2nd World Ping Pong Qualifier - Preview

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

be 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.

Picture and Report courtesy of

The Guernsey Press