Stiff competition at tenth amateur table tennis Legends Invitational
The tenth instalment of the Legends Invitational table tennis tournament was presented in Pretoria recently.
The third edition of the Play Table Tennis Super Series recently culminated in a top-32 Legends Invitational, where players fought for their share of the prize pot that accrued over the three-month season.
This was already the tenth instalment of the Legends, and once again it produced amateur table tennis of the highest quality. So strict was the qualification criteria that many previous stars failed to even get in.
There were a number of debutantes, some of whom caused a few upsets. This makes for an exciting and bright future for amateur table tennis.
The final, however, produced no surprise appearances, with Ruan Kahts having won nine of the eighteen Super Series legs, and Kobus Heyns a further six. They were also the top two seeds for the tournament. Going into the final, the head-to-head stats between the two was 13-11 in Kahts’ favour.
It was always going to be an epic final. Kaths quickly went two-nil up though before Heyns started clawing his way back to equalize at two-all and force a final game. But it was as if he ran out of steam, and with the score at 5-10 down, Heyns made a service error to give Kahts the win.
Kahts made this his third Legends title – a good response after missing the previous tournament at the end of April. He has further widened the gap on the rankings between him and Heyns, courtesy of a record tournament rating of well over 1,800 ranking points.
The attention now shifts to the fourth edition of the Play Table Tennis Super Series, which has been revamped to promote grassroots development. The changes include creating a new top-tier competition called the Elite Series, in which the top eight players will compete three weeks in every month. This means that the same eight players will no longer participate in the Super Series, which makes space for eight more developing players to feed into their vacant spots.
There will be a monthly promotion and relegation of two players between the Super and Elite Series, to give the upcoming players something to play for. The top eight players have also been appointed as mentors to their old teams, to enhance the transfer of skills.
For more information on playing table tennis at beginner to semi-pro level, please visit www.playtabletennis.co.za .
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