Beth Roberts of the Ael-y-Bryn Table Tennis Club, reached the final of the Girls under 13 Open event in the Derby 4 Star Tournament on Saturday 14th of March.
In the final,unseeded Beth met Annabelle Gibson (currently ranked number 2 under 13 in England), both girls gave it their all in an exciting 5 set marathon encounter. In the early sets there were many extended long rallies with, at times, emotions running high with both girls giving everything. The match seemed to be going Wales' way as Beth led 2 sets to 1 as she took to the court for the 4th set. Gibson remained calm and pulled out a comfortable 9-5 lead in the fourth. However Beth had other ideas and fought her way back to 10 all before Gibson showed her superior match experience and held on to win the 4th set.
The 5th set was the inevitable tense, nail biting affair, Beth led 5-2 at the change of ends, with the crowd getting behind the players and cheering the points. Gibson's coach called a time out with Beth 7-4 up. The set then turned into a tactical cagey affair with neither player wanting to make a mistake and keeping the ball on the table. Beth took her own time out with Gibson catching up when she led by a narrow margin at 9-8, and the set levelled at 10 all.
Gibsons' match experience told as she beat Beth 12-10 in the 5th to win the Under 13 Girls Open title.
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