cup. The winner of which was taking home the £500 winnings, there was a lot at stake.
The crowd demanding more and more they got with this tantalising 5th set encounter from the 2 most in form players of the day.
Larry gained the initial advantage in the 5th set. Alim managed to peg him back slightly but was unable to overcome the deficit eventually succumbing and leaving his opponent to take the win 3-2.
The presentation lead by Matrix TT’s Forest Sage followed, all men who reached the final 8 were one by one asked to receive their certificate and money until we reached the final 2 who also got that and the Matrix TT trophy.
The day was done and it was by far the most successful Matrix TT event thus far with over 170 people in attendance, players, coaches, helpers, staff. It is with great pleasure that we shared this day with each and every one of you and want to welcome you all to our future events found on our website.
Final rankings for everyone who made it to the last 32 stage based on wins, people that have the same amount of wins are defined by the round they got to. And if that is still even then it goes down to overall points won, you can see from this graphic that the only thing to separate Trumpauskas and Hirji through the whole day was Larrys win against his opponent in the final but overall 3 points therefore showing how close both men were all day, Umair was able to secure 3rd place in this list, Munib in 4th showing all 4 semi finalist finished in order on this graphic.
We wish you all the very best for your season and hope to see you all again very soon.
Kind regards from all the Matrix TT team
The 4 losing quarter finalist, Joshua Bruce, Joseph Hunter, Jack Roberts and Emmanuel Asante all received £25 winnings.
The 2 losing semi finalist Munib Ahmed and Umair Mauthor received £75 cash earnings.
Alim Hirji lost in the final but still took home £250 worth of winnings and his first Matrix TT runners up trophy.
Larry Trumpauskas took home £500 winnings and his first Matrix TT winners trophy. One of his biggest trophies yet.
Special thank you to Alao Tajudeen for his commitment to the event and scoring the final, Andy Prince who also was involved throughout the day in important knock out round matches including the final showcasing incredible dedication to not only our sport but the organising team which was extremely appreciated.
Steve Bispham who joined Joe Britnell on the front desk dealing with any queries during the day and allowing for a smooth-running event.
And finally to David Cue who has all but dedicated his life to table tennis with over 60 years playing experience and umpiring, he is an inspiration to us all in Kent table tennis and we wish him all the very best and thank you for supporting the events, we could not do it without you.
Player of the tournament goes to Alim Hirji, though losing in the final, he had a stand-out day only narrowly losing to an in form Larry who is a rising star in the UK.
Special mentions go to our sponsors, Bribar table Tennis, Canterbury Kinetic-Therapy, wat santivanaram , Coat and Clippers, Thai massage pro and Law Waste Services for their hard work in helping promote the event one way or another.
For future events, coaching or just staying in touch, please visit find in our tournaments and coaching sections of the website
