Guernsey Table Tennis Association
The Channel Island Championships and Inter Insulars take place on Friday 26th / Saturday 27th April. Entry is free, spectators welcome!
Inter Insular Selections
SATURDAY 09:00
Under-11
Luke Evans, Isla Bretel, Thea Cummins
Under-15
Oskar Cleal, Barnaby Groves, Aiden Ozanne
Under-18 Girls
Shelby Timms, Sian Craig, Emily Gavey
Under-21
Caden Brouard, James Crocker, Connor Powell
Over-40
Phil Ogier, Jez Powell, Jamie Ferbrache
Over-60
Mark Pipet, Craig Dunning, Kay Chivers
Under-15 Girls (friendly)
Ella Le Ber, Keira Eldridge, Olivia Gilbert, Megan Robinson
SATURDAY 13:30
Under-13
Aiden Ozanne, Luca Sidaner, Luke Evans
Under-18 Boys
Oskar Cleal, Barnaby Groves, Cameron Powell
Over-50
Phil Ogier, Jez Powell Andy Gill
Over-70
Gary Willcocks, Keith Opie, Terry Trustum
Restricted
Ryan Bichard, Paul Hainsworth, Liam Robilliard
Under-15 Girls (friendly)
Ella Le Ber, Keira Eldridge, Olivia Gilbert, Isla Bretel
SATURDAY 18:00
Men's
Ben Foss, Joshua Stacey, Lawrence Stacey
Women's
Kay Chivers, Shelby Timms, Paula Le Ber
Island Championships 2024
Under-11
L Evans 4-0 I Bretel
Under-13
A Ozanne 4-0 L Evans
Under-15 Boys
A Ozanne 4-3 B Groves
Under-15 Girls
K Eldridge 4-0 I Bretel
Under-18 Girls
S Timms 4-0 E Gavey
Under-18 Boys
O Cleal 4-1 A Ozanne
Under-18 Doubles
O Cleal / Ca Powell 4-1 A Ozanne / L Evans
Under-21 Singles
Ca Powell 4-2 A Ozanne
Restricted Singles
P Hainsworth 4-2 R Bichard
Men's Singles
G Dodd 4-0 B Foss
Women's Singles
A Edwards 4-0 K Chivers
Men's Doubles
G Dodd / J Butler 4-1 B Foss / R Bichard
Women's Doubles
K Chivers / J Yeaman 4-2 A Edwards / C Casey
Mixed Doubles
G Dodd / A Edwards 4-0 J Stacey / S Timms
Veterans Open Singles
P Ogier 4-0 J Powell
Women's Veterans Singles
K Chivers 4-0 B O'Keefe
Veterans Open Doubles
A Gill / J Ferbrache 4-1 P Ogier / J Powell
Over-50 Singles
P Ogier - A Gill
Over-60 Singles
M Pipet 4-2 C Dunning
Over-70 Singles
T Trustum 4-1 K Opie
Results to final
Saturday Evening
Saturday Morning
Friday evening
An action-packed weekend of action from the La Fratenelle Home Insurance Sponsored Island Table Tennis Championships have seen finalists reached in all but 2 events. The Men’s and Women’s Doubles events are the last to be contested and these will take place on Monday evening.
The highlight of the weekend naturally came within the flagship Men’s and Women’s Singles events, held on Saturday evening at the busy GTTA centre at Hougue Du Pommier. The strong favourites in the form of Garry Dodd and Alice Edwards both expectedly made their way to the finals, which will be contested on Finals Night on Wednesday evening, where 20 victors across all events will be crowned as the Island’s best.
Men’s and Women’s Singles
Dodd and Edwards, vying for their 12th and 9th Singles titles respectively made serene progress to the finals of these flagship events, with each player dropping just the single set throughout the evening.
Dodd’s opponent in the concluding semi-final round was unexpected in the form of 7th seed Paul Hainsworth, who had caused a big upset in the Quarter Finals when ending the campaign of 4th seeded Green Trophy representative Lawrence Stacey over the full 7 sets. Dodd was always in control of the match, although 3 of the sets were closely contested. The match started with Dodd edging through a patchy opener 12-10 before Hainsworth took the 2nd end 11-8 to restore parity. From here Dodd motored forward and won the next 2 sets for the loss of just 7 points. The 5th and final set of the match was another close one with Hainsworth showing good fight, however Dodd finally closed it out 14-12. Dodd’s opponent in the final is 2nd seed Ben Foss. Foss was embroiled in a titanic battle against 3rd seed Joshua Stacey in the last match to finish on the night and despite trailing twice, fought back strongly to take the deciding 7th set of their encounter 11-6.
Edwards on the other hand was to meet the expected seed in her semi-final and was utterly ruthless in winning the first 3 sets over 4th seed Paula Le Ber for the loss of just 9 points. Le Ber rallied well and pinched the 4th set 13-11, however this pushed Edwards back to top gear where she closed out the 5th end emphatically 11-4. Edwards will play against 2nd seed Kay Chivers in the final after the Division 2 stalwart defeated 3rd seeded Division 1 player Shelby Timms in 5 sets.
The Men’s Singles Event saw some good matches throughout, but Dodd’s progress was clinical all night. He dispatched Ben Foote, Jamie Ferbrache and then 6th seed Ryan Bichard, all without dropping a set.
During the early stages of the night, there were some intriguing first and second round matches between Division 1 team-mates. The closest of these saw Sam Clark compete against Lions D team-mate Steve Ozanne. This match saw the games traded in order, however as it was Clark that won the opening set, he was never behind, and he closed out the deciding end 11-8. Another first round match saw Ferbrache compete against Lions B team-mate Nye Matthew. Matthew started strongly and led 2-0 before Ferbrache rallied strongly to win four straight sets and take it 4-2. A key set was the 4th, which Ferbrache crucially won 13-11. 4th seed Lawrence had the hardest first round match on paper across the 8 seeds as he was up against fellow top-flight player Matthew Casey. He was however in command of the encounter and dropped just 1 set en-route to victory.
Hainsworth had a tough test of his own against Lions E team-mate Connor Powell in the second round. Despite winning the opening 2 sets, Powell had been causing him problems with some effective serving and attacking strokes. This started to pay dividends as it enabled him to take the next 2 sets by matching 11-9 scores. Hainsworth regrouped and comfortably won the 5th 11-5 and when leading the 6th 10-6 looked to be heading to victory. Powell fought well and got back to 9-10, before Hainsworth was able to conclude the match and set 11-9. The other seeded players all navigated the second round with relative ease, however 8th seed Liam Robilliard did need 6 sets to overcome the tricky southpaw veteran Andy Gill, with 3 of the 6 sets contested going beyond the regulation 11 points.
The Quarter Finals were all well contested, but ultimately it was just the match between Hainsworth and Stacey on the first table which went deep. Heading into this match Hainsworth had not picked up any wins this season over the top 6 players in the Division 1 averages, despite coming close on a number of occasions. It looked unlikely that this would happen this time out either as Stacey was in control when taking the second end comfortably 11-5, having edged through a tight opener 13-11. The third proved to be important as Hainsworth gained a foothold in the match when he took it 11-9. Stacey however reasserted his dominance with strong attacking table tennis when taking the 4th 11-8 and opening up a sizable 3-1 advantage in the process. Incredibly though Hainsworth showed real grit and fight and with some strong play and with the benefit of a few more errors creeping into Stacey’s game, was able to win 3 sets unanswered 11-8, 11-7, 11-6 to complete a super comeback victory. As well as Dodd’s previously mentioned win over Bichard at this stage, Joshua battled past 5th seed Phil Ogier in straight sets, whilst Foss came through a very tight 5 set win over Robilliard in a match where all sets played were decided by just 2 points, including the final 5th set which Foss won 15-13.
