Island Championships 2017
Post date: Apr 20, 2017 9:46:0 PM
The 2017 Island Championships are kindly sponsored by La Fraternelle Home Insurance.
Reports
Finals Night
Garry Dodd finished off the local table tennis season in style by clinching 2 of the main Island Championship events up for grabs during the annual finals night, contested on Friday evening.
Dodd has been in superb form this season and having won every local singles match he has contested, this culminated with a straight sets win over Joshua Butler in the Men's Singles final. Dodd's 8th crown puts him outright 3rd in the all-time Guernsey list, behind just Mark Pipet and Bert Brenton. The victory against 2015 champion Butler came at the end of the an evening that had earlier seen the pair combine to overcome the Stacey twins, Joshua and Lawrence in straight sets of the Mens Doubles, with each end being decided by just 2 points. The final Singles encounter between the pair had been closer than the 4-0 scoreline suggests with Dodd taking the opening and 3rd ends 12-10, Butler holding a game point in the 3rd. Dodd was ultimately clinical in the end, the final score ending 12-10, 11-7, 12-10, 11-2 in the top seeds favour.
The twins may have lost the doubles, but they played out one of the best matches of the night, also during the final session of matches alongside the Mens Singles clash. The duo have not been able to be separated this season and each ended with an identical league average following completion of the 75 singles matches. Their encounters this season have also been tight and this was no exception, with the match going to a deciding 7th end after numerous high quality rallies. When 2nd seed Lawrence took the 5th game 16-14 to lead 3-2, it looked like he would seal the win in 6, but Joshua incredibly edged the 6th by another narrow end, 15-13. The decider had nothing in it again as expected, but Lawrence held his nerve well and took both service points from 9-9 to pick up the title.
Pipet is 2nd on the list of all time Mens Island Championship Singles titles with a hefty haul of 14 and he has certainly not forgotten where to find the winning formula, another 2 titles added to his impressive collection on the night. He was too good for both Carl Le Tissier and Derek Webb in the Over 50's and Over 60's Open Singles respectively. He did have the opportunity to add a 3rd title during the final session of the night, but here he came up against another decorated champion of the game, Phil Ogier. Ogier was in no mood to let the opportunity to clinch a 4th consecutive Over 40's Open Singles championship and he duly did so after winning comfortably in straight sets. Like Pipet, he was also on hand to pick up 2 titles on the night when he combined with Jez Powell to win their 4th consecutive Veterans Open Doubles crown, Kay Chivers and Keith Opie defeated 4-0 in the final.
Chivers herself had another good night and won the most titles of the night with 3. She picked up her 16th Island Womens Singles title, on top of a 9th Womens Veterans Singles crown after her straight set win over Sam Kershaw. Her final title came in the Womens Doubles alongside Dawn Morgan where they beat Becks O'Keefe and Juliette Yeaman in straight sets.
The Mixed Doubles was clinched by the returning Alice Loveridge and Adam Langlois when they overcame top seeds Joshua Stacey and Morgan in straight sets.
The Island's most experienced players contested an excellent standard in the Over 70's and it resulted in an incredible 9th title for Ian Fitchet following his straight set win over top seed Maurice James.
The Restricted Open Singles was a new trophy introduced 4 years ago and is for players between the age of 21 and 40 that have not played in the Green trophy inter-insular clash for the past 2 years. Paul Hainsworth picked up his 3rd title in this event after defeating Liam Robilliard 4-1.
There was also a strong display from the Junior players in the finals from the remaining 7 events.
Ben Foss was the main winner on the night due to his 2 titles obtained in the Under 18 Mens Singles and Under 18 Open Doubles. He comfortably beat Ryan Bichard in the Singles without loss before they combined to beat Luke Bichard and Dan Collenette 4-0 in the Doubles encounter.
A matching double of titles was obtained by Alderney's Marli Barker due to her success in the Under 18 Womens and Under 15 Girls Singles. Her opposition in both finals was fellow Ridunian Amy Wesley and whilst Barker won the opening U15 clash 4-1, the second encounter was a lot closer. Wesley showed great fighting spirit in the U18 clash and came back from 3-1 to restore parity at 3-3. It looked certain that she would avenge the earlier defeat when opening up a handy 4-0 lead in the decider, but Barker remained calm and came through 11-8.
Luke Bichard may have lost the U18 Doubles alongside Collenette, but he had earlier seen off team-mate Collenette in the Under 15 Boys Singles. Bichard came through the encounter 4-1, having clawed back a large deficit in the 5th end.
An absolutely classic was contested in the Under 13 Open Singles and it saw 2nd seed Caden Brouard upset the seedings to deny Division 3 team-mate Ben Sharp over 7 ends. Sharp had overturned a 3-0 deficit to force a decider, but Brouard regrouped very well to take the final end 11-6.
The evening opened with the youngest players in action in the Under 11 Open Singles. Zaheer Anees' victory over Jayden Tucknott in the final came in straight sets, but Tucknott acquitted himself well and is another bright star for the future.
