2013 Island Championships Day 6

Under 18 Doubles

Top seeded twins Lawrence and Joshua Stacey (pictured) made up for their Men's doubles semi final defeat yesterday evening by reaching the final of the Under 18 Open Doubles, where they will compete against 2nd seeds Alex Robinson and Joshua Butler.

The twins faced their toughest challenge in the semi finals against 3rd seeds Sam King and James Rabey yet they were still able to progress courtesy of a 5 game victory.

Robinson and Butler had a much smoother route to the final and did not drop an end. Their semi final opponents were the unseeded pairing of Ben Foss and Chloe Le Tissier, who had earlier shocked 4th seeds Luke Le Tissier and Andy Lihou in straight games. The 2nd seeds made no mistakes and clinically put away the mixed combination.

Over 60's Open Singles

There was some superb table tennis on display throughout the tournament from the players over the age of 60 and none more so than during the 2 semi final clashes.

Top seed Keith Opie clashed with 4th seed Ian Fitchet in the first semi final and the pair shared games throughout until the match reached the climatic 7th game. Opie by far looked more likely with leads of 7-2, 9-6 and eventually 10-7. Fitchet dug in deep and managed to save all 3 match points to take it to deuce. It was then Opie's turn to save 3 match points before the number 4 seed closed the match out at the 4th time of asking via  a15-13 finish.

The other semi final was similarly dramatic as GTTA president and 3rd seed Derek Webb opened up a strong 2-0 lead over 2nd seed Neil Hastie. The Lions player battled back to parity at 2-2 before Webb again went into the lead at 3-2. Hastie edged a tight 6th end to force the decider, but soon found himself 7-2 down in the pivotal end. He fought back excellently to 7-7 following a Webb timeout and it looked like the momentum was his. A few nervy points later, including a fault serve at 8-9 turned that theory on it's head as Webb closed proceedings by an 11-8 scoreline