Jimmy Spring "Alive", Arrested in Melbourne

Police claim to have arrested Rebound Table Tennis legend Jimmy Spring at Melbourne International Airport, after landing on a flight from Morocco.

Seen as the Godfather of Rebound Table Tennis, and mentor to late Rebound Table Tennis supremo Bernard Elksteine, Spring was believed to have died in a road crash in 1999.

"Jimmy Spring" moments before his arrest in Melbourne

A Police spokesman told the media this morning the arrest was made after a number of coincidental tip-offs indicated that Spring was alive, and would attempt to enter the country on an early flight this morning. A suspect was first identified at the checkout gates, but was followed and only arrested after he arrived at a suburban house in Melbourne's east.

Several reporters had received the same tip-off and were able to photograph the alleged Spring just moments before his arrest. He was take to Melbourne Central Police Station for questioning and remanded in custody.

Born in 1937 in Denver, Colorado, Spring immigrated to Australia with his parents at age 6. He grew up in Maroochydore and became a top Table Tennis player, competing for Australia in the 1960 and 1964 Olympics. Retiring in 1966, he was the first to formalise Rebound Table Tennis as a competitive form of table tennis in the early 1970's, having previously only been seen as a means of practicing the game for regular, full-table play. Spring believed the Rebound form of the game offered the potential for faster and more exciting competition.

Spring expanded Rebound Table Tennis as an amateur sport across the country, opening a string of Rebound Table Tennis Dojo's, where he trained players and oversaw amateur competition. The sport, however, never reached professional status in Australia under Spring.

Spring came under pressure in the mid-90's as his dojo's were linked to organised crime and drug trafficking, and he was reportedly under constant investigation.

Jimmy Spring in 1975

A key turning point for the sport came in 1995 when Spring met a down-and-out Bernard Elksteine on the streets of Brisbane. He immediately saw Elksteine's leadership skills, business acumen and knowledge and skills for the game as a successful former player, and put Elksteine in charge of his Ipswich Dojo.

After the reported death of Spring in 1999, Elksteine inherited Spring's entire Rebound Table Tennis empire. Seeing the wider potential for Rebound Table Tennis in the Australasian Region, Elksteine was able to use the funds generated from the Spring enterprise to expand his system nationally, and in so doing set up a junior player development program. He also cleaned up the sport's image, removing anyone who had apparent links to former allegations against Spring.

The program led to the game's popularity flourishing and establishment of large Dojos in many major centres across Austalia, New Zealand and later in Singapore in 2006. This led on the the establishment of the Australasian Rebound Table Tennis Super League in 2009.

The reported arrest adds fuel to speculation that Elksteine is also alive and well in Morocco, (having included several reported sightings) biding his time before re-claiming his place as Rebound Table Tennis Supremo in Australasia. It is now widely speculated that this has been part of a larger plan which commenced with Spring faking his death in 1999.

The mysterious, failed National HyperBall League initiative is still rumoured to have had links to Elksteine, and now possibly to Jimmy Spring as well, as the pair allegedly try to wrest back control of the sport "from the grave".

Police indicated today that they wished to speak to Spring about his disappearance and his possible former links to drugs and organised crime. No charges have been laid against the alleged Jimmy Spring at this stage. A medical assessment will be undertaken on the 73-year-old late this afternoon.

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Gold Coast-Tweed Book Grand Final Showdown with Newcastle

Minor Premiers Gold Coast-Tweed have redeemed their Quarter Final loss and booked a Grand Final showdown with Newcastle, breaking Sydney's 6-game winning streak in the Semi Final on the Gold Coast.

Both sides in fact came into the match having only lost once since Round 7. Both sides looked nervous as Gold Coast-Tweed served first and Sydney sent the ball skyward and out of the stadium. The game was scrappy early on as they battled to 5-5 at half time. It was unusual to watch as both these sides are normally very composed.

The second half saw the scrappiness continue as both sides made unforced errors as they progressed to 7-all. At this point Gold Coast-Tweed seemed to regain focus while Sydney continued to make errors. Gold Coast-Tweed moved to a 10-7 lead and finally won the match 11-8.

