PIONEERS ARE CROWNED CHAMPIONS
By Peter Clarke
The Pioneers were the worthy winners of the inaugural veterans team competition staged at Lucan village recently. The brilliant tournament was the brainchild of Pioneers captain Dave Pemberton who not only organised event but also went through the day unbeaten with a tremendous display of power table tennis ably backed up by another topspin ace of great prowess, Kevin Mackey.
The dangerous Athlone team of Kieran Burke and Karem Sabir filled the runners up spot after going down 3-1 to the Pioneers while TPB (Three Province Battlers) featuring Terry Dolan (Connacht), Phil Shaw (Munster) and Peter Clarke (Ulster) started well but eventually finished third.
The match of the day saw Balbriggan gave the Pioneers a real scare before going down 3-1 with master tactician Tommy Caffrey dispatching Mackey in a quality encounter but ace defender Brian Finn who has been honing his skills in Germany nearly stole the show and could have easily won his two matches pushing both Mackey and Pemberton all the way before falling at the final hurdle on both occasions.
Kieran Burke summed the tournament up perfectly, “This was the most enjoyable days table tennis all season, the format ensured everyone got lots of play and every single match was competitive”.
Dave is hoping to expand the tournament next season to include a number of divisions and in my opinion the Pioneers star is on to a winner.