There were no surprises in the Women’s Singles event as the 4 seeded players all made it to the semi-finals. Edwards dispatched youngster Emily Gavey in straight sets, whilst Chivers beat Division 1 player Charlotte Casey in straight sets. Timms dispatched Juliette Yeaman in straight sets, whilst Le Ber saw off the challenge of GTTA development officer Becks O’Keefe in 5 sets.
Mixed Doubles
Dodd and Edwards continued their success from Saturday evening by comfortably reaching the Mixed Doubles final, in the last event to be concluded in Sunday’s action. They were in cruise control throughout, and they reached the final with an emphatic straight sets win over Kay Chivers and Keith Opie, who had caused an upset in the prior round when edging 3rd seeds Hainsworth and Casey in 7 sets.
Their opponents in the final will be 2nd seeds Joshua Stacey and Shelby Timms after they navigated their way through a real battle against 4th seeds Andy Gill and Paula Le Ber, a match which they won in 7 sets.
Over 60’s Open Singles
Mark Pipet and Craig Dunning were the first finalists of the Championships as they battled through in the opening event of the Championships on the Friday evening. Top seed and defending champion Pipet reached the final by dispatching 3rd seed Kay Chivers in 6 sets, whilst Dunning overcame 4th seed Andy Ferbrache in 5 sets.
Restricted Singles
This event is for players between 21 and 40 and precludes players to have competed in the Green Trophy Inter-Insular team match or that have won the Men’s or Women’s Singles in the previous 2 stagings. Despite excluding players like Dodd, Edwards, Foss, Lawrence and Josh, it contained a strong pool of players, a number of which are 1st Division players and 3 of which were part of the 8 seeds in the Men’s Singles event. Top seed and last year’s beaten finalist Bichard will compete against 2nd seeded 8-time former champion Hainsworth in the final on Wednesday evening. Bichard needed to get past 2 x top-flight players on his way to the final, starting with Clark, who he defeated 4-1. His opponent in the semis was 4th seed Joseph Bourgaize and he came through the well contested affair 4-2.
Hainsworth started with a straight sets win over Ben Foote before squaring off with 3rd seed Robilliard in the semis. Hainsworth won the first 2 sets before Robilliard fought back to win the 3rd 12-10. The 4th set was key as it saw Hainsworth eventually edge it 13-11 after a number of consecutive service return errors from both players. Hainsworth was then able to close out the deciding set 11-7.
Under 21 Open Singles
The third and final event contested on the opening evening’s action saw the most surprises of all events thus far and the finalists are unseeded. Aiden Ozanne will compete against Cameron Powell in the final. The surprise results started from the off with 3rd Division player Barney Groves battling back from 3-1 down to oust top seeded Division 1 player Timms in 7 sets. Ozanne had a strong win of his own over 2nd Division player Oskar Cleal in 6 sets, despite having lost the first 2 sets. The Quarters saw more surprise results as the third and fourth seeds both exited the competition. 3rd seed James Crocker was beaten by Cameron in 6 sets, whilst 4th seed Connor Powell was beaten by Ozanne, also in 6 sets.
The first semi-final saw Powell dispatch Alex Paul in straight sets, following the withdrawal of 2nd seed Caden Brouard from the bottom half of the draw.
The other semi-final between Ozanne and Groves was expected to be a classic, given that all their meetings in Division 3 this season have been hard fought. In the end this however did not transpire and on this occasion, Ozanne won in straight sets. The opening set was pivotal as Groves held a sizable lead, only to be edged out 14-12. He also threatened a comeback in the 4th set but Ozanne held his nerve and closed it out 17-15.
Under 11 Open Singles
One of Guernsey’s most promising young talents, Luke Evans, expectedly lived up to his billing as top seed in the Under 11 Open Singles on Saturday morning and will play against 2nd seed Isla Bretel in the final. He beat third seed Thea Cummins in straight sets in the semi-finals, whilst Bretel held off 4th seed Olivia Guilbert in 6 sets in the other.
Under 13 Open Singles
Evans reached his second final in short succession and the second seed will compete against fellow Lions player and top seed Ozanne in the final. Ozanne’s second final was reached when he dispatched 4th seed Keira Eldridge in straight sets, whilst Evans beat 3rd seed Luca Sidaner in 5 sets.
Under 15 Boys Singles
Ozanne upset the odds and whilst seeded 4 reached his third final, where he will meet 3rd seed Groves, who also upset the odds to make the final. Groves was up against top seed Cleal in the semi finals but played some impressive table tennis to win in straight sets. Ozanne was up against Cameron Powell in a preview of sorts of the Under 21 Open Singles final to come on Wednesday evening. In this clash Powell took the opening set before Ozanne roared back to win in 5 sets.
Under 15 Girls Singles
The final junior event to be contested on Saturday saw Bretel reach her second final. The unseeded player will compete against top seed Keira Eldridge in the final.
To reach the final, Bretel needed to come through an epic tussle against 2nd seed Ella Le Ber in the Quarter finals. Le Ber had bravely fought back from 3-0 to force a deciding set, before Bretel narrowly clinched the deciding seventh set 11-9. Bretel then had a more comfortable semi-final against Mille Pragnell and won in straight sets. Eldridge reached the final by beating Thea Cummins in 5 sets.
Over 50’s Open Singles
The action on Saturday morning kicked off with the Over 50’s Open Singles and it saw defending champion and 4th seed Andy Gill reach the final. He will compete against top seed Phil Ogier in the final. Gill had a tricky route to the final and this took shape with a clash against fellow top-flight player Mark Pipet in the quarters. He came through this 4-2 to set up a match against 2nd seed Jez Powell. With the match poised at 2-2, Gill edged a crucial 5th end 15-13 before proceeding to win the 6th 11-6.
In Ogier’s debut in this event he proceeded to the final well. His opponent in the semis was 3rd seed Matthew and the first 3 sets were closely contested before Ogier took the final 2 ends comfortably, concluding a 4-1 win.
Over 70’s Open Singles
The remaining event from Saturday’s play saw the eldest players in the Island vying for a spot in finals night. Top seed and defending champion Keith Opie made his way to the final where he will meet second seed Terry Trustum. Opie beat GTTA president Derek Webb MBE in 5 sets, whilst Trustum came through against St Pauls player Maurice James in 6 sets.
Over 40’s Open Singles
Top seed and defending champion Ogier will play against fellow Lions C team-mate and second seed Jez Powell in the final. Ogier beat third seed Jamie Ferbrache in straight sets, whilst Powell came through a tough clash with 4th seed Steve Ozanne and won in 6 sets.
Women’s Veterans Singles
Top seed Chivers will play against second seed O’Keefe in the final. Chivers defeated Emma Webb in straight sets, whilst O’Keefe defeated Juliette Yeaman in straight sets in the other semi-final clash.
Under 18 Boys Singles
The first junior event to be contested on Sunday saw top seed Cleal reach the final. He will compete against Ozanne in the final, who made it 4 finals and counting.Cleal had unexpectedly lost to Groves in the semi finals of the Under 15 Boy’s Singles just a day prior, but he rectified this in style, winning in straight sets.
