Last night’s table tennis tournament, the final ever to be played in the Deep South, was a hard fought and entertaining affair. With the tournament featuring BullK9, Southwell, Lee and, in-form no. 1 Tuck, there was always going to be fireworks. Initially, things went as expected, with Lee and Tuck each victorious over Southsiders Southwell and BullK9, however, in the initial clash of the titans, Lee reclaimed some lost lustre with a surprising and hard-fought victory over a struggling Tuck. From there things really got crazy, as Southwell (having earlier given a predictable display of textbook choking in each of his clashes with Lee and Tuck) began working the angles on the court to perfection. Catching Lee, and later Tuck, wrong-footed on numerous occasions, Southwell showed undeniable skill and a new ability to close out a close match with successive victories over the two top-ranked players.
The tournament ended with Tuck playing successive matches against challengers Lee and Southwell, the first of which was where a barnstorming Lee who showed he is nearing a return to his imposing best. In racing to an emphatic 14-6 lead Lee showed his booming forehand (the lone pupil) and pugnacious backhand have lost none of their danger, but Tuck’s courage could never be doubted. Fighting an admitted slump in form, Tuck dragged himself back into the challenge on pure grit and determination – in the process showing that true champions get by on more than just exhilarating natural ability. While having allowed Tuck to get the score back to 20-18, Lee lived up to his former ‘Ice Man’ moniker by closing the match out with an unplayable lone pupil slap. Lee is no within a whisker of reclaiming his No. 1 status.
The final match saw Tuck and Southwell playing off for individual honours, with Tuck determined to deny Southwell bragging rights (something which had seemed inconceivable just hours earlier). Punching and counter-punching, much like Cronulla five-eighth Greg Bird on a night out in the Shire, the two warriors produced an epic display which eventually ended in Tuck reigning supreme and proving that some things will never change.
Table Tennis Weekly spoke to Tuck after the game.
‘Yeah, Streps played good tonight,’ said Tuck. ‘But, you know, I played better.’