Restricted Singles
Top seed Paul Hainsworth will contest the final against 2nd seed Liam Robilliard. Hainsworth came through against Paula Le Ber 4-0 in the first semi final, whilst Robilliard navigated past Becks O'Keefe 4-1 in the other semi final clash.
Over 60's Open Singles
Top seed Mark Pipet will compete against 2nd seed Derek Webb in the final. Pipet came through in straight sets against Maurice James, while Webb battled past 4th seed Keith Opie 4-2 in the other semi final.
Mixed Doubles
The top seeded duo of Joshua Stacey and Dawn Morgan will contest the final of the Mixed Doubles against the number 3 seeds Adam Langlois and Alice Loveridge. Stacey and Morgan eased through against Keith Opie and Kay Chivers 4-0 in the semi final from the top half of the draw. Langlois and Loveridge have not played this season, but they had enough in the tank to get past 2nd seeds Phil Ogier and Sam Kershaw in the other semi final. The finalists let a 3-0 lead slip, but ultimately came through 4-2.
Womens Veterans Singles
Top seed Kay Chivers will face off against 2nd seed Sam Kershaw in the final. Chivers defeated fellow 2nd Division player Sue Ferbrache 4-0 in the semi finals, whilst Kershaw came through a hard fought 5 set encounter against Division 3 player Jenny Powell in the other semi final clash.
Over 50's Open Singles
Number 1 seed Mark Pipet will square off against 3rd seed Carl Le Tissier in the final on Friday evening. Pipet was a comfortable straight sets winner over unseeded Tim Le Page in the first semi final. Le Tissier had a much tougher test in the other semi final, where he came up against 2nd seed Chivers. Le Tissier was bossing the encounter at 3-0 up, but Chivers fought back strongly to force the match to a 7th and deciding leg. Le Tissier regained his form and cruised through the final end 11-5.
Mens Doubles
The Mens Singles finalists Garry Dodd and Joshua Butler teamed up to reach the final of the Mens Doubles this evening, as the top seeds. They will meet 2nd seeded twins Joshua and Lawrence Stacey in the final to be contested on Friday evening. Dodd and Butler defeated 3rd seeds Phil Ogier and Jez Powell in the semi final stages 4-1, whilst the twins came through against 6th seeds Liam Robilliard and Matt Stubbington without dropping an end.
Womens Doubles
Top seeds Dawn Morgan and Kay Chivers reached yet another Womens Doubles final after they cruised through against Sue Ferbrache and daughter Sophie in the semi finals. They will meet the unseeded pairing of exiting GTTA development officer Becks O'Keefe and Juliette Yeaman after they put an end to the run of the junior Ridunian pairing of Marli Barker and Amy Wesley in the other semis.
Under 18 Womens Singles
Sunday's action kicked off with the Under 18 Girls Singles and it was a repeat of the Under 15's with Barker and Wesley reaching their 2nd finals. Barker eased past Erin Vaudin in the semis, whilst Wesley cruised through 4-0 against Shelby Timms.
Under 18 Mens Singles
Top seed Ben Foss will meet 2nd seed Ryan Bichard in the final of the other event to be contested on Sunday morning. Foss was in top form after his withdrawal the evening prior and cruised past Ryan Gilson, Billy Ogier and Joseph Bourgaize without dropping a set. 2nd seed Bichard cruised to the semis by beating Robert Naftel and Corey Brouard without dropping a set. Here he faced a tough test against Collenette but managed to come through over 6 sets.
Under 18 Open Doubles
Sunday afternoon saw the turn of the Dennis Lempriere Memorial Doubles tournament, also known as the Island Under 18 Open Doubles. The finalists from the Under 18 Open Singles were playing together and Foss and Bichard duly made their way to the final with 5 set wins over Gilson/Bourgaize and Sharp/Ellis Tomlin. They will meet 2nd seeds Luke Bichard and Dan Collenette who reached the final with a 5 set win over Brouard and Ogier in the other semi final.
Over 70's Open Singles
Sunday evening kicked off with the Over 70's Open Singles and top seed Maurice James made his way to the final where he will face off against 2nd seed Ian Fitchet. James overcame Peter Powell 4-1 in the semi finals, whilst Fitchet cruised past Brian Le Cras 4-0 in the other semi final clash.
Veterans Open Doubles
This was just the 3rd event of the 13 contested thus far where the top 2 seeds did not reach the final. Despite this fact, the number 1 seeds Phil Ogier and Jez Powell did make their way to the final as anticipated. There they will meet 4th seeded Whistlers duo of Kay Chivers and Keith Opie. Ogier and Powell comfortably came past Andy Gill and Ian Le Page 4-0 in the semis, whereas Chivers Opie secured an upset 6 set victory over 2nd seeds Martin Sarre and Dawn Morgan, despite losing the first 2 legs.