Ozanne was also decisive in his straight sets win over the surprise package of unseeded Xavier Ingrouille in straight sets.
Ingrouille had a great tournament and had firstly done well to beat fellow Ravenscroft Panthers player Micah Cohen in the opening round 4-1, despite having lost the opening set but followed up even more impressively with a 7-set surprise win over 2nd seed Cameron Powell in a match where he had trailed 3-1.
Under 18 Ladies Singles
Top seed and defending champion Shelby Timms will play against unseeded Emily Gavey in the final. Timms beat Keira Eldridge 4-1 in the semi-finals. Gavey earned herself an upset 6 set win over 2nd seed Sian Craig to reach the final.
Veterans Open Doubles
Top seeds and defending champions Phil Ogier and Jez Powell will meet second seeds Andy Gill and Jamie Ferbrache in a repeat of the final from last year. Ogier and Powell clinically beat Terry Trustum and Maurice James in straight sets, whilst Gill and Ferbrache defeated Kay Chivers and Keith Opie in 5 sets.
Under 18 Open Doubles
Aiden Ozanne made his 5th final alongside Luke Evans, who made his 3rd final. The duo, seeded 3, will meet second seeds Oskar Cleal and Cameron Powell in the final.
Ozanne and Evans upset the seedings to beat top seeds Shelby Timms and Barney Groves in 6 sets, whilst Cleal and Powell defeated 4th seeds Ollie Sparkes and Micah Cohen in straight sets.
Men's Doubles
Dodd is looking to retain his title with Joshua Butler and the pair were in ominous form during straight sets wins over Nye Matthew and Ben Foote, followed by Matthew Stubbington and Sam Clark. The challenge for the top seeds in the semi-finals was the 3rd seeded twin duo of Joshua and Lawrence Stacey. Despite being hard fought, Dodd and Butler had too much and raced into a 3 sets lead, followed by then opening up a 10-7 lead in the fourth. The twins played some excellent shot making from this point and did superbly to pinch it 12-10. They continued this momentum in the 5th end to force a 6th, but at this point Dodd and Butler increased their level and comfortably closed it out 11-4.
Their opponents in the final will be 2nd seeds Ben Foss and Ryan Bichard. They too reached the semi-finals without dropping a set by dispatching Andy Gill and Ian Le Page and then 6th seeds Jamie Ferbrache and Steve Ozanne. In the semi-finals they were up against 4th seeds Phil Ogier and Jez Powell and they did well to overcome a deficit to pinch the opener 11-9. Ogier and Powell took the second set comfortably to regain parity, however the younger pair then took the following 3 sets strongly with some high quality attacking table tennis to reach the final.
Women's Doubles
Edwards is competing with Charlotte Casey in this event and the top seeds expectedly made their way to the final with relative ease. They defeated Emily Gavey and Sian Craig followed by Jan Priest and Katy Collenette without dropping a set.
Their opponents in the final will be the unseeded duo of Kay Chivers and Juliette Yeaman after they produced an upset win in the other semi-final. Their match against 2nd seeds Shelby Timms and Paula Le Ber started perfectly as they took the first 2 sets. Timms and Le Ber took a tight 3rd end 11-9, but the advantage was then increased when the victors took the 4th 11-5. The seeded pair again battled back to take another tight end 11-9, however this was not enough and the underdogs then comfortably closed out the 6th set 11-4 to earn an excellent scalp.
Jersey's Fort Regent was the venue for the 2024 Primary Schools International from Friday 5th to Sunday 7th April, which featured nine of Guernsey’s up and coming under-12 table tennis players competing against some of the very best from England, Ireland, Jersey, Scotland and Wales.
The standout performers from the event were Aiden Ozanne and Luke Evans, who put in strong displays in both the team and individual events. Ozanne had an excellent run in the singles event, and seeded at number 4, he was drawn in a tough group. This included England's Rishaan Sawant, who was surprising unseeded and eventually finished as overall runner-up. The Sarnian produced some good controlled attacking play but lost out in close games, but followed this up with strong wins against Dylan Williams from Wales and Jersey’s Rory Quinn. The difficult draw continued as he played Ireland number one, Karsten Close in the next round and trailing 2-1 in games and 7-2 down in the 4th end it looked all over. However Ozanne showed incredible mental resolve to fight back and the Close’s tactical time-out had no effect as Ozanne powered through the 5th set to face England number 1 Zaid Aldimili in the quarter final. The eventual champion only dropped 2 sets all weekend and Ozanne played superbly to holding him to 1-1, before eventually succumbing 3-1.
Luke Evans also looked strong in progressing through his round robin group against opponents from Scotland, Ireland and Jersey before going out to England’s Malek Shamakh despite a good array of top spin attacks. Keira Eldridge also did well to gain a bronze medal in the girls’ plate event, only losing out narrowly to Jersey’s Maia Bowden in the semi-final.
In the team event, Ozanne and Evans were joined by debutants Daniel Martin and Samuel Cox in the boys’ team and they both picked up valuable wins to secure Guernsey a 7-3 win over Jersey. They boys saw defeat to the other Home Countries, despite some good individual victories along the way, including a narrow 6-4 loss to Ireland. Ozanne won an impressive 9 out of 12 matches in the team event.
The girls’ team of Eldridge, Isla Bretel, Megan Robinson and Olivia Gilbert were defeated in their team matches, despite some excellent performances along the way, showing that they can compete on the international stage, with the results not necessarily reflecting on how well they played. Guernsey also had 10-year old Thea Cummins guesting for Ireland in the team event, a match in which she contributed well as the Sarnians were edged out 6-4.
The teams were coached by Maurice James and Becks O’Keefe, and the GTTA Development Officer said: “First and foremost, this is an invaluable competition for these young players and an experience from which they have learnt a lot. It gave them the opportunity to compete with some top national players in their age group, some of whom are already making an impact in European tournaments.
There were some really good performances, and as Guernsey players don’t get many chances to play elite opposition and I hope this inspires them to want more in the future.”
Guernsey team:
Aiden Ozanne, Luke Evans, Daniel Martin, Sam Cox
Keira Eldridge, Isla Bretel, Megan Robinson, Olivia Gilbert, Thea Cummins
British League
With the domestic table tennis season largely concluded, except for a few local tournaments and the upcoming Island Championships and Inter-Insulars, the focus turned to the final round of action within the Senior British National Leagues over the weekend.
Guernsey’s return to British League action last year after the enforced break due to the pandemic, has been successful, with the leading side earning promotion from National B to National A last time out.
The leading side had put themselves in a strong position heading into the final weekend of action, with them sat in 4th spot and just 2 points behind the side in 3rd. Unfortunately, it was a difficult weekend for the Sarnians across the board and results did not go our way for either side.
The Guernsey 1 team of Ben Foss, Lawrence Stacey, Joshua Stacey and Ryan Bichard came up short in all 4 fixtures, which resulted in them finishing in joint 5th spot of the strong National A-1 league, which is the third tier of British League within the pyramid, behind only the Premier and Championship Divisions.
Ultimately the challenge came largely with the fixtures themselves as the clashes were against the top 4 sides in the league.
Divisional Championships
After the final round of matches in the Doric Insurance Leagues last week, the league season was closed with the annual Divisional Championships, as players fought for the title of individual champion for their respective league.
The Division 1 Championships was hard to call after the late withdrawal of averages winner Ben Foss through illness, with a number of potential winners on the cards. The top players all progressed serenely to the quarter finals with the exception of Liam Robilliard, who was subject to an inspired comeback by Matt Casey in the Round of 16, while Jamie Ferbrache survived a nailbiter against Joe Bourgaize, eventually triumphing 3-2 after a match featuring high quality attacking strokes.
