ANOTHER maximum entry was received for the 13th running of the Cippenham Table Tennis Club Team Two-Star Open on Sunday.

In fact, the tournament was once again over-subscribed and many potential entries had to be refused.

A maximum of 24 teams can be accommodated for this competition which, in addition to being a team rather than individual tournament, also features the progressive knock-out format.

The tournament got under way with teams drawn into eight groups of three.

Apart from Class Act, the Welsh duo of Neil Wright and Julie Hughes, all the top-ranked teams managed to win their groups.

All the group winners then also managed to progress into the top eight section, either by beating another group winner, of if they lost their game against a group winner, via the repêchage against a side that won their battle between second-placed teams.

The eventual winners were The Godalming Gechos pair of Adam Laws and Andrew Smith.

Smith, playing at number two, was the standout player in the event and the only one to go throughout the day unbeaten. He was taken very close, 11-9 in the fifth game, by the precocious talent of 12-year-old Harry Yip.

Yip was a part of a young HTTC team, with Jacob Evans, that comfortably displaced Class Act from the preliminary round group and then went on to finish fifth overall.

In the final, the Geckos played their stable mates, Godalming. Both finalists romped through the early stages, winning all their matches 2-0.

However, it all changed in the semi-final and final rounds when a deciding match was the order of the day, all three being decided 2-1.

Highbury struck first in their semi-final against the Geckos when Josh Nashed pulled back a two-game deficit to defeat the higher-ranked Laws.

Geckos equalised when Smith defeated Fabien Mauroy 2-1, and it was left to the two losing players to place for the place in the final.

Laws eventually proved too strong for Mauroy, despite the first two games requiring multiple deuces.

Godalming's semi-final against Ma Lou took a similar path. The talented youngster Price gave his team the lead when beating Federico Viterbo 3-1, but Rory Scott hit back with the same scoreline against Mark Farrow.

The final was another exciting affair. Viterbo got Godalming off the the perfect start against Laws, but the Geckos hit back when Smith saw off the challenge of Scott.

Scott took the first game of the decider but that turned out to be in vain as Laws won the next three to secure the Team Open title for The Godalming Geckos.

The tournament was organised and refereed by Graham Trimming.