THE Weymouth & District Table Tennis League drew to a climax with one of the closest finishes in the competition’s history.

Budmouth B had already beaten Budmouth C to first place in Division Two with a couple of games to spare, but both the Division One and Three titles went to the very last games of the season.

Land Registry went into their showdown with Wyke A knowing they could win the league even if they lost – though it could only be by a maximum of eight points.

They needed to draft in a rookie in the form of young Jamie Blair to put out a full team on the night, and the 13-year-old certainly didn’t let the side down.

Blair, who goes to Sheffield to compete in the Under-13 National Finals in June, won all three of his matches, including 3-0 wins over Steve White and former mentor Sai Maganti.

Steve Jackson also secured three wins and, with Andy Millar scoring two, eight points followed as the two teamed up to triumph in the doubles.

Land Registry ran out 28-10 winners and wrapped up the Division One title. Wyke finished as runners-up ahead of Wyke M, who secured third with a 22-11 victory over Shipton Gorge A.

John Ryan top scored for Wyke with a full nine points, while Miranda Edwardes scored six to top score for Shipton.

Pilgrims A were unable to secure a win in the league over the course of the season and finished bottom of Division Two, however, they did go all the way to the Handicap Cup final.

The Division Three title race was decided after an even closer finish than Division One.

With All Saints having completed their matches and sitting top, Budmouth D needed to make up a 47-point deficit with two games in hand.

The first of these matches was against the girls of Budmouth E, who certainly did not make it easy for their male counterparts.

In a tense encounter, both Will Jolliffe and Ethan Gear managed to score maximums, although Gear was pushed all the way by Erin Stow.

With Eddie Knell taking a leg off both Snigdha Maganti and April Heasman, the boys managed a 23-10 win, which meant they needed a further 23 points against a strong and experienced Wyke D team, already assured of third, in their final match.

Tony Dobbs was back for Wyke D but Budmouth got off to a great start with Jolliffe beating Dobbs 3-0.

Gear found himself 2-1 down to Ian South but somehow summoned the resolve to come back and clinch a 3-2 success.

Knell followed this up by beating Roger Walden 3-0, but Dobbs responded by beating Gear 3-2 and Knell 3-0.

When South also beat Knell 3-0 it needed all the skill of Jolliffe, the only unbeaten player in Division Three, to haul the boys back into contention.

With the score at 20-12 to the boys, a very solid performance in the doubles secured a 3-0 win and a 23-12 score on the night.

That meant All Saints and Budmouth D finished equal on 462 legs each, but by virtue of the fact that Budmouth D won 17 and All Saints 16 the title was decided by the narrowest of margins.

Steps finished bottom of the league without winning a match but must be commended for giving 100 per cent every week.

Budmouth D sealed a league and cup double with a 5-0 win over Pilgrims A in the Handicap Cup final.

Jolliffe and Gear, along with Snigdha Maganti, were the reigning champions and in no mood to give up the trophy.

Despite this being a handicap cup, only one match in the final would have been different had the games started off scratch.

Jolliffe and Gear won both their matches and when Knell chipped in with a victory over Stuart Walden the victory was secured.