The first semi-final was another match-up between the Stacey twins and this time it was Josh who had the upper hand. Lawrence has won this competition an impressive 5 years on the trot, but this time he could not keep up with Josh’s explosive backhands and he progressed after a tight match, 11-6, 6-11, 9-11, 11-7, 12-10. The other semi-final was equally enthralling as in-form Ryan Bichard had to dig deep to come from behind and overcome 11-time winner Phil Ogier, also in 5 games.
There was barely time to take a breather before the final, which was a topsy-turvy affair as both players tried to seize the initiative but were also affected by unforced errors. After Stacey took the first end, Bichard edged the second, before his opponent found his range again and ran through the next end with the loss of only 1 point, spraying forehands around the table in impressive fashion. The 4th game was much tighter as Bichard sought to regain some control, but after some nervy rallies Stacey claimed it on deuce to claim his first Division 1 title 11-5, 6-11, 11-1, 12-10.
In Division 2, Caden Brouard once again showed some of his untapped potential, with a brilliant 5-set win over top seed Craig Dunning. While the top 4 seeds progressed through the group stage and early knockouts with little fuss, a few seeds were surprisingly eliminated early on. 6th seed Brandon Ferbrache was knocked out in a tough group by Brian Ferbrache and Ben Foote and Ferbrache’s giant killing continued as he then took the scalp of 5th seed James Crocker before unluckily losing out to Brouard 11-9 in the 5th end of the quarter final. Meanwhile up and coming Division 3 junior Aiden Ozanne did well to account for 7th seed Keith Opie 3-1.
Dunning had been in imperious form, only dropped one end against Andy Ferbrache in the first semi-final, while on the adjacent table, Brouard was playing some sparkling shots in an excellent win over Chivers by the narrowest of margins, 11-4, 9-11, 11-8, 4-11, 16-14.
He continued this momentum in the final, extending into a 2-set lead before Dunning changed tactics and played more aggressively with his pimpled rubber, and won game 4 to love. Brouard’s tenacity was to be commended however, as he used the energy of the crowd to good effect, and despite enduring a string of unlucky edge points, to took the final game 12-10.
Division 3 provided a blockbuster finish to the league season and the Individual Championships were played at a similarly high level. The junior players excelled, and an early casualty was 4th seed Henri Whitehorne, whose defeat to veteran Ken Falla in the group stage led to a first-round exit at the hands of 3rd seed Luke Evans. Evans then accounted for Steve Martin, followed by an excellent victory over second seed Barnaby Groves. On the next table, Falla was showing his class as he took a 2-game lead over top seed Aiden Ozanne, but the 12-year-old focused himself well and was patient in his approach in winning the next 3 ends to set up a final against Lions teammate Evans.
In another eye-catching match the two players, who will both be representing Guernsey in next weekend’s Primary Schools International, produced an excellent showcase of attacking table tennis. Ozanne raced into a 2-game lead, but Evans fought back well to take the next two, with his forehand loops a particularly effective weapon. Ozanne showed his excellent mental resilience as he fought back from this setback in the 5th, countering well and finishing off rallies with good, angled hits, winning 11-7, 11-9, 11-13, 7-11, 11-6.
While Division 4 had a smaller entry, it was more success for Micah Cohen, who added to his league team and averages wins from the season. He defeated Ravenscroft Panthers F teammate Xavier Ingrouille 3-1 in a tactical final, with the contrasting styles of attack vs defence producing some long and intense rallies from the back of the court. In the semi-finals, Cohen had overcome the improving Rolands Tracums by a score of 3-1, while Ingrouille used his powerful forehands to good effect in beating 3rd seed Ella Le Ber in straight games.
Lions Novelty Doubles
There are new names on the historic Lions Novelty Doubles trophy this year after the youthful pairing of Barnaby Groves and Luca Sidaner claimed the title at the GTTA Centre.
Novelty Doubles is a popular event as it combines top-ranked players with those of lower-ranking to provide some evenly matched doubles action and the matches on display did not disappoint. The group stages provided interesting matchups, particularly in Group C, where top-ranked Jez Powell and partner Steph Evans were unfortunate to be narrowly eliminated against both eventual finalists.
After some similarly tight matches in the Round of 16 and quarter finals, the semi-finals pitted Groves and Sidaner against the contrasting styles of fellow junior Ollie Sparks and Henri Whitehorne. Having won the first set easily, Sparks and Whitehorne rallied to dominate the second, with Whitehorne’s defensive style complementing Sparks’ powerful forehand drives to good effect. The younger duo slowly improved their tactical play however, to seal progression with two close deuce games. On the adjacent table, Vaudin and Aquino were pitted against the tricky Panthers duo of Ben Foote and Mark Windsor but combined well to win 3-1, despite nearly letting a 10-3 slip in the final set, eventually coming through 11-9.
Vaudin has history with a series of good performances in doubles tournaments, while Aquino has steadily improved since moving to the island and looked to pose a threat. By the final though, they came across a junior pair who had gelled well, with Groves providing a steady hand for his partner as both attacked any high balls with aplomb, and they came through 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 to take the trophy home
League Presentations
The Doric Insurance Senior League Presentations were made on 20th & 21st March, congratulations to all the award winners:
Division 1
Winners : Lions A - Josh Butler, Liam Robilliard, Matt Stubbington
Runner-up: Lions B - Ben Foss, Jamie Ferbrache, Nye Matthew
Averages Winner: Ben Foss - 96.08%
Averages Runner-up: Joshua Stacey - 88.89%
Player of the Year: Nye Matthew
Division 2
Winners : Whistlers E - Craig Dunning, Tim Le Page, Oskar Cleal
Runner-up: Lions F - Ellis Tomlin, Caden Brouard, James Crocker
Averages Winner: Craig Dunning - 97.22%
Averages Runner-up: Kay Chivers - 85.51%
Player of the Year: Oskar Cleal
Division 3
Winners : Ravenscroft Panthers C - Shaun Mosley, Steve Martin, Barnaby Groves
Runner-up: Lions J - Andy Ozanne, Aiden Ozanne, Luke Evans
Averages Winner: Steve Potter - 97.10%
Averages Runner-up: Aiden Ozanne - 88.00%
Player of the Year: Luke Evans
Division 4
Winners : Ravenscroft Panthers F - Micah Cohen, Xavier Ingrouille, Jamie Regan
Runner-up: Lions O - Lionel Jones, Katy Collenette, Frank Coppolo
Averages Winner: Micah Cohen - 94.20%
Averages Runner-up: Lionel Jones - 93.65%
Player of the Year: Olivia Gilbert
Veterans North West Masters
16th – 17th March 2024
Maurice James, Keith Opie, Kay Chivers and Craig Dunning went to the Veterans North West Masters last weekend. It was a very good event and the trip from Guernsey to Preston was well organized by Craig.
Maurice James playing in the over 80’s singles, over 75’s and over 75’s doubles with Keith Opie. Keith also played in the over 70’s singles, over 75’s.
Kay Chivers playing in Women’s over 50’s, over 60’s and mixed doubles with Craig Dunning while Craig played in the over 40’s, over 50’s and mixed doubles with Kay.
All first stages were in groups and Maurice and Keith both got through in the over 80’s and 75’s to play in the main draw on the Sunday. Craig didn’t qualify so automatically went into the consolation event which was also on the Sunday, where he played extremely well and unfortunate to lose in the semi-final.
