When experience, talent, and confidence combine, it can produce stunning moments in sport.
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So it was for the Goulburn Table Tennis Club's Tsu Fun who, despite being a dark horse for the Men's Open Singles Club Championship title, claimed victory in Sunday's final over top seed and incumbent champion, Richie Jiang.
Fun, or "TK" as he is affectionately known throughout the club, was in strong form all day despite a lingering knee injury which impacted his movement and fitness.
He survived a five-set thriller against GTT president and third seed, Mark Soley, using his power and reflexes to stay close to the table and put pressure on his opponent.
This tactic served Fun well against everyone he played on Sunday, with the exception of eventual Veteran's Singles champion, Michael Turner.
"He counter-hits very well close to the table," Soley said of Fun shortly after his five-set grand final victory over Jiang.
"So if you're not on your game, you find yourself on the back foot a bit. He found a purple patch and just ran away with it."
Jiang, as the young star of local table tennis, was the heavy favourite going in to the last game of the day - particularly after his Junior Singles title win over Sam Dunn.
But despite an improved, more well-balanced play style, the 18-year-old faltered against his older opponent's consistency, as Fun regularly returned shots which may well have been winners against most other players.
"TK's a dark horse, he can play out of his skin like he did today, and other days he can struggle," Soley said.
"In the last month since he came back through COVID and got back on the table, he's played consistently better. He's sorted out his equipment, and he's playing a little bit nicer.
"He's got confidence, and he's playing with confidence, and that's always going to help you through an event like today."
Though Jiang was disappointed not to defend his title, Soley said the youngster will come away from the weekend a better player for the experience.
"I think Richie's getting to the point where technically he's all over everything, he's just getting to the stage where he has to build his game for himself, without having someone coach him through it," he said.
"He just got caught up in the pressure, like I did, later in the game. But that's okay, he'll get there."
The full list of winners from Sunday's Club Championships is as follows:
- Men's Open Singles - Tsu Fun
- Women's Open Singles - Elisa Chung
- 0-1000 Singles - Gerard Gray
- Open Doubles - J. Gray and M. Soley
- 0-1000 Doubles - E. Chung and P. Trama
- Veteran's Singles - Michael Turner
- Junior Singles - Richie Jiang
- 0-600 Singles - Bruce McGuirk
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