Gracie creates a slice of table tennis history

Edwards picked up four trophies and Warner three, at the Clacton Coastal Academy Sports Hall.

When Edwards won the ladies' singles crown, she created a piece of local table tennis history, achieving the extraordinary feat of simultaneously holding the ladies' singles titles of four local leagues - Clacton, Colchester, Chelmsford and Ipswich.

It is an unprecedented achievement for a player still only 16 years of age and one unlikely to be repeated for a long time, if ever.

The Clacton final saw Edwards pitted against Annabelle Rodriguez, her opponent in the last four years, and the result was the same, with the former winning 11-8, 11-7, 11-6.

In the ladies' doubles, the unique grand-daughter/grand-mother combination of Gracie Edwards and Cris Edwards reprised their success of two years ago, defeating Sandie Krelle and Sue Welham in the final.

However, the 5-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-2, 15-13 scoreline reflects a hard match which swayed to and fro.

Gracie's third trophy was the mixed doubles and, with Warner, they retained their title 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 against Colin Stallwood and Rodriguez.

With Stallwood nursing a foot injury, it was always going to be an uphill battle for the former champions, who only just scraped past Gary Young and Jane Young 11-7 in the fifth in the quarters.

Gracie added a fourth title when, with Sam Hume, she took the junior doubles, beating Scott Campbell and Ethan Lloyd 11-6, 12-10, 11-6.

Warner's mixed doubles success was the first of his three titles but he can rarely have expended more energy, liberated more sweat or exhausted more nervous energy in taking the other two.

In the men's singles final, he enjoyed a titanic struggle with 21-year-old James Denyer in a classic contest which most court-side spectators considered to be the best men's final in living memory.

Both players showed outstanding skill, looping and power-hitting at angles away from the table but showing deft and delicate shots of variety close to the net, all of which produced breath-taking rallies.

Denyer was forced to save a match point in the fourth and three more in the fifth when he was 10-7 down - but then held two match points of his own at 11-10 and 12-11.

But the volubly-active Warner closed it out 11-4, 11-9, 5-11, 10-12, 15-13 in a final neither player deserved to lose.

In the top half of the draw, Warner disposed of Greg Green, Gary Young and Kevin Gowlett, who had eliminated the reigning champion, the injury-hampered Stallwood.

In the bottom half, Denyer edged past Paul Hume in five in the quarters and number two seed Sam Hume in the semis.

In the men's doubles final, Green and Stallwood led Warner and Young 11-7, 11-7 but the third set turned out to be a tense marathon, with Green and Stallwood surrendering a hatful of match points before losing 19-17.

They conceded two more match points before going down 13-11 in the fourth and then had to recover from 7-3 down in the fifth.

They levelled to nine-all, only to see Warner and Young clinically take their first and only match point to win 7-11, 7-11, 19-17, 13-11, 11-9.

Good fortune was with Warner and Young throughout, edging past the unfancied Kevin James and Paul Woolnough 11-6 in the decider and reigning champions Paul Hume and Sam Hume 13-11 in the decider in the semi-final.

Sam Hume took the junior singles against Daniel Young 15-13, 11-1, 11-6 in a repeat of last year's final.

Young had created a shock to reach the final, defeating Gracie Edwards in the semi-final, the only blot on her tournament.

The veterans' singles was a triumph for Gary Young, who retained the crown he had surprisingly won in 2017, beating Stallwood 9-11, 11-6, 11-2, 8-11, 11-4.

The final of the super-veterans' singles was between Gavin Price and the unseeded Phil Smith, who had eliminated Colin Webber and Derek Willis.

However, Smith was unable to continue his good form, with Price taking it 11-4, 11-4, 11-7.

Despite there being no seeds in the restricted singles, it was the two top players Kevin James and Oli Reynolds who met in the final.

Reynolds, last season's runner-up, made no mistake this year, winning 11-5, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7.

The division two singles was contested by 12-year old Ollie Rampton and 13-year old Daniel Young, with Rampton dominating the final to win 11-8, 11-4, 11-8.

In the division three singles, Debra Found beat number two seed Paul Metcalf to reach the final but top seed, 13-year old Liam Harris showed no mercy and won 11-7, 11-2, 11-7.

The league is indebted to Paul Newbould Planning and Building Design Services, the championship's main sponsors for a 25th year, and to individual sponsors The Skelmersdale Centre Ltd (Angela Barratt), Red Driving School (Felipe Rodriguez), Young's Toys, Hobbies and Collectables (Gary Young) and Jenny Higgins.

2018 CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS: Men's singles (sponsored by Red Driving School): A Warner beat J Denyer 11-4, 11-9, 5-11, 10-12, 15-13.

Ladies' singles (sponsored by The Skelmersdale Centre Ltd): G Edwards beat A Rodriguez 11-8, 11-7, 11-6.

Men's doubles: A Warner/G Young beat G Green/C Stallwood 7-11, 7-11, 19-17, 13-11, 11-9.

Ladies' doubles: C Edwards/G Edwards beat S Krelle/S Welham 5-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-2, 15-13.

Mixed doubles: A Warner/G Edwards beat C Stallwood/A Rodriguez 11-6, 11-8, 11-9.

Veterans' singles: G Young beat C Stallwood 9-11, 11-6, 11-2, 8-11, 11-4.

Super-veterans' singles: G Price beat P Smith 11-4, 11-4, 11-7.

Junior singles (sponsored by Jenny Higgins): S Hume beat D Young 15-13, 11-1, 11-6.

Junior doubles (sponsored by Youngs Toys, Hobbies and Collectables): S Hume/G Edwards beat S Campbell/E Lloyd 11-6, 12-10, 11-6.

Division two singles: O Rampton beat D Young 11-8, 11-4, 11-8.

Division three singles: L Harris beat D Found 11-7, 11-2, 11-7.

Restricted singles: O Reynolds beat K James 11-5, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7.