Craig and Kay lost their mixed doubles, after being 9-7 up in the 5th game to lose 11-9. It was very disappointing but hopefully do better next time. The pairing that they lost to went on to win.
Kay got through her group into the main knockouts. The first round was a bye, then she beat Linda Roff, followed by Jennifer Harrison and then lost in the final to Susie Venner.
The tournament was well run with about 225 taking part and 25 tables. We all thought it was well worth attending.
Training Camp
We've welcomed coach Matt Porter and players visiting from Worthing TTC this weekend. Some great opportunities for our players to learn from an experienced Level 3 coach in training camps plus enjoying some downtime this evening with food and golf at Golf19.
GTTA Individual Handicap Singles
The junior section of Guernsey Table Tennis showed the adults how it was done as they dominated the GTTA Individual Handicap tournament on Monday evening.
With a record entry meaning a later finish than initially expected, the final pitted 12 year old Luca Sidaner against 11 year old Luke Evans in a fantastic showcase of attacking play.
The unseeded nature of the event threw up an interesting draw and although this year saw a drop in the number of the GTTA’s top players entering, there was one particularly difficult group as Division 1 players Jez Powell and Shelby Timms were joined by Division 2’s in-form Brandon Ferbrache. Ultimately it was Timms who lost out with two defeats, but her two group-mates were subsequently eliminated by younger players in the next round.
By the quarter finals, the top players had all fallen by the wayside, as the last 8 were all aged 18 or younger. Evans drew the dangerous Henri Whitehorne, winner of the St Pauls Handicap in September and the pair produced a lengthy and spectacular match. The younger player’s attacking topspin shots contrasted with Whitehorne’s more tactical, conservative play and after some intense rallies featuring multiple smashes and sky-lobs, Evans triumphed 21-15, 16-21, 22-20. Across the hall, fellow Primary Schools International player Keira Eldridge narrowly lost out to Barnaby Groves who claimed an excellent victory at deuce in the deciding game.
In the semi-final, Sidaner had too much firepower for Groves, winning in straight sets off a 14 point start, while Evans did well to overcome the form player from Division 4, Xavier Ingrouille, from a 9-point deficit.
Sidaner went into the final with a 13-point handicap, but also had the advantage of being on the quicker side of the draw and had time for a break before the final. He put his foot down early on and romped through the first game to the loss of only 6 points. Evans came back strongly in the second game, but his opponent’s points advantage and strong backhands were too much, as Sidaner closed the match out 21-6, 21-16.
Jack Carrington Singles
Phil Ogier won his 6th Jack Carrington Singles title on Monday evening following a hard fought 4 set win over defending champion Ryan Bichard in the final. This was a reverse of the final from the prior year when Bichard had beaten Ogier by the same score in the final.
The event, which precludes players to have represented Guernsey in the blue riband Green Trophy Inter-Insular event for the past 2 years, was well represented with a strong entry of 36 individuals all vying for the title, despite Ben Foss, Joshua Stacey and Lawrence Stacey being ineligible to compete.
All 12 groups of 3 players contained a seeded player, all of which compete in the top flight of the Doric Insurance sponsored leagues. These players all showed their quality and ended as group winners. The narrowest of these was in Group K where Andy Gill just managed to edge out Division 2 player Kay Chivers over the full 5 set distance. Chivers led 2-1 in their encounter before Gill powered through the 4th set 11-4. He trailed 6-2 in the deciding end but fought hard and came through the deciding end 11-9 to top the group and leave Chivers as runner-up.
Some of the Island’s younger players continued to impress and none more so than 11-year-old Luke Evans, who managed to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition. He secured an excellent 5 set win over the more experienced Division 2 player Ben Foote in a match which he trailed 2-1 in. He battled hard to edge the 4th set 12-10 and from there won the decider comfortably, to progress as Group C runner-up.
Another youngster who excelled was 4th Division junior Micah Cohen. Cohen gave 3rd Division’s Steve Martin a real scare when leading 2-1, before the extra experience told and Martin managed to win in 5. Evans evening ended in the first knockout round to fellow Division 3 player Shaun Mosley in 4 sets, whilst Chivers continued her evening with a strong straight sets win over Division 1 player Shelby Timms. The surprise of the first knockout round came from Henri Whitehorne who used his unconventional style to outlast Andy Ferbrache 11-9 in the decider. The match contained some excellent rallies with Whitehorne showing great composure.
The second Collenette Jones Junior Banded Tournament of the season took part on Saturday, with players from across the junior coaching groups competing, and for some it was their first experience of table tennis competition.
Despite some top players not entering, there was lots of great table tennis on display with the 18 young players competing for medals and showing off their skills.
Band One Winner Xavier Ingrouille took advantage of the group favourite Ollie Sparks being unwell on the day and showed that he is one to watch in the coming months, only dropping one set all afternoon to 3rd placed all-rounder Luca Sidaner. Runner up spot went to the improving defensive player Micah Cohen.
In Band 2 it was under-11 player Daniel Martin who took the honours, having beaten in-form Isla Bretel narrowly 2–1. Martin used his powerful forehand to good effect in the match, winning 8-11, 11-5, 11-9.
The Band 3 title went to 8-year-old newcomer Keil Butt, whose movement round the table and topspin loops were particularly effective, while the runner up spot went to the ever-improving Jasper Kimber.
The players of the day awards are presented to individuals showing good sportsmanship and a positive attitude and was a hard decision for the coaching team to make. It was decided that there would be joint winners, with young Mason Eldridge and Ella Le Ber both having been promoted to higher bands and playing some excellent table tennis against their opponents losing narrowly inmost games.
The Collenette Jones Banded Tournaments are a key part of the Guernsey Table Tennis development strategy and this was the final such event of the season before April’s Island Championships
Collenette Jones Banded Tournament
Success for Evans in Plymouth
11-year old Guernsey Table Tennis junior player Luke Evans wrapped up a successful weekend in his first off-island junior open event in the Plymouth 4-star Junior Open.
Evans came away with Gold in the U11 event beating England player Thomas Nguyen, saving 2 match points before winning 7–11, 9–11, 15–13, 12-10, 11 -8. Evans knuckled down and stopped the English boy from attacking him and started to use the table well with his slow topspin forehands which changed the game.
In the U13 event Evans came away with a runner-up spot in the plate final having come 3rd in a tough group, narrowly losing out on qualification for the main draw. Evans lost to James MacQuillan in the final of the plate 3–1 despite having beaten Macquillan earlier in the morning in his group 3–2.
It was a great experience for Evans competing against young players from the UK and picking up wins against some highly-ranked England juniors. Evans hopes to attend more of these tournaments in the future.
Lawrence Stacey’s return to form continued with success in the Lions Spot for Sport Open Singles tournament on Monday evening as he successfully defended the crown won last year and making him a 3-time winner in the process.
His title was concluded courtesy of a hard fought 4 set victory over the record holding 10-time former champion Phil Ogier and ended the impressive run of Ben Foss, who had won all 3 Open Singles tournaments so far this season.
The tournament was well supported with 30 players contesting the initial group stages of the event, despite the fact it was being held during half term. The 10 seeded players all navigated safe route to the knockout stages as group winners, however this did not prevent some interesting clashes from taking place.
