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July 19th 2007
Picture is of the Uxbridge Junior Champions
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Uxbridge Junior Championships 2007
This year's Uxbridge Junior Table Tennis Championships saw some talented youngsters pit their wits
against each other, in what proved to be a very tight competition. In the main event, the Junior
group stages went by with no surprises. 10 year old Eddie Freeman took a game off James Liddiard and
pushed Steve McLoughlin to 12-10 in the 5th set, but James Ward & Dan Buxton joined James & Steve in
the semi finals without much trouble. James Ward continued his good form comftably beating Steve 3-0
but the second semi went all the way. Despite twice being down Dan refused to give in and some inspired
attacking play saw him edge past James Liddiard 11-8 in 5th. That left an old rivalry to be played out
again as James had beaten Dan 3-2 in last years final. This year produced some exhilarating table tennis
played at what seemed like 150 mile an hour !! Although Dan did his best to hang onto James it wasn't to
be as James ran out a 3-1 winner. In the doubles, James was out for revenge as Dan had last year lifted
the title with Steve. This year he teamed up with the other James and together they defeated last years
champions. In the girls event, Abbie Milwain produced a dominant display to take the title for a second
year without dropping a set. The present Burton Ladies champion is now looking forward to challenging
the best in the country as she heads Uxbridge's first assault on the Girls Junior British League in
October. She then teamed up Jessica Birbeck to take the doubles title too, beating Sarah Gibson &
Grace Childs in the final. The Cadet event again saw no group surprises. In the quarter finals,
Eddie Freeman was taken to 5 sets by the ever improving Jack Laughlin before he came through 11-6 in
the last. In his semi final Eddie could find no reply to the heavier hitting power of Steve McLoughlin as
Steve moved into the final in straight sets. In the 2nd semi, Dan Buxton continued to get his monies worth
out of the day as he again went to 5 sets , this time pushed there by Jessica Birbeck. However, by the
skin of his teeth, Dan came through to his third final of the day. The final began closely with both
players making mistakes, but at 1-1 Dan began to assert some authority and moved away to win in 4 and
lift his first singles title after 3 years and countless runners up medals. The day was complete with
the Under 11 competition where Gareth Langley played magnificently to get to the final beating far more
experienced rivals on the way. Their he met Eddie Freeman who, with his National competition experience,
proved a game to far for budding star Gareth. With the 2007 season now at a close the future is looking
on the up for the Burton club for 2008. Club Secretary Simon Price said "With now 2 teams in Junior
British Boys, 1 in Junior British Girls and 2 in National Cadets the strength in depth we are producing
is extremely encouraging. We have moved our level of coaching on with the introduction of ex world
number 4 Desmond Douglas and with the addition of 3 or 4 more volunteers the ability to succeed on a
National level is a distinct possibility"
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