MATTHEW Fields enhanced his reputation as one of the rising stars of the table tennis scene when he rescued a draw for Team Tameside in their British League clash with Ormsby.
Forty-eight hours after winning the Bolton Table Tennis League’s Second Division individual championships, the 12-year-old from Westhoughton produced a gutsy performance in Middlesbrough to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in only his second round of matches for the Tameside outfit.
Anxious team-mates looked on when Matthew, who had lost his first match, went into the final head-to-head with Tameside trailing 4-3. And the pressure increased when he lost the first two sets.
But the Canon Slade pupil refused to buckle, took the next two sets to level the match and rallied once more when he fought back from 10-6 down, saving five match points, to clinch victory in the tie-break.
Although unable to match the performance the following day when he lost his two matches — both five-setters — as Tameside lost to Grantham team, Cliffdale Chandlers, his efforts on Saturday confirmed his ranking as one of the game’s top juniors in the British League — the nation’s top senior competition.
Officials of the Bolton Table Tennis League have been checking records to confirm whether Matthew became the youngest ever winner at the individual divisional championship after he triumphed in a marathon effort at the Hilton Centre.
He played for almost five hours, yet appeared to get stronger as the night wore on. He won his quarter-final and semi-final 3-1 then, after a quick nap, produced another 3-1 victory in the final.
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