A YOUNG York RI ‘A’ team have edged to victory in the York Table Tennis Summer Handicap competition.

The RI teenagers beat Bootham Conservative Club ‘B’ in the final by the narrowest of margins.

The match at York RI was drawn 5-5, so count-back was used to decide the winners and RI ‘A’ came out on top by only eight points.

Jake McCarthy and Nathan Taylor won two singles matches each for RI, while Mike Cooper won two for Bootham. The other three players won one each.

York RI took a 3-0 lead, but Bootham fought back to level the match.

RI then took the next two to lead 5-3 before Bootham pulled it back to 5-4 to take the match into the final game.

Bootham won the final doubles match, but not by enough points to snatch the crown from RI.

York RI also won their semi-final against Aviva on count-back after the match was drawn.

The other semi-final was also close, with Bootham coming out on top by 5.5 to 3.5 against Holgate WMC ‘B’.

The competition included 16 teams, split into two groups of eight.

The top two teams from each group qualified for the semi-finals, which were also played at RI.

Each player was allocated a handicap according to their ability.

Spokesman John Farmery said: “Thanks must go to Terry Botting for organising the competition again this year and for his handicapping of the players that resulted in such close matches.”