British League

2023-24


Results

Guernsey 1 (National B-1)

Guernsey 2 (National C-1)

British League Weekend 3

A few weeks can make a big difference and this turned out to be true for some of the leading Island table tennis players last weekend, when the third round of matches in the Senior British National League took place.

Just two weeks prior both Guernsey 1 and Guernsey 2 experienced some difficult matches, which resulted in defeats in all 8 matches contested. This time was a much better outing and the sole reduced round of action, with play just taking place on the Saturday, saw 3 victories obtained out of 4.

Guernsey 1 were most fruitful with their results, obtained at the Halton Regional Table Tennis Centre in Widnes, Cheshire, where both sides are contesting their campaigns. This is because they won both of their matches in National A-1, the third tier of British National League within the pyramid, behind just the Premier and Championship Divisions. These results came at a key time as they had lost the prior 5 matches, having started the season strongly with 3 wins. As a result, it sees them rise the table to 4th equal, just 2 points behind 3rd spot.

The unchanged and ever-present Guernsey 1 side of Ben Foss, Lawrence Stacey, Joshua Stacey and Ryan Bichard opened with intent as a strong 8-1 win was recorded against a bottom placed St Marys Tigers side, whom the Sarnians defeated 7-2 on the opening day of the season. Foss was the only player to taste defeat in this fixture, as he went down in three closely contested sets to England number 189 James Garrod. The majority of matches were won in straight sets by the Guernsey side, except singles matches including the St Marys Tigers number 4 Tudor-Andrei Eftinca. Joshua defeated him in 4 sets, whilst Bichard had an epic encounter with him in the final game of the match. None of the 5 sets was won by more than 2 points and in the end Bichard took the deciding end 13-11, the third set to have gone beyond the 11-point distance. The other match that went the distance was the doubles rubber and it saw Lawrence and Joshua battle back from 2-1 down to defeat Garrod and Josh Thompson, 11-7 the score in the deciding set.

The afternoon fixture saw an equally impressive 7-2 win obtained against a 7th placed Nottingham TTC 2 side, where a 6-3 win had been obtained when they played in October. Last time Jack Rogers was unbeaten in singles action due to his 4 set wins over Joshua and Bichard, however on this occasion Joshua reversed that result, winning the 4th set of their encounter 13-11. Rogers did however still defeat Bichard, once again in 4 sets. Nottingham’s Number 1 player Harry Stevens was the other to pick up a win last time, over Foss in 4 sets and an identical result was achieved this time. All other matches were won by the Guernsey outfit, although the result was perhaps a bit harsh on the defeated side, as 3 matches were claimed over the full 5 sets. Lawrence was involved in 2 of these due to his wins over Stevens and Gregory Fray, whilst twin Joshua beat Adedapo Onakomaya 11-5 in the deciding end of their clash.

Meanwhile the Guernsey 2 side of Matthew Casey, Jamie Ferbrache, Sam Clark, Steve Ozanne, Shelby Timms and Charlotte Casey have had a tough time in National C-1 and were heading into this weekend looking for their first victory of the season.

The players competing this time out were Ferbrache, Clark, Ozanne and Timms and they managed to achieve that maiden victory courtesy of a strong 6-3 win over 7th placed side Isle of Man. The result still sees the Guernsey 2 side bottom of the table, but now level on points with the IOM team. Timms, operating from the number 4 spot experienced the most success as she was unbeaten in the fixture. She defeated Euan McWilliams in 5 sets before closing out the match with a 4-set win over Glenn Callow. Ferbrache got the side off to a perfect start when he battled back from 2-0 to get past Wesley Burrough in 5 sets, whilst Ozanne got his BL campaign off with a bang with a 4-set win over Callow. Clark was a comfortable straight sets winner over McWilliams to ensure a victory was obtained and the margin of victory was extended thanks to a 16-14 5th set triumph for Ferbrache and Ozanne over Burrough and the unbeaten singles player Scott Lewis, who defeated both Clark and Ferbrache in 4 sets.