The final group was particularly tough as it saw 10th seed Nye Matthew up against fellow top flight player Andy Gill and the rising junior player Aiden Ozanne and the group outlasted all others by a significant amount of time. It started quickly as Matthew impressively ousted Gill in straight sets but was followed by 2 hard fought 5 set matches included 3rd Division junior Ozanne. Ozanne was playing some excellent table tennis against his seeded opposition Matthew first out and led 2-1 after pinching a tight third end 12-10. The match saw some excellent long rallies and shots from both players as Matthew comfortably took the fourth end to force a decider. This was another set which could have gone either way, but Matthew did just enough and edged it 12-10 to secure top spot in the group. Ozanne was up against Gill in the final match to see who would join the seed in the knockout rounds. Ozanne comfortably took the first, before Gill managed to secure control of the match by winning the next 2 ends tightly and he followed this up with a commanding 6-0 lead in the fourth set. Ozanne showed great fight which saw him incredibly turn it around and take it 11-9, but unfortunately ran out of steam as Gill’s added experience showed in the final set, which he took 11-5.
Channel Islands Top 12
It was a good day for Guernsey as the Sarnians claimed the top 4 places in the Channel Islands Top 12 tournament on Saturday:
1 J Stacey (G) 21 points
2 L Stacey (G) 21
3 R Bichard (G) 20
4 P Ogier (G) 18
5 A Sutherland (J) 18
6 J Le Fondre (J) 16
7 J Powell (G) 16
8 C Morshead (J) 15
9 A Gill (G) 14
10 W Cornthwaite (J) 14
11 T de Poerk (J) 13
12 O Karwowski (J) 12
Capelles Ladies Handicap Singles
Hollie Jenkins won the third and final tournament of the 2024 Capelles series by claiming the Ladies Handicap Singles. The event featured many of the strong juniors coming through the GTTA coaching system, and experienced players such as Island Games pair Shelby Timms and Paula Le Ber found themselves in for a tough evening.
Timms was eliminated 2-0 in the group stage by Primary Schools International player Megan Robinson, while Le Ber went out to Division 3 player Jenny Powell in the quarter final by the same scoreline.
The Alderney contingent were in particularly good form, with Jenkins and Sian Craig both excelling in their respective draws. Craig defeated young Isla Bretel in the quarter final to set up an all-Ridunian semi-final, where the pair engaged in some excellent attacking rallies. Jenkins initially made light work of the 6-point handicap deficit, before Craig rallied back with some excellent counter-attacking strokes to take the match into a decider. Despite a good start from Jenkins, Craig again fought back, out-attacking her opponent to win 24-22, 15-21, 22-20
In the final, Jenkins came up against recent Handicap Doubles winner Eldridge, and her younger opponent initially made the most of the +6 handicap, attacking well to take the first end 21-12. The next two games were nip and tuck, but Jenkins’ experience shone through, as she won them 23-21, 21-18 to take home the trophy.
Ben Foss has started 2024 in the same manner in which he concluded 2023, with another victory in an Open Singles tournament. His success in the Capelles Open Singles was the third consecutive Open title of the season, following silverware in the Senior Group in October and the Whistlers Open Singles in November.
Having won in 2020 and 2021, this time was a commanding straight sets victory over the reigning champion Joshua Stacey following an assured evening of strong performances. The tournament saw one of the strongest entries so far this season with a sizable list of 39 entrants all competing for the spoils across 13 groups of 3 players. The entry was particularly strong as it saw 16 Division 1 players entered, with just 5 missing. This threw up a number of very tough groups containing 2 top flight players. The 13 seeded players did all navigate the initial group stages as group winners, with the exception of 10th seed Jamie Ferbrache, who was in a particularly tough Group J which included fellow Division 1 player Shelby Timms and the tricky Division 2 averages leader Craig Dunning. Ferbrache battled back from 2-0 down against Dunning to force the decider, but the Whistlers player managed to edge it 13-11. Ferbrache secured safe flight to the knockout draw by beating Timms in straight sets, a feat mirrored by Dunning.
The first knockout round outlined the increasing standards of 2 youngsters, who tested their more experienced Division 1 opponents. 2nd Division’s Oskar Cleal was up against 12th seed Steve Ozanne and did well to level the encounter at 1-1 after clinching the second set 12-10. Ozanne’s extra quality did shine through in the end, and it saw him through in 4 sets. Ravenscroft Panthers Division 3 player Barney Groves was up against 11th seed Nye Matthew and came out the blocks well by taking the opening set 11-9. Matthew was too consistent on the night however, and also won in 4 sets in a well contested affair. Ozanne’s evening ended at the last 16 stage to 8th seed Liam Robilliard, whilst Ferbrache went out to 3rd seed Phil Ogier. Dunning came close to securing another scalp as he edged into a 2-1 lead over 6th seed Paul Hainsworth, fighting back from 10-8 down in the third set and enjoying 2 fortunate unretrievable nets from 10-10 and an upset looked to be on the cards. Hainsworth held firm however and increased his level in the remaining 2 sets to comfortably take them 11-6, 11-5.
The quarter finals saw Foss drop his first set of the evening, to Matthew. He bounced back strongly and comfortably closed out the following sets to win. Finalist Stacey came through over Robilliard in 4 sets, which was the same scoreline by which 4th seed Ryan Bichard dispatched Hainsworth by. The final encounter saw 5th seed Lawrence Stacey overcome Ogier in three closely contested sets.
The semi finals were well fought affairs which tested Foss and Josh. Foss played some excellent table tennis against Lawrence and won in 4 sets, with Lawrence rueing 2 consecutive fault serves whilst leading the 4th end 7-5. Josh looked in a strong position in the other semi whilst leading Bichard 2-0, however the continually improving younger Lions player fought back strongly to take the next 2 ends by matching 11-8 scores. Stacey pivotally made a strong 5-0 start to the deciding end, and this helped him eventually close out the match 11-8. The final was a subdued affair as it saw Foss continue his strong form displayed during the evening and he had too much firepower and consistency for Stacey. The second end was the closest, but Foss took it 11-9 and from there he closed out the decisive end 11-6.
Capelles Handicap Doubles
After the Christmas break, table tennis returns early in 2024 with the traditional January tournament season. The Capelles Handicap Doubles is one of the more popular events, with entrants being drawn with a random partner, pitting together players from different clubs and teams across the GTTA leagues. Ultimately it was the combination of Division 1 veteran Jez Powell and Under-12 representative Keira Eldridge that proved a winning one as they recovered from an early setback to win the trophy.
On the day, the draw computer produced some intriguing partnerships, and it was Katey Collenette and Micah Cohen who looked early favourites as they triumphed comprehensively in Group D. On the adjacent table, Division 4 Bribar juniors Ella Le Ber and Connor Osborne were using their significant handicap head start to good effect with positive play, however they were eventually beaten in the quarter final by Juliette Yeaman and Sonia Le Page, 2 games to 1. Collenette and Cohen were narrowly beaten in the semi-final by the experienced duo of Cave and Wingrave, while Powell and Eldridge overcame Yeaman and Le Page 23-21 in a thrilling final end.
The final was a rematch of an earlier Group C tie, and Eldridge showing her improving match play by hitting some excellent smashes on both forehand and backhand side from Powell’s clever setup play. The duo won the first end on deuce, before Cave and Wingrave rallied to take the second comfortably. The final set was tense and difficult to predict a winner, but Powell and Eldridge clawed back the 12 points handicap with some excellent rallies, winning 22-20, 7-21, 21-18.
