Island Championships 2015 - Day 1

Please see below a summary of the opening's day action from the 2015 Island Championships.

Under 21 Open Singles

The hotly contested event saw the top seeds both eliminated at the semi final stage, the result of which is that the final will be contested by 3rd seed Alex Robinson and 4th seed Lawrence Stacey (pictured).

Robinson cruised through to the semi finals where he took on the top seed for the event and 2015 Green player Joshua Stacey. The first 2 ends were tight and proved decisive in the outcome of the encounter, both going the way of Robinson 14-12 and 13-11 respectively. Stacey clawed a few legs back over the duration of the match, but his resolve came to end in the 6th, which Robinson claimed 11-9, on his 2nd match point.

Lawrence had an equally impressive route to the semi final stages, also without loss and here he faced another Green player in the form of 2nd seeded Joshua Butler. Butler was unable to get into his usual rhythm and Stacey comprehensively won the match in straight games to make the final.

The pick of the tournament came in the Quarter finals between Butler and Liam Robilliard. Butler led 3-1 before Robilliard forced the decider. Having then trailed 4-2 in the decider, Butler came back well to clinch it 11-7.

Veterans Open Doubles

Top seeds Phil Ogier and Jez Powell expectedly made their way to the final, however they will meet the unseeded pairing of Chas Elliott and Maurice James in the final.

The favourites were in cruise control during their run to the final, which culminated in a straight game win over 3rd seeds Dawn Morgan and Martin Sarre.

The bottom half of the draw was thrown wide open following the withdrawal of 2nd seeds Mark Pipet and Phil Hunkin, and the experienced St Pauls pair took full advantage of the opportunity, reaching the semi finals. Their opponents were also unexpected as the unseeded pairing of GTTA president Derek Webb and Andre Bichard had toppled the 4th seeded combination of Kay Chivers and Keith Opie in a 7 game thriller, at the quarter final stages. Elliott and James dropped the 4th end, but ultimately ran out comfortable 5 game winners.