The other fixture saw a 6-3 defeat by Colin Deaton 2, however there are positives to take as this was much improved on the prior 8-1 defeat. Ozanne and Clark maintained their 50% win ratio for the weekend as each won a match. Clark won the match opener against Marcus Ka Lam Lai in 5 sets, despite having trailed 2-1. Ozanne also won his first match of the fixture when he also came back from 2-1 to beat Matthew Blake, the final 2 sets being edged 16-14, 12-10. The other match won was the doubles rubber where Ferbrache and Clark came back from 2-1 down to beat Jeremy Hamshaw and Blake in 5 sets. Clark was very unfortunate not to go the match unbeaten as he was pegged back by Winston Hill, letting a 2-0 lead slip before being defeated in 5 sets.

There is now a short break before the final action of the season is contested during the weekend of 6-7 April 2024.


British League Weekend 2

Guernsey’s leading table tennis players returned to action in the Senior British National Leagues last weekend, when the second round of fixtures from the 2023/24 season took place.

Action for both Guernsey sides took place at the Halton Regional Table Tennis Centre in Widnes, Cheshire and resulted in some close matches, but ultimately a disappointing weekend overall for both sides.

The Guernsey A side in particular will have been most disappointed as heading into the weekend they were level 2nd, having won 3 of their fixtures first time out.

The strong team of Ben Foss, Lawrence Stacey, Joshua Stacey and Ryan Bichard played some good table tennis but ended up on the wrong end of all 4 fixtures, leaving them 5th in the table within the strong National A-1 Division, which consists of 8 teams.

The opening day’s play on the Saturday was the most challenging as it saw them come head-to-head against 2 of the top 4 sides in the Division.

The first match was a clash with 4th placed side East Midlands TTC 1 and ended as a heavy 7-2 defeat. In this clash there were 2 matches lost over the full 5 set distance and there was extra intrigue and interest in this fixture as the East Midlands side contained former Jersey Green trophy player Luke Greenfield, playing at the number 2 spot. English number 67 Greenfield was involved in 2 of the close 5 set matches as it transpired. The very first match saw Foss against Greenfield and the Sarnian came through 11-9 in the deciding end. Josh was not so fortunate and in a reverse outcome, he was edged by Greenfield 11-9 in the deciding end. He did however pick up the other win for the Guernsey side in the fixture as he overcame James Davies-Stokes in 5 sets in a match where he battled back excellently from 2-0 down. Bichard was the player to lose the other 5 set rubber, falling to Joel Webb, despite having led 2-1.

The other match from the opening day was against the red-hot Milton Keynes, who are level top of the table and a heavy 8-1 defeat was incurred. The result looks harsher than the reality as 3 of the singles matches contested were only narrowly lost over the full 5 sets. Lawrence was involved in 2 of these as he was defeated 13-11 in the 5th by England Number 66 Jon Hall and 11-9 in the 5th by England number 88 Benjamin Dunkley. Dunkley was the player to also inflict a 5-set defeat on Bichard. There were however positives to be taken from the heavy defeat as a straight sets win was achieved in the doubles by Foss and Bichard over Takuya Nakai and Matthew Evans.

It will however be the action from Sunday which is the toughest to take as 2 extremely narrow 5-4 defeats were incurred.

The first of these defeats came against a strong 3rd placed North Ayrshire 2 side and is incredibly harsh as an incredible 4 of the 5 matches that went the full 5 set distance were won by the Scottish based side. Lawrence starred in this match and was unbeaten as he firstly beat David Hay and Ethan Chapman in 4 sets, before teaming with twin Joshua to overcome Hay and Nathan Hogg in 4 sets. Unfortunately, the only other win obtained was in the match opener where Foss defeated Hogg in 5 sets. Joshua was on the wrong end of both 5 set matches against both Hogg and Harry Blackhall, whilst Foss lost to Hay in 5 sets. The toughest one to take however was Bichard’s loss in the final game of the match to Blackhall with an agonising 13-11 loss incurred in the decider.

