The York Closed Table Tennis Championships were held on Saturday 26^th and Sunday 27^th January 2013 at the Railway Institute Gymnasium.

In the Men's Singles final Martin Lowe (Coneysthorpe) defeated second seed Filip Wojtkowiak (York RI) to win the title for a sixth time. Lowe took the first set 11-8 but Wojtkowiak went into a 5-0 lead in the second. Lowe pegged back the lead but Wojtkowiak won it 11-9 to level the match at 1-1. Lowe then took control of the match with some hard-hitting attacking play that was too strong for Wojtkowiak’s defensive retrieving style and he won the next two sets comfortably, 11-5 and 11-4, to become champion once again.

In the semi-finals Lowe defeated unseeded Jonathan Chabry (York RI) in straight sets, while Wojtkowiak overcame fourth seed Adrian Rantfler (Holgate WMC) despite dropping the first set.

Jane Cohen (York RI) won the Ladies’ Singles for the third time with a comfortable straight sets win over club-mate Anne Barnard. Jane teamed up with Anne to win the Ladies’ Doubles, and with husband Jeff to take the Mixed Doubles.

Wojtkowiak and John Hughes (York RI) won the Men’s Doubles final against the Holgate WMC pairing of John Farmery and Graham Hatfield. Hughes teamed up with York RI club-mate Mark Blackburn to win the Veterans’ Doubles, and he also won the Over-55 Singles to complete a very successful tournament.

Martin Lowe also won the Over-40 Singles despite losing the first set 2-11 to Chris Londesborough (Coneystorpe) in the final.

Jake McCarthy (Holgate WMC) retained his Juniors' Singles title, but was taken all the way in an exciting final by 13-year-old James Rule (Coneystorpe) in the final. Jake eventually won the final set by 13-11. James went on to beat Matt Roberts (York RI) in the Cadet final in straight sets, although the first two were very close. The pair are joint winners of the Clifford Trophy, awarded for the outstanding performances over the two days: 13-year-old Matt defeated a number of higher level players on his way to winning the Restricted Singles event, including Jonathan Chabry in the final, and James beat a number of division 1 players throughout the weekend as well as reaching the final of the Hard-Bat Singles.

The main sponsors of the tournament were GMB. Sponsors of other events were friends of the Association. Thanks to all the sponsors for their support.

Seedings

Fifty-six players will be competing for eighteen trophies at this year's York & District Table Tennis Closed Championships, to be held at the York RI Gym on the 26^th and 27^th January 2013. In the Men's Singles Martin Lowe, five-times champion and last year’s winner, is the top seed, with York RI’s Filip Wojtkowiak and Coneysthorpe team-mate Ashley Hodgson seeded two and three respectively. Aidan Rantfler (Holgate WMC), playing his first season in the York League, is seeded four. Lowe is also top seed in the Veterans' Singles with Hodgson seeded second. The two partner each other and are top seeds in the Men's Doubles, while the top seeds in the Veterans’ Doubles are Jon Wooldridge (Bootham) and Richard Crowther (York RI). Wooldridge and Marian Broadbent (BT) are favourites to defend the Mixed Doubles title. James Rule (Coneysthorpe) is top seed in both the Junior and Cadets events, and is the eighth seed in the Men’s Singles. The main sponsors of the tournament are GMB. Sponsors of other events are friends of the Association.