Guernsey Table Tennis Association
Veterans Home Countries
The Guernsey Table Tennis Association is playing host to the 26th Home Countries Veterans Table Tennis Championships at the weekend.
Find out more on our dedicated page
Summer League
Summer League has finished for another season, finishing with 12 tables, 10 of four and 2 of five making a total of 50 players, what a wonderful turn out.
Well we have our winner Micah Cohen on 80 points with joint runner ups Maija Hansen and Andriy Lyashko both on 77 points. We hope everyone has had a fun time. Keith and myself would like to thank everyone who has taken part, also a big thank you to Ben Foote who enters the final match results on the website together with our report and the result list of points.
Guernsey players shine in Sussex and Riga
After an intense four-day training camp in Worthing, a group of 10 young Guernsey table tennis players stayed on to participate in the Sussex One Star tournament. With many of the competitors playing well above their age group, there were some impressive performances that showed that the Sarnians have potential to compete on the UK circuit.
Shelby Timms gave a good account of herself in the Junior Girls event, winning her group without losing a set. She beat Jersey’s Freya Allaway 3-2 in the Quarter Final, winning 11-2 in the final end to show excellent mental fortitude under pressure in an otherwise tight game. Timms went from strength to strength in the subsequent rounds, beating Wales’ Lily Walters in the final 3-1. Two players qualified through their round-robin group in the Junior Boys event with 12-year-old Aiden Ozanne topping his group, impressively beating the number 1 seed in five sets. He eventually was defeated in a narrow five-setter by the eventual winner James Roberts. Ollie Sparks came second in his group so also progressing to the main draw, where he was defeated by Hassin in the next round. The other Sarnians went into the plate competition, with Oskar Cleal claiming the title over fellow Sarnian Barnaby Groves. In the Girls event, 11-year-old Thea Cummins was played superbly to win the plate with 10-year-old Isla Bretel runner up.
In the afternoon the players participated in the Men’s and Women’s Open event, where Timms reached the quarter finals, losing out to Walters on this occasion. The fast-improving Ozanne reached the quarter finals of the Men’s Singles, losing to eventual winner Adam Klos. Albie Lihou was another Guernsey player to qualify through their group, this time losing out in the first round to Klos 3-0. Cleal progressed to the final in the plate event but this time finished runner-up to Simon Kear.
The event was a great experience for the GTTA juniors after an intense 4-day training camp, thanks to Halo Home Assist, Rothschilds, Investec and Guernsey Sports Commission for their support.
A week earlier, 11-year-old prospect Luke Evans was able to attend the prestigious EuroTalents Selection training camp in Riga, Latvia, which is organised by the European Table Tennis Union for rising stars of the sport. Evans was the only British player in attendance and overcame any initial language barriers he had the opportunity to train with some of the best age-group players in Europe, with 42 under-11 players and 27 top coaches in attendance from countries including Spain, Greece, Turkey and Hungary.
“The camp was a great experience for me” said Evans, “it was a very high standard, a lot higher than I was expecting. I learnt a lot from the coaches there, especially how to improve my arm speed when playing my shots”.
The 6-day residential camp involved five and a half hours of practice and tactical coaching per day, with rest periods in between and Evans paired up with a boy from Azerbaijan as a practice partner.
“I’m definitely inspired to do it all again” he said before heading off to the Euro Minichamps tournament this weekend. Held in Schiltigheim, France, Evans will compete against top European players such as England’s Dimitar Dimitrov, recently ranked number 1 Under-11 in the World Table Tennis rankings.
Summer Pickleball
The inaugural Summer Pickleball League concluded this week, congratulations to Drop Shot Wendy for taking the title ahead of runners-up Pickled Onions and 3rd placed The Cochsters.
We hope you all enjoyed it, stay tuned for more!
Senior Schools International
Guernsey's top junior table tennis talents showcased their skills at the annual Senior Schools International tournament held on the Isle of Man last weekend. Sixteen players competed across Under-14, Under-16, and Under-18 age groups, facing elite opponents from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Jersey, and the host nation.
