ILT SOUTHLAND OPEN TOURNAMENT, INVERCARGILL – 17TH & 18TH MAY 2025
The ILT Southland Open table tennis tournament took place over the weekend and some great games over 1 ½ days.
11-year-old Lucas Alexandre from Auckland beat Ben Duffy of Otago by 4 games to nil to become the youngest ever male Southland Open holder. Using skill and precision he showed the attributes of a future champion to upset the older, wiser Ben Duffy. He also won the U13, U15 and U19 boys singles titles, over William Hsia from Canterbury, the runner up in all these 3 events. Tracey Hsia from Canterbury won the Woman’s Open title over former Southlander Gemma Buzzard by 4 games to 1 in a hard hitting final. Lucas also teamed up with his father and coach Josh Alexandre (Auckland) to take out the Men’s doubles open final over Ben Duffy and Grant Wilson from Otago. The Open Woman’s doubles final was won by Gemma Buzzard and Tracey Hsia from Canterbury, with Gemma teaming up with Josh Alexandre to take out the Open Mixed title. It was pleasing to see Southlanders taking out various titles as well, with Evie Rout showing her potential in winning the U13 Girls title. Willie Brocks showed his skill and experience to win both the Over 40 and Over 60 Men’s titles.
A full listing of placings and full results can be found on the TTNZ Tournament planner.
Table Tennis Southland wish to acknowledge the support from its sponsor Invercargill Licensing Trust and to thank the volunteers who made this event happen over the 2 days. Tournament Manager – Megan , with support from Richard , Gillian, Deborah and Maurice, with assistance as well from Gemma. A lot or organising, planning and time made this event happen. Nathan ran our canteen over the 2 days and did an admirable job, we thank him for his time.
Finally, Table Tennis Southland would also like to thank all of the players that entered including the players that travelled from Otago, Canterbury and Auckland. It made this tournament a very special and high-quality event with some hard fought matches over the 2 days.
Please find attached photographs from our tournament
Richard Cavanagh
For Table Tennis Southland