CI Top 12 Qualification
After a long evening of close matches, the following 6 players qualified to play Jersey in the Channel Islands Top 12 in January:
1 Lawrence Stacey 17
2 Joshua Stacey 17
3 Ryan Bichard 17
4 Jez Powell 14
5 Phil Ogier 14
6 Andy Gill 13
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7 Jamie Ferbrache 12
8 Steve Ozanne 11
9 Joe Bourgaize 11
10 Matthew Casey 2 (ret'd hurt)
Senior British League
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.
Wrong-Handed Tournament
Sam Clark was victorious in the year-ending Peter & Rosemary Powell Wrong-handed Tournament at the GTTA Centre on Monday evening. In its third year, the novelty event features table tennis league regulars playing with their ‘wrong’ or opposite hand, favouring those who are more ambidextrous, or who perhaps practice in their spare time.
In the absence of last year’s winner Ben Foss, the field was open, and the standard of play could be only described as variable across the round robin groups. Clark chose to err on the side of caution with his left hand, and having cruised through Group B and preliminary rounds, was pushed all the way in the quarter final against the talented Liam Robilliard, triumphing 11-9 in the final set. The final against tournament mastermind Jez Powell was an entertaining affair, as Powell raced into a 2-0 lead, before Clark’s steady left hand guided him back into the game with some clever angles and lobs. At 13-13 in the deciding 5th set, the two players produced a 50 plus shot rally, with Powell eventually missing a routine forehand smash, to set Clark up for the winning point, which he converted and added himself as a new name on the trophy.
Senior British League
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.
Home Countries International
It was a tough weekend for the Guernsey team who travelled to Bangor University in Wales for the Home Countries International.
The player performed well against strong opposition from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man & Jersey and some of the junior players were playing up an age group.
There was a bronze medal in the Doubles event for the Junior Girls pairing of Sian Craig and Keira Eldridge and also notable individual wins for Garry Dodd and Oskar Cleal.
Full results to follow...
Bat & Ball
We welcomed our friends from Bat & Ball over for their annual trip to Guernsey at the weekend.
Bat & Ball came out victorious by a score of 82- 38
Home Countries International
Good luck to the Guernsey team who have travelled to Bangor for the Home Countries International. They will compete against England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man & Jersey.
Ben Foss maintained his strong start to the season by claiming consecutive silverware courtesy of
victory in the Whistlers Open Singles tournament last week.
His Senior Group title last month was his first within that event, however this victory in the Whistlers
Open Singles is his 3rd in this event, with previous wins coming in 2 of the prior 3 seasons. His victory
culminated in a hard fought 4 set win over defending champion Lawrence Stacey.
There was a healthy contingent of 36 entrants all vying for the title and all keen to compete, having
missed league action in the prior week due to the storm. Across the 12 groups all seeds qualified through to the knockout stages along with another 12 players.
In all instances this saw the seeded player emerge as group winner, with the single exception being
in Group G where 7th seed Steve Ozanne needed to settle for a runners-up spot. The tough group
included Division 2 players Craig Dunning and Joe Ingrouille, with the former holding a 100% singles
record in the second Division at the time. It was indeed the tricky Dunning who came through as
group winner due to his gutsy 5 set win over Ozanne in a match where he battled back strongly from
a 2-0 deficit to take the spoils.
A notable performance from the group stages saw Division 3 junior player Barnaby Groves qualify
from Group D due to his 5-set win over Division 1 player Shelby Timms. He took the runners-up spot
behind 4th seed Paul Hainsworth and continued his strong evening by edging out 2nd Division fellow
Ravenscroft Panthers player Ben Foote in the first knockout round. The encounter was an epic which
saw 3 of the 5 sets contested go beyond the regulation 11-point distance. Foote won the first 17-15
and the 4th 14-12, whilst Groves took the 3rd 15-13. The other 2 sets were won by Groves 11-7 to
secure safe passage. His evening end in the Last 16 stage to 3rd seed Phil Ogier in straight sets.
The Last 16 threw up some notably tough matches between seeded players. The closest of these saw 12 th seeded Andy Gill battle past 8th seed Joseph Bourgaize in 5 sets. Gill held a sizable lead in the deciding end and despite a fightback from his opponent, managed to edge past 11-9. 6th seed Lawrence Stacey dropped the second end to 10th seed Jamie Ferbrache, but won in 4 sets, whilst 5th seed Jez Powell bounced back from losing the opening set to defeat 9th seed Liam Robilliard in 4 sets. The final match between seeded players at this stage saw Hainsworth defeat Ozanne in straight sets.
In the quarter finals Foss needed 4 sets to get past 11th seed Sam Clark, whilst Lawrence showed
some fine form during a straight sets rout of Hainsworth. Top seed Joshua Stacey beat Gill in 3 very
close sets, including the 3rd which was edged 19-17, whilst Ogier was a comfortable straight sets
winner over Powell. The first of the semi finals was a classic between Foss and Ogier which went back and forth. Foss was always ahead due to him winning the first and third ends, but Ogier hung in and edged a tight 4th set 12-10. The deciding set was hard fought throughout, but it was Foss that pulled through by the narrowest of margins, 11-9.
The other semi final saw Lawrence continued his strong form from the evening as he managed to
fight back from losing the opening set to twin brother Joshua to come through in 4 sets.
Stacey looked to be in firm control of the final after winning the opening set 11-4 and holding a
comfortable lead in the second end, but Foss dug deep and managed to claw back the deficit and
take the 2 nd 12-10. The remaining 2 ends could have gone either way, but Foss played the big points
well and it enabled him to secure the title via 11-8 and 15-13 sets.
CI Junior Top 12
It was a tough day for the Guernsey contingent today as the visitors claimed the top 3 places in the CI Junior Top 12:
1. John Le Fondre (J)
2. William Cornthwaite (J)
3. Theo de Poerck (J)
4. Callum Allaway (J)
5. Aiden Ozanne (G)
6. Kevan Moreira (J)
7. Oskar Cleal (G)
8. Connor Powell (G)
9. Jayden Tucknott (G)
10. Shelby Timms (G)
11. Barnaby Groves (G)
12. Alex Fernandes (J)
Umpiring
Blue Badge International Umpire Ben Foote was in Turkey last week, representing Guernsey as a match official at WTT Contender Antalya. Selected by World Table Tennis as the only visiting umpire from Europe, the week-long tournament culminated in Foote having the honour of umpiring the Men's Singles final. The match between Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Felix Le Brun, a match that was won by the young Frenchman, 12-10 in the seventh game.
Junior Tournaments
It was a busy afternoon at the table tennis centre with 10 Under-14 boys and 10 Under-14 Girls playing a round robin.
The Peter Powell Cup for Endeavour played for by the invited boys was won by the impressive Oskar Cleal and second spot went to 11 year old Aiden Ozanne.
The Becks O'Keefe Girls Cup was won by fast-improving Emily Gavey with second spot going to Keira Eldridge.
It was a great display of table tennis by our many young players. Thanks to the many members that give up their time to umpire the matches.
Photos by Martin Sarre, which can be seen on our Flickr page.
Veterans Six Nations
There is an important Table Tennis event held yearly which has remained a low profile in the sporting calendar and is in the opposite spectrum of our prestigious youth tournaments, and this is the Veterans Home Countries hosting Ireland, Scotland, England, Jersey, Isle of Man, Wales, and Guernsey.
Each Country host the Tournament on a rotation basis entering teams in The Over 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 75’s as well as Doubles and Singles knockouts.
