Paul Hainsworth with one of the hard bats that will be used in the Cl World Ping Pong Qualifier on Saturday
Paul Hainsworth is not the type to big himself up, but when it comes to playing table tennis with a simple hard-bat with no mysterious rubbers, he is very adept at the game. So adept, in fact, that this time last year he went all the way to the final of the inaugural Ravenscroft CI World Ping Pong Championship qualifier. Ultimately, Jerseyman Eugene Ellis got the better of him in the final, but for edition two of the 32-man tournament, Ellis is absent and Hainsworth could be considered Saturday's pre-event favourite. After this week's draw for the group stages, the bashful Hainsworth was not getting carried away with his chances. 'It's a pretty tough draw, to be honest. There are quite a few handy with the sandpaper bat. It's quite tricky,' he said of a draw | which has seen him grouped alongside the likes of Jerseyman Jack Mills, the highly-experienced Dawn Morgan and hard-bat specialist Charlie Elliott. The top four from each of the four eight-strong groups go forward to the straight knockout stages and just about the time Guernsey FC and Guernsey Raiders kick off their matches, the best of five final will be under way at the impressive GTTA Centre. 'Across the groups we have a good mix of players and and groups B and C look quite strong and group D is quite open,' Hainsworth said. 'We don't know how strong Chris Morshead [of Jersey] is going to be, but he is a renowned defender with normal rubbers, so he could be tricky. 'If I had to name a dark horse perhaps I'd say Chris.' Derek Webb, the GTTA president, | agrees that Morshead could Picture and Report courtesy ofbe the unknown factor. 'We don't know anything about Morshead, other than that he lost to Eugene Ellis in their own hard-bat final. 'We didn't seed him because we wanted to reward those who did well last year.' Among those rewarded are Guernsey number one Garry Dodd, who this spring won the annual Mark Kilby Hard-Bat Tournament. Webb expects both Hainsworth and Dodd to make the semis. 'Adam Langlois played very well last year and he can't be ruled out, while Alice [Loveridge] has never played in the hard-bat, so she is an unknown.' Play starts at 9.30am and runs through to about 2pm. The Guernsey Press |
