Jackson five

HAT-TRICK . . . Andrew Tarpey (right) won his third straight junior title with victory over Callum Jones (left) in the final.

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ANDY JACKSON claimed his fifth Oldham Closed Table Tennis Championship men’s singles title with a superb display at Radclyffe Sports Centre.

Unbeaten on the day in a field of 64, he overcame last year’s runner-up and four-times previous winner Darryl Meredith 4-1 in the final despite losing the first set.

Jackson defeated Paul Cicchelli in five sets in the last four, his ‘flat’ hitting penetrating the stout defence of the reigning champion on sufficient occasions to make the difference.

Meredith had accounted for the 2009 winner Mark Ramsbottom in the other semi-final in four close sets.

Jeff Craighill enjoyed a double on the day. He teamed up with Khamal Hussain to take the doubles crown, beating Tony Bates and Tony Smith in four tight sets.

This was some consolation for Hussain, who was a losing finalist last year.

The veterans event attracted 32 entries from which Craighill kept hold of his title for a second year.

He saw off Jackson, a two-times winner in this section, by the narrowest of margins in the fifth set.

In the last four, Craighill got the better of Bates, while Jackson had beaten three-time veterans champion Mark Ramsbottom.

Out of an entry of 18 juniors, Andrew Tarpey landed a third victory on the trot after overcoming Callum Jones in the final.

In the semi-finals, Tarpey defeated James Chappell, while Jones had accounted for Callum Allman.