Capelles Open Singles
Post date: Jan 16, 2019 9:26:25 PM
Lawrence Stacey came out victorious in the battle of the twins to claim his first Capelles Open Singles title on Monday night. After an epic 5 game encounter with Phil Ogier in the semi final, Lawrence used that momentum to defeat Josh Stacey in the final.
Earlier in the evening the seeded players all navigated through the group stage with little difficulty, the only unpredictable results being in Group E as 5th seed Dan Collenette was forced to withdraw through injury. Second Division player Steve Martin took full advantage and won his remaining games to place top of the table.
The first knockout round saw some tighter matches, with Kay Chivers narrowly edging out the dangerous Steve Ozanne 11-8 in the deciding game. The Gilsons, Ryan and Callum made it the 2nd pair of brothers in the quarter finals, but didn't have things entirely their own way, with Ryan beating Ben Foote in a tight 4 games and younger sibling Callum doing well to see off Steve Martin by a similar scoreline. Somewhat surprisingly the quarter finals were far more one-sided as the Stacey twins progressed along with respective 3rd and 4th seeds Phil Ogier and Paul Hainsworth, all without dropping a set to their opponents.
The semi-finals probably saw the best matches of the night and although Josh Stacey struggles early on, he powered home to beat Paul Hainsworth 16-14, 11-8, 11-3. On the next table Lawrence Stacey eventually beat Ogier 13-11, 7-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-9 in an entertainng and highly tactical match-up. This stood Lawrence in good stead for the final as Josh never really got going. Despite three close games, Lawrence's extra sharpness proved key to record scores of 11-9, 11-9, 11-8 to claim the trophy.