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Post date: Apr 21, 2013 9:45:1 PM
Garry Dodd and Alice Loveridge were the winners of the showpiece Men's and
Women's Singles events on an evening where 19 Island Championship finals
were contested.
For both players, this was their 6th title, with Dodd's being his 6th
consecutive.
Dodd's final against Phil Ogier saw a display of unrelenting dominance from
the CI number 1. He was on top throughout the encounter and never looked
like losing during either of the 4 legs played. His offense was too great
for Ogier who was regularly forced away from the table as Dodd sprayed the
ball to all positions with ease en route to victory.
Earlier on Dodd had picked up the Mixed Doubles and Men's Doubles titles.He partnered Dawn Morgan in the former and they dispatched Ogier and SamKershaw in clinical fashion without loss. The outcome of the Men's Doubleswas exactly the same with Joshua Butler showed his rapidly improving gameduring the pair's straight game win over Scott Romeril and Jez Powell.Loveridge had only entered the Women's Singles event due to Universitycommitments and she made no mistake in picking up her 6th title. Morgan was
her opposition in the final and the force of Loveridge's attacking game was
far too much for the Whistlers player who went down comfortably in straight
games.
Morgan herself certainly had an excellent evening despite losing to
Loveridge. She was the most represented player on the night, appearing in 5
finals. On top of the Mixed Doubles success, she also collected the
Veteran's Women's Singles and Women's Doubles crowns. The Singles resulted
in an easier than expected 4-0 win over Kay Chivers and it was Chivers that
Morgan teamed with in the Women's Doubles. Here they squared up against
Paula Le Ber and Sam Kershaw and the odds were heavily stacked in the
2-time champions favour. The underdogs fought exceptionally well and put in
one of the performances of the evening, despite losing in a 7th and
deciding leg. Morgan's other final was in the Veteran's Open Doubles
alongside Martin Sarre in a match that resulted in a 5 game defeat at the
hands of Mark Pipet and Phil Hunkin.
Pipet and Hunkin had earlier met in the final of the Over 50's Open Singles
and it was Hunkin that surprised the favourite Pipet, winning in 5 games
and lifting the title for the first time.
Pipet was not to be denied an individual title though as he he clinched the
Over 40's Open Singles title after an epic clash with Jez Powell. The pair
had played each other in the opening round of the Men's Singles just 1 week
reserved and the outcome there was a Pipet 14-12 victory in the deciding
7th game. It looked at one stage that Powell would gain revenge when
holding 2 match points at 10-8 in the 7th, however the 14 time Men's
Singles champion had other ideas and used all of his grit and experience to
restore parity at 10-10. Here it looked like Pipet would win the following
point when a loose ball was available for a forehand smash. This led to one
of the shots of the evening as Powell smashed the ball back onto the table
from the deep. Unfortunately for Powell he could not follow up on that
point of brilliance and agonisingly went down 13-11.
Ian Fitchet was the main benefactor in the remainder of the Veteran's
events as he picked up a double that included the Over 60's Open Singles
and the Over 70's Open Singles. In the former he walked away with a 5 game
win over GTTA President Derek Webb, however it was the latter encounter
that held more talking points. His opponent in the final was Ken Falla, who
incredibly was making his Island Championship Final debut after numerous
years and attempts. The match was well contested and it looked like Falla
was on the comeback trail when he fought back from 0-3 to 2-3. Fitchet kept
calm and won the important points to ensure the title was his in the 6th.
The Junior events on the evening produced some excellent table tennis and
served as a great example of the future of Guernsey Table Tennis. Starting
at the youngest end of the scale, Luke Bichard was a comfortable 4-0 winner
over Ellis Tomlin in the Under 11 Open Singles.
The Under 13 Open Singles was another brilliant encounter and included Ben
Foss and Jack Ives, who were both recently member's of the British Primary
Schools Championship bronze medal winning team. Foss has held the upper
hand over Ives during their past few encounters and was favourite for the
win. Alderney's Ives was not about to lie down and he started superbly
opening a 3-1 advantage. Foss, who picked up an individual silver medal in
the aforementioned Primary Schools Championships is known for digging deep
and fighting until the very end and he was determined not to go down in his
only final. He battled back well and managed to win in 7 after some high
quality table tennis from both players.
Ives was also a finalist of the Under 15 Boy's Singles in the opening
session of the night. Top seed Sam King has had 1st division experience
locally this season and had too many weapons for the Ridunian, winning in
straight games.
The Under 18 Boy's Singles was picked up by Joshua Stacey after his
straight game win over Alex Robinson. Robinson has had success over Stacey
during the season, however the older player raised his level for the
occasion to ensure victory was his.
Joshua also combined with twin Lawrence to win the Under 18 Open Doubles
crown. They defeated Robinson and Butler in an entertaining 7 game
encounter with some nice rallies and general play.
The twins were involved in one other final and this was in direct
competition as they faced each other in the Under 21 Open Singles. Matches
between the pair in the past have always been closely contested and this
was no different. The advantage went back and forwards and predictably
resulted in a 7th game decider. It was Lawrence who came out on top on this
occasion, edging it 11-9.
The remaining finals saw the best Junior Girls in the Island in
competition. Such is the strength of Chloe Le Tissier and Cleo Rosumek,
that they were the finalists of the Under 15 Girl's Singles and the Under
18 Girl's Singles.
Remarkably enough the finals followed an almost identical pattern as Le
Tissier picked up both titles courtesy of 6 game wins. In both Rosumek had
held numerous game points in the 6th ends to force deciders before Le
Tissier dug deep and fought back to take them in deuce.
Next weekend will see the turn of the Channel Island Championships and
Inter-Insulars in Jersey. Friday evening will see the Individual CI
Championships contested where the winners of the above events will come up
against their Jersey counterparts. On Saturday the Inter-Insular team event
matches will be played and the highlight of all 11 will be the Green Trophy
which features each Island's top 3 male players. Other than the Green, the
aim for both Islands will be to pick up the aggregate trophy which is an
overall tally of all 110 matches over the 11 team event matches.
The action will take place at the Jersey Table Tennis Centre at the FB
Fields.
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