Mens Singles
Garry Dodd is aiming to pick up his 8th Island Mens singles crown and move outright 3rd in the all time list and he did manage to live up to his seeding in reaching the final. There he will meet the 2015 champion Joshua Butler, who performed very well, despite only being seeded 4th for the event. The event was well supported with a healthy entry of 43 and despite some small resistance, the 8 seeds expectedly made their way into the Quarter final stages. The toughest matches on paper prior to the Quarter finals were for 5th seed Phil Ogier and 6th seeded Lions C team-mate Paul Hainsworth. Ogier came up against the unseeded Liam Robilliard in the Last 16 but played well and came through in straight games, saving a few game points in the 4th, which he took 13-11. Hainsworth had an even tougher test in the Last 32 where he faced off against Alex Robinson, who was also unseeded despite playing at the number 2 spot for Ravenscroft II in British league this season. The first 3 ends were well contested, but Hainsworth did just enough in the end to come through 4-1. The quarter finals were mainly fairly one sided affairs with Dodd coming through against 14 time champion and Whistlers A team-mate Mark Pipet in straight games, 2nd seed Joshua Stacey beating Hainsworth without loss and Butler getting through via walkover over Ben Foss, having comfortably taken the first 2 games for the loss of just 10 points. The final quarter final was by the far the closest match of the competition and it saw 3rd seed Lawrence Stacey edge past Ogier in 7, having trailed 3-2. That was as far as it was to go for Stacey, who was beaten in straight games by the imperious Dodd in the semis. Butler had a tougher clash with Lawrence's twin Joshua, but played the big points exceptionally well and won over 5 ends to reach his 2nd Island Mens Singles finals.
Womens Singles
As with the Mens Singles, the top seed duly made their way to the final and the player in question was 15 time champion Kay Chivers, who is expected to add to her tally due to the absence of Dawn Morgan from the singles events at this year's competition. Her opponent in the final is due to be 4th seed Chloe Le Tissier who reached the final despite not having played all season. Chivers eased into the final with straight set wins over Shelby Timms and Charlotte Casey, however Casey fared well and was unlucky not to get anything for her efforts, having held game points in the opener. She had earlier been a comprehensive straight set winner over 3rd seed Paula Le Ber. Le Tissier came through against Alderney's Marli Barker without loss before battling through a see-saw encounter with 2nd seed Sam Kershaw in the other semi final. The game went back and forth before Le Tissier cruised through the deciding 7th end 11-3.
Under 11 Open Singles
Saturday morning and afternoon contained events for the youngest stars of the Association and first event up was the Under 11 Open Singles. In the end it was comfortable for top seed Zaheer Anees and 2nd seed Jayden Tucknott, who each made it through to Friday evenings final. Anees beat Shelby Timms 4-0 whilst Tucknott overcame Harvey Le Tissier 4-0.
Under 13 Open Singles
Top seed Ben Sharp will contest the final against 2nd seed and Division 3 team-mate Caden Brouard. Sharo cruised past Max Burrows in straight sets, whilst Brouard needed 5 sets to come through over Division 4 Lions player Freddie Walker.
Under 15 Boys Singles
Top seed Luke Bichard will meet fellow Lions Division 1 player and 2nd seed Dan Collenette in the final. Bichard had a tricky test against 2nd Division player Corey Brouard, who pegged the top seed back to 2-2, having trailed 2-0. Bichard held his head and weathered the storm well to win in 6. Collenette had no such troubles against Walker in the other semis and came through comfortably without loss.
Under 15 Girls Singles
The remaining event to be contested on Saturday was the Under 15 Girls Singles and it saw success for the seeded pair from Alderney, namely Marli Barker and Amy Wesley. The Ridunian success came when Barker beat Shelby Timms 4-0 and Wesley overcame Tia Timms 4-0.
Under 21 Open Singles
The event which is perceived to be of the next highest quality outside of the Mens Singles fully lived up to expectations with some excellent action on display on Friday evening to kick off the Championships. Twins Joshua Stacey and Lawrence Stacey lived up to their billing as top seeds, but they each had tough tests in the semi finals. Lawrence may have beaten 3rd seed Butler 4-2 in their semi final match, however 3 of his 4 sets came past the regulation distance, the final scores being 14-12, 15-13, 6-11, 11-6, 6-11, 13-11. Joshua had an even tougher test in the other semi final encounter where he needed the full 7 ends to defeat 4th seed Ben Foss. Stacey trailed 3-2 and looked in danger before clinching the 6th and 7th ends 11-7 and 11-9 respectively.
Veterans Open Singles
The other event to be contested on the opening evening of action was the Veterans (over 40) Open Singles and top seed Phil Ogier will meet 2nd seed Mark Pipet in the final. Ogier was in cruise control and did not drop a set all evening, culminating in a straight set win over 3rd seed Jez Powell. Pipet had a much tougher route and came past a dogged 5th seed Martin Sarre 4-2 in the quarters before overcoming 4th seed Andy Gill by the same score in the semi finals.