Southland loses to Otago in Table Tennis...1983

With the trio of Kevin Tapper, William Brocks and Phillip Wallis winning two singles each the southland men's No 1 beat Otago 8-4.  Tapper took Otago's top man, Paul Sykes to 21-19 in the third set and although making some great returns it was the more aggressive Sykes who was superior.
The women's tam went down to Otago 4-8  with Ngaire Garrett winning tow singles and Lena McCauley one.  Helen Bray, Otago's penhold player won all her matches.
The boys' under 18 No. 1 team found the Otago trio a handful when losing 9-3 but southland's Blair Davies had a good win over Colin Holden, Nguyen Chau also performed well to go to three sets in all  his matches, but appeared to lose concentration the longer the game lasted.
The Southland girls' under 18 team thrashed Otago, 11-1 but was fortunate that Otago's Jennifer Lawn was included in the women's team.  As expected Jane Bodkin and Kathryn Crook dominated their opponents and the team's No. 3, Trish Beattie claimed two wins.
Otago proved too strong in the boys' under-15 section, beating the Southlanders 8-4 but Robert Old won all his matches.  Gordon Law and Bernard Joyce were both having their first match for the team.
The spin serves of Yee in particular, gave the Southland boys some problems.
In the under 15 girls, Otago ran out the winner 8-4, with Marie Shaw having two good wins and narrowly losing her third game.
Of the other matches played between the two provinces, the Southland men's No. 2 team was well beaten, with Bruce Lowe picking up an easy win over former Southland Jonathan Geddes. 

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