This year our teams will be travelling on the 28th September to Dublin with the following:-
Over 40’s – Jamie Ferbrache, Steve Ozanne
Over 50’s – Men: Craig Dunning , Ian Le Page
Ladies: Dawn Morgan, Kay Chivers
Over 60’s – Lionel Jones, Peter Vivian, Kathleen Copeland (IRE)
Over 70’s – Rob Vile, Terry Trustum
Over 75’s – Keith Opie, Maurice James.
The domestic table tennis season may have been underway for well over a month, however the wait for the first ‘Open’ scratch start tournament was long awaited and it took place on Monday evening when the Lions Senior Group tournament was held. The 3-time consecutive defending champion Lawrence Stacey was absent from the healthy field of 36 entrants, leaving the door wide open for a new champion to be crowned. The only other entrant in the field that was a former champion was serial 11-time former winner Phil Ogier, who won the event as recently as the 2019-2020 season. The top ranked player for the event, Ben Foss, ended the evening as a worthy debutant victor following a 4-set win over second seed Joshua Stacey in the showpiece final.
All of the 12 seeded players successfully navigated their group; however, 9th seed Nye Matthew was the sole seed not to top his group. He needed to settle for the runners-up spot due to losing out to the rapidly improving fellow Division 1 player Connor Powell, who won in 4 sets.
It was encouraging to see a number of junior players enter the event and it saw success for 3 that managed to qualify for the knockout rounds. 2nd Division player Cameron Powell defeated Mark Windsor in 4 sets to get through, whilst Henri Whitehorne upset 2nd Division stalwart Maurice James in 4 sets in Group F. The best result however came from 3rd Division junior Ollie Sparks who battled to a 5-set win over 2nd Division player Ben Foote in a match which he had trailed 2-1. Whitehorne and Sparks met in the first knockout round of the main draw and it was Whitehorne who came through in straight sets. Whitehorne’s evening came to an end against Stacey in the Last 16 in straight sets.
The first round saw a few clashes between Division 1 players and the first saw 11th seed Joseph Bourgaize beat Shelby Timms in straight sets. More gruelling was a particularly tough looking encounter between 10th seed Sam Clark and Matthew. Clark had won their league encounter a few weeks prior and again he emerged on top courtesy of a 4-set win. The other seeded players began meeting from the Last 16 onwards and the higher ranked players won on all occasions comfortably with the exception of Clark, who upset 6th seed Liam Robilliard via a straight sets win.
The Quarter Finals included all the expected players per the seedings, plus Clark. Foss was tested towards the latter part of his encounter with 8th seed Jez Powell but recovered well from dropping the third set to win the 4th set 11-6. Stacey was clinical during his straight sets win over 7th seed Steve Ozanne, whilst 4th seed Paul Hainsworth was equally decisive during his straight sets win over Clark. The final match of the round saw a well fought contest between 3rd seed Ogier and 5th seed Bichard. The first 2 sets were shared before Bichard managed to impressively power through in 4 sets.
The first 2 sets between Foss and Hainsworth were well contested in the first of the semi final matches before Foss increased his level and cruised through the deciding set. On an adjacent table Stacey looked in control when he pinched a tight 2nd set 12-10 to lead 2-0, however Bichard fought back taking the 3rd set 11-7 and opened up an early 4-2 advantage in the next set. Stacey regained his composure and managed to edge through 11-9 to make the final.
The final itself was a slightly different encounter between the duo with Foss in particular adapting his game on the fly and playing strokes with less spin than he is usually accustomed to imparting on the ball. The strong start by Foss in the opener was pacified by Stacey comfortably winning the second 11-5 and the elder player continued to look like he was in the ascendancy during the majority of the 3rd set. Foss dug deep however and managed to fight back to take it 11-8. The decisive 4th set was another which could have gone either way. Stacey held a set point at 10-9 but saw a promising forehand flick go long. Foss then played 2 solid points to clinch the title.
Collenette Jones Junior Banded Tournament
The first Junior Banded Tournament of the year attracted a good entry from the GTTA juniors, all sporting new purple playing shirts, courtesy of sponsor Collenette Jones.
British League Round 1
With the domestic table tennis season having commenced a few weeks ago, Guernsey's 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 4 th 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.
Junior Top 12 Qualification
Jayden Tucknott finished in 1st place in tonight's Junior CI Top 12 Qualification and will be joined by the 5 other qualifiers to play Jersey's top 6 on Sunday 5th November:
1. J Tucknott
2. Co Powell
3. O Cleal
4. S Timms
5. B Groves
6. A Ozanne
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7. J Crocker
8. L Evans
9. A Lihou
10. A Paul
Junior Top 12 Qualification Selection
The following players have been selected for the Junior Top 12 Qualification event on 3rd October at 18:30:
Aiden Ozanne
Albie Lihou
Barnaby Groves
Cameron Powell
Connor Powell
James Crocker
Jayden Tucknott
Luke Evans
Oskar Cleal
Shelby Timms
Veterans Home Nations
Best of luck to our Veterans team, who are in Dublin this weekend, competing against England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Isle of Man in the Veterans 6 Nations. Updates and results can be found on the event site:
The 2023/24 Guernsey table tennis season kicked off with a bang on Monday evening as some of the island’s best junior players showed their ability against the adults in the St Pauls Handicap tournament. As the traditional season-opener, it has long been a popular tournament as the nights start to draw in and players look to sharpen their skills ready for the Doric Insurance league season. Henri Whitehorne claimed the honours with a thrilling final win over fellow junior Barnaby Groves.
After the group stages what finished it was clear that on this occasion the lower division players were performing well with a number from Divisions 3 and 4 in contention as the majority of top players found their handicap deficit too much to overcome.
Whitehorne, fresh off the back of a successful Summer League, progressed through Group D with relative ease against First Division player Nye Matthew and Ian Le Page, while Groves overcame Isla Bretel and Steve Ozanne. By the quarter finals, the positive attacking play of the junior players was paying dividends and suited the handicap scoring system. In-form Micah Cohen beat Bretel before going down to Whitehorne, while Alex Hutchinson showed his recent improvement with an excellent 2-1 win over Keira Eldridge.
In the semi-finals, Whitehorne’s loops were too much for the defensive-minded play of Cohen, while Groves was impressive in a 21-17, 21-19 victory over Alex Hutchinson.
The final was one of the best in living memory as both players slugged out an entertaining, attacking match. Groves gave away a 2-point start, but such was the evenness of the contest, it as difficult to predict a winner. The first set was taken by Whitehorne 21-17 with some fine counter hitting in the final stages, but in the second, Groves played a more controlled and aggressive style to win 21-16.
The final set was a nail-biting point for point with both players displaying impressive attacking and return shots with Groves holding 2 match points, but was incredibly unlucky as Whitehorne managed to save both with fortunate unreturnable net-cord shots. The 18-year old then set up a match point of his own after some fine defensive play from the back of the court and duly converted 23-21.
St Pauls Handicap
Channel Islands Top 12
It was a good day for Guernsey as the Sarnians claimed the top 4 places in the Channel Islands Top 12 tournament on Saturday:
1 J Stacey (G) 21 points
2 L Stacey (G) 21
3 R Bichard (G) 20
4 P Ogier (G) 18
5 A Sutherland (J) 18
6 J Le Fondre (J) 16
7 J Powell (G) 16
8 C Morshead (J) 15
9 A Gill (G) 14
10 W Cornthwaite (J) 14
11 T de Poerk (J) 13
12 O Karwowski (J) 12