The Gwent Closed was once a firm favourite in the playing calendar of players from the South East Region of Wales, but has not been run for several years due to difficulties with venue and organisation.
The Gwent Table Tennis Association (GTTA) decided to get the competition organised this season, and so the event took place at Newport Velodrome on Saturday 4th of December, run on behalf of GTTA, by John Evans of Newport and District League.
The event had a good entry despite some players being unable to attend due to the weather, even so both Gwent leagues and all Gwent clubs were represented. All events were mixed male and female, and this made results difficult to predict. First away were the veterans and junior events. The big surprise in the junior event was that only one male player made it to the semi final stage, and the final was girls only. This bears testament to the strength of the young female players.
The eventual winner was Charlotte Carey, runner up was Beth Roberts.
The veterans was a hard fought event and the final between Tony Collins and Ray Goulding was a classic, going to deuce in the fifth. It was Ray Goulding who finally managed to grab 2 clear points to secure the victory. The seniors turned up the usual suspects for top honours, making it to the final were previous event winners Ray Goulding and Charlotte Carey. In yet another close match, Charlotte won through in the fifth set to claim the Halex Trophy.