So after 71 matches and 1,324 points it comes down to arguably the two form sides who have traded the top two spots throughout the season. They have met twice on the Gold Coast and have won once each. It's a difficult one to pick, but Newcastle do tend to perform well at home, but Gold Coast-Tweed are a class side and will be hard to beat, however they will need to shake off the scrappy play they showed in overcoming Sydney.

ARTTSL President Bernard Elksteine has congratulated both teams on making the Grand Final, calling them the "cream of the crop" and stating these are the sorts of sides that deserve to be in ARTTSL's First Division, an apparent side-swipe at the Second-Divisions sides rumoured to be about to defect to the rival Hyperball League.

There is no further word of developments in Hyperball. There are fears however that they are preparing for a big announcement of team defections to take attention away from ARTTSL's Grand Final.

SEMI FINAL RESULT:
Gold Coast-Tweed 11 d Sydney 8 (at Gold Coast)

GRAND FINAL:
Newcastle vs Gold Coast-Tweed (at Newcastle)

Round 11: Sydney, Singapore Claim Last 2 Finals Spots

Sydney and Singapore have claimed the last two spots in the ARTTSL Finals series after winning must-win final matches in Round 11.

The four sides still facing uncertainty were forced to wait intil the end of the round though. First up was confirmed wooden spooners Illawarra at home to Brisbane. Keen to avoid the bottom-three relegation zone, Brisbane thrashed Illawarra who tried bravely to put up a fight. Illawarra's final point summed up their season by leaving the last ball to go through, having thought it was going out, to lose by a dismal 11-2. The win lifted Brisbane to 8th and out of the relegation zone.

Next up Newcastle wanted a big win over Melbourne in Newcastle to have some hope of catching Gold Coast-Tweed for the Minor Premiership, and started well, racing to a 9-1 lead, only to lose focus and let Melbourne pull it back to finish going down 11-6.

Ultimately Newcastle's score was irrelevant as Gold Coast-Tweed thrashed Perth 11-6. The result clinched the Minor Premiership for Gold Coast-Tweed, and left Perth 10th and hence the bottom-three relegation zone with Melbourne and Illawarra. As to whether any sides are relegated depends on whether there is a second division as ARTTSL still awaits an further announcements from the mysterious Hyperball League.

South New Zealand and Sunshine Coast were both assured of making the finals, but the match in Christchurch was still crucial as the winner would secure 3rd spot and hence home finals in the first two weeks of the finals, contingent on winning each week. South New Zealand took a comforatble 7-3 lead and held it to the end to win 11-6. The result left Sushine Coast 6th on the ladder and hence now needing to win four away finals to win the Premiership, the first ironically being against South New Zealand again in week 1.

With Singapore, Canberra, North New Zealand and Sydney all on 10 points in equal 5th, both became sudden death with only the winners moving into the top 6 on 12 points.

Canberra appeared to have lost their mojo in the trip to Singapore, never troubling them and going down 11-2. The loss ended a disastrous end to the season which saw Canberra lose their last four games after looking in contention for the Minor Premiership earlier.

Sydney travelled to Auckland to challenge North New Zealand for the final spot. Despite being gee'd up their mascot the Big Pippie and a big home crowd, Auckland were sloppy and slipped to 7-3 early and finally went down weakly 11-7. The win moved Sydney up to 4th on for and against and secured a home final in week 1 against Singapore.

Round 11 Results:
Brisbane 11 d Illawarra 1 (at Wollongong)
South New Zealand 11 d Sunshine Coast 6 (at Christchurch)
Newcastle 11 d Melbourne 6 (at Newcastle)
Gold Coast-Tweed 11 d Perth 6 (at Perth)
Singapore 11 d Canberra 2 (at Singapore)
Sydney 11 d North New Zealand 7 (at Auckland)

Preliminary Finals:
Week off: Gold Coast-Tweed, Newcastle
P1: South New Zealand vs Sunshine Coast (at Christchurch)
P2: Sydney vs Singapore (at Sydney)