Bob Roopnarine pulled off a hard-fought, 3-2 win over top seed Anthony Laquis to emerge the champion of the Oxford Club Internal Table Tennis Tournament held at the club's base on Padmore Street in San Fernando on Sunday (October 12).
In the absence of defending champion Ethan Ramcharan, winner of the last two internal competitions, Roopnarine outlasted 11 other participants to take the title. He and Laquis battled in the final and it took five sets to decide the winner.
Roopnarine dropped the opening set, 2-11, but bounced back to take the second, 11-9. However, Laquis did not go away and recovered to take the third set, 6-11. Roopnarine levelled the scores again, prevailing 11-9 in the fourth before taking the fifth and final set, 11-5.
Roopnarine's path to title match in the league, hosted by the Oxford club which was founded in 1944, included come-from-behind wins, first in his quarterfinal match versus David Ramdin, 3-1 (7-11, 11-10, 11-7, 11-10) then against Rasheed Mohammed, 3-1 (7-11, 11-5, 11-1, 11-5) in the semifinals.
The competition consisted of 12 players, divided into four groups of three, with two players advancing from each group to the main draw. The winners were decided in the first stage and the main draw, after competing in best-of-five games.
In the first stage, Roopnarine topped group four, beating Dane Miller 3-1 (6-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-6) and Marcus Gabriel 3-1 (11-10, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6). Gabriel defeated Miller in the other group match by the same 3-1 (11-7, 6-11, 7-11, 6-11) margin to get in the quarterfinals, losing the first set 7-11 before rebounding to claim the next three, 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6.
The other finalist, Laquis, won Group One after victories against Bobby Gopaul, 3-1 (11-2, 11-5, 9-11, 11-4), and Brian McEachrane, 3-0 (11-7, 11-6, 11-7). He then got past Terrance Ferraz 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-6) in the quarterfinals and Gabriel, 3-1 (11-8, 11-8, 10-11, 11-10) in the semifinal round before challenging for the title but settled for second.
Results
Final
B Roopnarine bt A Laquis, 3-2 (2-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9, 11-5)
Semifinals
B Roopnarine bt Rasheed Mohammed, 3-1 (7-11, 11-5, 11-1, 11-5)
A Laquis bt M Gabriel, 3-1 (11-8, 11-8, 10-11, 11-10)
Quarterfinals
A Laquis bt Terrance Ferraz, 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-6)
M Gabriel bt D Gopaul, 3-2 (13-11, 9-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-9)
B Roopnarine bt David Ramdin, 3-1 (7-11, 11-10, 11-7, 11-10)
R Mohammed bt Brian McEachrane, 3-1 (11-3, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7)
First stage
Group 1
A Laquis bt Bobby Gopaul, 3-1 (11-2, 11-5, 9-11, 11-4)
A Laquis bt Brian McEachrane, 3-0 (11-7, 11-6, 11-7)
B McEachrane bt B Gopaul, 3-1 (11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8)
Pl*Player*P*W*L*Pts
1*A Laquis*2*2*0*4
2*B McEachrane*2*1*1*3
3*B Gopaul*2*0*2*2
Group 2
R Mohammed bt John Victor, 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-7)
R Mohammed bt T Ferraz, 3-2 (11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5)
T Ferraz bt J Victor, 3-1 (11-8, 9-11, 5-11, 5-11)
Pl*Player*P*W*L*Pts
1*R Mohammed*2*2*0*4
2*T Ferraz*2*1*1*3
3* J Victor*2*0*2*2
Group 3
David Gopaul bt D Ramdin, 3-0 (11-6, 13-12, 11-9)
D Gopaul bt Stephen Salazar, 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-4)
D Ramdin bt S Salazar, 3-0 (11-10, 11-8, 11-4)
Pl*Player*P*W*L*Pts
1*D Gopaul*2*2*0*4
2*D Ramdin*2*1*1*3
3*S Salazar*2*0*2*2
Group 4
B Roopnarine bt Dane Miller, 3-1 (6-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-6)
B Roopnarine bt Marcus Gabriel, 3-1 (11-10, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6)
M Gabriel bt D Miller, 3-1 (7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6)
Pl*Player*P*W*L*Pts
1*B Roopnarine *2*2*0*4
2*M Gabriel *2*1*1*3
3*D Miller*2*0*2*2