 Luck was definitely not on the side of the Sarnian side when the other 5-4 defeat was incurred by 7th placed side Draycott 1, who recorded their first win of the season in the process. Lawrence and Bichard each defeated Draycott number 3 Navinder Matharu in singles action, whilst Joshua added a straight sets win over Oliver Williamson. The doubles was edged by Lawrence and Josh impressively over the strong team of Artur Caltabiano and David Arrowsmith, but unfortunately that elusive 5th win could not be found. Joshua came the closest, but he was edged out 11-9 in the deciding set by Arrowsmith, incredibly his 4th 5 set defeat of the 8 matches played all weekend.

For the Guernsey 2 side of Matthew Casey, Jamie Ferbrache, Sam Clark and Shelby Timms, they also had a tough weekend and sit rock bottom in National C1.

Their most competitive match surprisingly came against 5th placed side Halton TTC 2, where a 6-3 defeat was incurred. In this match both Casey and Clark beat number 2 Thomas Ray in straight and 5 sets respectively. The doubles was won well by Ferbrache and Clark over Brett Heppenstall and Gobinath Sivanesan in 4 sets.

Historically the penultimate weekend of British League action takes place in January, however there is a change in schedule this season and the action comes thick and fast with the players back in the UK next weekend, just 2 weeks after the second round of fixtures.

In other news the leading Island player Garry Dodd was in action for Drumchapel Glasgow TTC 1 in the leading Premier Division against Table Tennis Daily. A hard-fought encounter ended as a 4-3 loss, however Dodd played his part in one of the wins obtained by his side. He teamed with Victor Guang Shi to defeat Daniel Ives and Tom Maynard in the doubles rubber. Due to operating at the number 1 spot, he is required to play the leading 2 players in each side, and this left him up against Callum Evans and Umair Mauthoor. Evans in particular is an exceptional player, and the Welsh star is ranked inside the top 10 in England. Dodd pushed him during the opening 3 sets, all of which were won beyond the regulation 11 points, before Evans powered through the 4th set to achieve victory. Mauthoor is also a very strong player, ranked 22 in England and despite Dodd leading 2-1, he was ousted in 5 sets. The key win for the TTD side was number 3 Daniel Ives’ 4 set win over Guang Shi and this helped them to edge the encounter. Dodd will next be in action against third placed side Batts 1 on 16 December.



British League Weekend 1

With the domestic table tennis season having commenced a few weeks ago, the Islands top players travelled to the UK this weekend to contest the first fixtures in the Senior British National Leagues.

The prior season had been fruitful for the leading Sarnian side as the return to British League action following a COVID-enforced break a few seasons prior resulted in them re-entering the leagues in National B, which is the 4th tier of action within the British League pyramid. Promotion was obtained at the first time of asking for the youthful side of Ben Foss, Lawrence Stacey, Joshua Stacey and Ryan Bichard and the quartet return this time out for their step-up to the third tier, where they are competing in National A-1.

For the second team, the side remain within the 6th tier of action and again compete within National C-1. The squad due to represent the Island in this outfit is Matthew Casey, Jamie Ferbrache, Sam Clark, Shelby Timms and Charlotte Casey. Luck has it that both sides are competing at the Halton Regional Table Tennis Centre in Widnes, Cheshire, making it convenient for proceedings.

Guernsey 1 largely continued where they left off from the last campaign and enjoyed a strong weekend where victories were obtained in 3 of the 4 fixtures contested. The results see them level 2nd with 2 other teams, their only defeat coming from the unbeaten Orneau 2 side at the top.

