Lions Spot for Sport
Post date: Apr 07, 2021 9:52:35 PM
Ben Foss picked up where he left off as the Guernsey table tennis season resumed in earnest and he claimed his maiden Lions Spot for Sport title. The Lions A player entered as top seed by virtue of leading the way in the Doric Insurance Division 1 and is showing strong form before the Island Championships commence in a few weeks’ time.
The new 3-player round robin stage saw the seeded players progress as expected, despite some obvious rustiness following the 8 weeks of no action. Indeed, it was a similar story up to the quarter finals, with only 4th seed Jez Powell being troubled by the much-improved 2nd Division player Nye Matthew. The semi-finals paired Foss with Josh Stacey and although Stacey edged the first game 16-14, he could not find any rhythm and his younger opponent took control to win the next three ends. On the adjacent table, Lawrence Stacey had looked sharp all night and took a 2-game lead against Phil Ogier. However the veteran found a second wind and produced some vintage defensive play and counter-attacking forehands, with Stacey shell-shocked as his opponent rattled through the games to make it 2-2 for the loss of only 6 points. Ultimately Stacey took some time to re-compose himself and cut out the unforced errors to take the 5th game 11-5. After that cracking semi-final, the final did not disappoint the crowd with some entertaining and skilful rallies. Foss took the first end, but Stacey controlled the game well to go 2-1 ahead before Foss rallied back in the 4th. Stacey then appeared to take control of the deciding game but could not find a finish and Foss showed excellent mental resolve to out-spin his opponent and from 8-5 behind, won 6 consecutive points to take the game, match and his first Spot for Sport title.