Battling juniors secure runners-up spot

Posted by Warrington TTC on 30 March 2015

  • Warrington Table Tennis Club runners-up in British League division 4;
  • Connor Whitehead wins series of five-game matches to secure club victory;
  • Top performance from David Eden helps team to crucial points.

Warrington Table Tennis Club finished runners up in division 4 of the British League, in the club's first season in the league.

The success came in part due to a series of close-fought, five-game battles involving WTTC's Connor Whitehead, who made his British League debut this weekend, and two wins from David Eden, including a 'performance-of-the-season' against Joshua Stacey of league leaders Guernsey-Ravenscroft.

Warrington finished a close second to an undefeated Guernsey: "a remarkable achievement for our team, and congratulations to our players, especially our junior players who were competing at this level for the first time this season," explained head coach Sue Harper. 

Warrington entered the final match weekend in second place. Following injury to Warrington's number one player, Paul Hutchings and with others unavailable for selection, first place would be out of the question: "Just maintaining second became the club's aim for the season and we looked to rising star Connor Whitehead and the more experienced junior David Eden, to help the team hang on to the runner's-up spot and see off the challenge from a strong Rotherham team," added Sue Harper.

"Each of Connor's three wins this weekend came in five-game matches, digging deep to see off his opponents; they all could have gone either way. Up against vastly more experienced players Connor really proved himself in this team. He showed a strong competitive spirit when it really counted," explained WTTC coach and senior team member, Mark Bleakley. 

"Half-way through the weekend it seemed that ourselves and Rotherham could be headling for equal points and second and third place might go down to set difference. So every match-up mattered. We needed to rely on David Eden to pull off a crucial win against Derwent. Without David's win in this match we'd have lost the second place to Rotherham."

"And it's of note that David was the only WTTC player to register a win against Guernsey this weekend - it was a remarkable performance; David's best of the season," added Bleakley.

About Connor Whitehead

Fifteen year-old Connor Whitehead started playing table tennis just two years ago, training at Warrington Table Tennis Club and playing for its cadet, junior and local league teams and in junior open tournaments. In 2015 Connor made his debut for Cheshire in the Country Junior League. In his first year at Warrington Table Tennis Club, Connor won the club's annual excellence award for dedication in training and went on to establish himself as one of the up-and-coming junior players in the region.

Connor is next in action for Warrington on 26 April, where he hopes to help lead his team to the Cadet League title, which if successful, will be the first league title for Warrington's cadets in three seasons. 

Connor Whitehead Warrington Table Tennis Club British League team

Connor Whitehead in action for Warrington

About David Eden

David Eden, sixteen, is one of Warrington's most experienced junior table tennis players with eight years and a host of competitive seasons behind him. He plays in the British League, Junior British League, Warrington League, for Cheshire in the County Junior League and has represented the North West several times at the English National Championships. David was part of WTTC's 2011-12 season record-winning, undefeated cadet team.

David Eden Warrington Table Tennis Club British League team

Warrington Table Tennis Club's David Eden training with 
Connor Whitehead

The complete Warrington line up for the season included seniors: Paul Hutchings (who while unavailable for the final match weekend, finished the season with a 100% winning record), Mark Bleakley, Olivier Barthelemy and juniors: Daniel Clarke (also unavailable for the final match weekend), David Eden and Connor Whitehead.

The full 2014-15 season results for Division 4 (North) and WTTC player stats are available via the British League website.

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