Saturday saw a perfect start where 2 wins were obtained. This commenced with a strong 6-3 win over Draycott 1 in a fixture where Ben Foss made an unbeaten start. He started with a strong 4 set win over English number 104 David Arrowsmith and followed this up with an even better 4 set win over England number 48 Artur Veeck Caltabiano. Each of the other members picked up a win apiece to close the encounter out. Joshua and Bichard each defeated Jody Bevington, whilst Lawrence earned himself a 4-set win over Navinder Matharu. The doubles rubber was decisively won by the Stacey twins over Caltabiano and Arrowsmith to extend the margin of the victory.

The day went from strength to strength as the afternoon saw a more emphatic 7-2 win achieved over St Marys Tigers and all players except Foss were unbeaten in singles action. The sole singles defeat by Foss came at the hands of Abhijay Mishra in straight sets, a player that Lawrence had earlier battled past in 4 sets. The team picked up maximum victories during clashes with James Garrod, Che Goulbourne and Luke Lowther. The only other rubber to go the way of the opposition was the doubles rubber where Foss and Bichard were edged out in 5 sets by Mishra and Garrod.

Sunday’s action continued with positives as a 6-3 win was gained over Nottingham TTC 2. In this fixture it was Lawrence who was the sole player that won both of his singles rubbers. His best win was against number 1 Harry Stevens who is ranked 173 in England, and he fought back in this clash from 2-1 down, edging the final sets 12-10, 14-12. His other win came over Gregory Fray in 4 sets. Foss and Joshua each beat England number 148 Adedapo Onakomaya impressively in straight sets, whilst Bichard also beat Fray, in straight sets. The doubles was won once more convincingly by the Stacey twins in straight sets, this time over Onakomaya and the unbeaten singles player Jack Rogers, who defeated Josh and Bichard in 4 sets.

The perfect weekend could not quite come to fruition as in the last fixture a tough 6-3 defeat was the result against the strong Irish based Orneau 2 side, who had also won their prior 3 matches. It was a tale of the top and bottom ends of the scale as Orneau’s number 1 Jonathan Mooney and their number 4 Adam Faulkner were both unbeaten the fixture within the 5 rubbers they played in.

Mooney is just outside the top 50 in the English rankings and he was a class above during his straight sets wins over Foss and Lawrence where he lost just 28 points over the 6 ends contested. Faulkner on the other hand was a strong number 4 player as he is in and around the top 150 in England. His first victory was key as it saw him come back from 2-1 down to overcome Josh in 5 sets before he comfortably defeated Bichard in straight sets. The duo also made a crucial comeback in the doubles against Lawrence and Joshua as they overturned a 2-0 deficit to win over the distance. The remaining win was obtained by Connor Nugent who beat Bichard in 4 sets. Joy was obtained over the Orneau number 2, Zak Earley, who is ranked 75 in England as both Foss and Joshua impressively beat him in straight sets, whilst a further win was gained by Lawrence over Nugent in straight sets.

Guernsey 2 had a much tougher time and despite competing well, fell to 4 defeats in C-1.

The best performance came during their clash with the familiar Isle of Man side, which contained several players who recently competed in Guernsey 2023. Despite an epic encounter, it was the Manx side that edged the topsy-turvy contest 5-4. Shelby Timms starred for the Guernsey side as she defeated both William Dalugdugan in 4 sets and more impressively the Island Games Women’s Singles bronze medallist Katherine Vinas in 5 sets, coming back from 2-0 down in the process. Matthew Casey also did well during a straight sets win over Vinas, whilst sister Charlotte edged past Rebecca Taylor in 5 sets. Sam Clark came very close to getting the crucial 5th rubber during the match opener, but he fell in 5 sets to the strong number 1 Scott Lewis.

The next round of matches will take place during the weekend of 25 and 26 November.

 

Opening Weekend Sides:

Guernsey 1

1.       Lawrence Stacey

2.       Ben Foss

3.       Joshua Stacey

4.       Ryan Bichard


Guernsey 2

1.       Shelby Timms

2.       Charlotte Casey

3.       Matthew Casey

4.       Sam Clark