The Fermanagh Open took place in the Lakeland Forum on Saturday and another massive entry was received for what was hailed as the 'King of Tournaments' by top English veteran Abdul Wuraola, who had travelled from London to participate in the event.
This was only one of the positive comments to the organisers on the day as players from near and far reported that they very impressed with not only the tournament but also the fantastic venue and the excellent canteen facilities provided by June Elliott.
This was a great accolade for Fermanagh table tennis but the Association cannot take all the credit for this success as the promotion of the tournament would not have been possible without the generous support of Fermanagh District Council, P.I.K Precision Engineering, Gordon Robinson Property Sales, Harold Graham, Milligan Bros, Gerry Dolan, Tracey Concrete, The Carleton Cakes Company, Violet Vale Eggs and Tommy Fitzgerald (Stiga Ireland).
The first event to get under way was the Class 2 Open Singles and local players Leyroy Carleton and Jack Stephens booked semi-final places after several impressive wins in what was a top class field.
Unfortunately, for local interest, this was to be the end of the line as young Dublin ace Sam Hanley ousted Leyroy and Jack suffered the same fate at the hands of Belfast's Wallace Mahaffey.
It was the young Dubliner who went on to lift the title, beating the Belfast player by three sets to one in a spectacular final.
The Veterans' event, as usual, was contested hotly and it was the No.1 seed Abdul Wuraola, from London, who took the title over his fellow countryman Julien Gittens from Leeds.
Jeremy Lappin, from Letterbreen, who reached the semi-final only to be defeated narrowly by Gittens, produced the best local performance in this event.
The Men's Open, which is the highlight of the event, produced rivetting table tennis from the group stages right through to the final.
Unfortunately, no local players made it through to the final stages although neighbouring Co. Tyrone saw the impressive Daryl Strong secure an excellent semi-final place.
However, Daryl, a former winner of the event, could not break down the impressive Leeds defender Julien Gittens in an enthralling semi-final showdown.
Dublin-based Chinese player Na Ning, who had extinguished the charge of number one seed, Abdul Wuraola, by three sets to one in a thrilling quarter-final match, secured his final spot with an impressive semi-final win over Belfast's Wallace Mahaffey.
It was Na Ning who went on to lift the prestigious title beating Julien Gittens by three sets to one in a breathtaking display of table tennis.
The U-21 event would certainly have made the bookies rich as favourite after favourite fell by the wayside.
Local hopes were pinned on former Fermanagh League players, Gervis and Keith Knox, from Trillick.
Top seed, Peter Graham, from Belfast, was undoubtedly the strong favourite. However, it was the younger up and coming stars Paul McCreery (15) from Belfast and Sam Hanley (14) from Dublin who stole the limelight in this event as they secured the final spots. On this occasion, it was Paul who took the U-21 title by three sets to one.
The ladies singles saw the smallest entry in the competition. However, it proved to be a very exciting event with Belfast's Claire Nelson winning the title, Ros Carpenter (Dublin) taking second place and Gillian Richardson (Greystone, Co. Tyrone) coming third.
Na Ning and Peter Graham won the doubles competition when they beat Daryl Strong and Phil Wallace three sets to nil in the final.