In the Under-14 Boys category, Guernsey's 'A' team secured a commendable 7th place. Despite a narrow play-off defeat to Jersey 'A', the team achieved strong 5-0 victories over Isle of Man 'B' and Wales. Notable performances included Barnaby Groves' victories over England’s Ibrahim Hussain and Scotland’s William Wang. The 'B' team, featuring Aiden Ozanne and Luke Evans, both still under 12, finished 9th and featured 5-0 win against Isle of Man 'A' and a 3-1 victory over Wales.
The Under-14 Girls team was also youthful, with 3 of the 4 players representing Guernsey in April’s Primary Schools International and used the tournament as experience at this level of competition. One particular highlight was Keira Eldridge’s strong 3-0 win over Jersey’s Anna Middleton
The Under-16 Boys teams came 9th and 10th respectively, but with all players being young for their age group, with both teams unlucky in defeat to Jersey and Ireland 3-2. In the Under-16 Girls team event, Emily Gavey picked up an impressive win against Ireland’s Caoimhe Deane.
The Under-18 Girls duo, Shelby Timms and Hollie Jenkins, finished 6th, triumphing 3-2 over Scotland 'B' and narrowly losing to a strong Isle of Man pair. Timms ended the tournament with four wins out of eight, showcasing her tenacity and improved strokeplay.
Sunday's individual events saw Guernsey players competing in round robin groups. In the Under-14 Boys category, Oskar Cleal excelled, defeating Scotland's Angus Halliday and England’s Ibrahim Hussain and advancing as the group winner despite a narrow loss to Jersey’s Callum Allaway. Groves also impressed, securing wins against players from Isle of Man and Wales, though he narrowly lost to Jersey's Oskar Karwowski in a tight five-game match. Groves finished with a superb 13 wins out of 17 played over the weekend.
In the Under-16 event, Cameron Powell and Xavier Ingrouille progressed through their groups, with Ingrouille's notable victory over Jersey's Jack Le Blond highlighting his improved attacking game.
Due to flight and ferry delays affecting the Welsh and Scottish teams, some matches were moved from Friday into an already tightly-packed Saturday schedule and the players deserve credit for enduring long and tiring days. Despite this it was a strong showing from the team, with many players having one or more years left in their respective age groups, the future looks bright for next year’s instalment, which will be held in Jersey.
Guernsey Teams:
Under-14:
Boys: Oskar Cleal, Barnaby Groves, Aiden Ozanne, Luke Evans
Girls: Keira Eldridge, Ella Le Ber, Isla Bretel, Thea Cummins
Under-16:
Boys: Cameron Powell, Albie Lihou, Ollie Sparks, Xavier Ingrouille
Girls: Emily Gavey, Sian Craig
Under-18:
Girls: Shelby Timms, Hollie Jenkins
Here Come the Girls!
Saturday 26th May 2024 saw the Table Tennis England’s 1st Girls’ National Talent Identification Day. The day aimed to identify and empower young female players with potential to join the England Talent Pathway. The event was run by the England Performance team and coaches on the SHEcoaches programme.
Guernsey’s Isla Bretel was one of 30 girls chosen from an application field of 150 girls across the UK to take part in this talent ID event. The day was held at the David Ross Sports Village at Nottingham University and was run by Gordon Fearn, a level 4 coach and head of The GB Futures Squad along with the team of SHECoaches; Collette Neenan, Eva Toth, Emily Bolton and Jo Green.
The day started with an 11am roll call and a knock up with the other girls and the coaches. A bit of a get to know you, where are you from, how long have you played etc. The girls had been split into groups of 6 and would rotate around a number of different stations with their group throughout the day with a dedicated female strong coaching team.
A series of different skills and training exercises were on offer under the tuition and guidance of the Level 3 and Level 4 coaches. Multiball, Services, Fundamentals, Movement, General Practice, Fun Games all ending the 7 hour long day with a Q&A with a top player!
The Q&A session was with Anna Hursey, Wales’ very own recently qualified Olympian! The girls all got to ask her at least 1 question, so Isla took full advantage and asked her 5! Including, how she relaxes before games and what her favourite serve is. The girls all then could try and return Anna’s serves as well as witness her talents, gain insights into Anna’s table tennis journey and be inspired by her achievements.
The day was a great opportunity to be amongst a large group of girls, which not only showcased the girls’ talents but also emphasised the importance of mentorship and support in nurturing young female athletes within the sports community.
