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Bachli defends Yukon table tennis title

Whitehorse’s Kevin Murphy, a 17-time Yukon champion, seems to have done too good a job of coaching Ryan Bachli over the years. For the second year in a row, Bachli defeated his coach in the open singles final.
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Whitehorse’s Kevin Murphy, a 17-time Yukon champion, seems to have done too good a job of coaching Ryan Bachli over the years.

For the second year in a row, Bachli defeated his coach in the open singles final of the Yukon Table Tennis Championships, wrapping up Sunday at Whitehorse Elementary.

After beating Murphy in seven sets last year, Bachli produced a more decisive win this time around, taking the match 11-13, 11-6, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7.

Going three-for-three, Bachli also won the open doubles with partner Alex Zheng, defeating Murphy and Mark Preston 11-7, 11-8, 11-8 in the final. Teamed up with Kyle Gonder, who like Zheng represented the territory at the Canada Winter Games in February, Bachli also won the open random team event. Though Bachli and Gonder finished ahead of Murphy and former open women’s champ Edna Knight, Murphy did defeat Bachli in a mini, best-of-three sets singles match.

“Which probably just made him hungrier to prove he was No. 1,” said Murphy. “I wish I gave Ryan more of a battle. I knew he was going to be very strong and I was playing with an abdominal strain that was a week old.”

“I was just really tired yesterday; I wasn’t really trying,” said Bachli. “Today I was more focused and actually tried to win.”

Joining Bachli, who won three bronze medals at the 2008 Arctic Winter Games, in the winners’ circle, were Ehsan Idrees in the junior singles, Matthias Hoenisch in novice singles, Andy Todd in adult novice singles, and Victor Zsohar and Todd in the random team event.

“When we are at a tournament, I still coach him, but he’s getting into that field as well,” said Murphy of Bachli. “He was with me at the Canada Winter Games down in Halifax, and he was coaching as well. It’s a good thing to have the next generation move into the coaching ranks.”


FINAL STANDINGS

Open singles

1st Ryan Bachli

2nd Kevin Murphy

3rd Mark Preston

Open doubles

1st Alex Zheng/Ryan Bachli

2nd Mark Preston/Kevin Murphy

3rd Kamran Idrees/Ehsan Idrees

Junior singles

1st Ehsan Idrees

2nd Alex Zheng

3rd Kamran Idrees

Novice singles

1st Matthias Hoenisch

2nd Abed Rajab

3rd Jassan Rajab

Adult novice singles

1st Andy Todd

2nd Keith Perley

3rd Haider Rajab

Open random team

1st Ryan Bachli/Kyle Gonder

2nd Kevin Murphy/Edna Knight

3rd Mark Preston/Ehsan Idrees

Adult random team

1st Victor Zsohar/Andy Todd

2nd Haider Rajab/Keith Perley

3rd Laurie Sokolowski/Colleen Hoenisch

Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com