15th March 2025
With the 2025 Island Championships starting soon, Guernsey’s junior table tennis players had good preparation in the Collenette Jones Banded Table Tennis Series. The 3rd instalment proved to be an exciting competition, featuring 24 young players battling across three bands, showcasing a fantastic display of talent, determination, and sportsmanship.
The Band 1 event was fiercely contested, with in-form 15-year-old Oskar Cleal emerging as the overall winner with an impressive 14 points. Cleal remained unbeaten, dropping only three sets throughout the day. Barnaby Groves finished narrowly behind in second place with 13 points, pushing Cleal all the way in their head to head.
There was also competition for the mid-table positions with Luke Evans, Xavier Ingrouille, and Micah Cohen all finishing on 11 points, highlighting the closely matched competition. Ollie Sparks (9 points), Isla Bretel (8 points), and Olivia Guilbert (7 points) rounded out the final standings.
In Band 2, Keira Eldridge delivered a dominant performance, going undefeated and securing the top spot with a perfect 14 points. 11-year-old Thea Cummins followed as runner-up with 13, only defeated by Eldridge. Daniel Martin impressed with a solid third-place finish, earning 12 points, including an excellent battle against Eldridge, where he narrowly lost 11-9 in the final set.
The Band 3 event saw another series of close games as Jack Dorey secured top spot with 14 points, demonstrating skill and composure throughout the competition. Newcomer Morgan Finn had a strong debut, finishing in 2nd place with 13 points.
The Collenette Jones series showcased the high standard of junior table tennis on the island, with plenty of close matches and some outstanding individual performances across all bands. A special thanks to Collenette Jones for their continued support in these events.
Band 1 Winner: Oskar Cleal,
Runner-up: Barnaby Groves
Band 2 Winner: Keira Eldridge,
Runner-up: Thea Cummins
Band 3 Winner: Jack Dorey,
Runner-up: Morgan Finn
Player of the Day: Xavier Ingrouille
1st February 2025
The GTTA Centre hosted an exciting weekend for young table tennis players, as 20 juniors competed in the second Collenette Jones Junior Banded Tournament of the season.
Band 1 saw a thrilling competition with Luke Evans securing the title. Barnaby Groves claimed the runner-up spot after a closely contested tie with Micah Cohen. Despite both winning four matches and losing one, Groves clinched victory in their final match with a score of 3–0, overcoming Cohen’s defensive prowess with a score of 11–7, 11–6, 11–8.
In Band 2, Olivia Gilbert emerged victorious, leaving Isla Bretel in second place. Their match was a crowd favourite, filled with long, explosive rallies and powerful forehands that had spectators on the edge of their seats. Gilbert eventually triumphed, taking the fifth and final set 16–14.
Band 3 unveiled a new rising star, 9-year-old Keil Butt, who demonstrated his recent improvment by winning all his matches, dropping only one set to newcomer Morgan Finn. Perran Lomax earned the runner-up position in this competitive bracket.
The Player of the Day award, was given to 11-year-old Thea Cummins for her positive, attacking play and excellent attitude in her Band 1 debut.
The next junior tournament is scheduled for Saturday, 15th March, promising another day of high-energy table tennis action.
23rd November 2024
The series of Collenette Jones Junior Banded Tournaments got off to a start this weekend at the Guernsey Table Tennis Centre as 22 young players between the ages of 7 to 16, competed in the first of three tournaments for the season.
The event was divided into three bands, each comprising seven or eight players. In Band 1, 14-year-old Barnaby Groves emerged victorious with 6 solid wins, though he suffered a surprising loss to fourth-place finisher Xavier Ingrouille. Luke Evans secured second place after a tie with Groves, with the final ranking determined by their head-to-head result, which saw Groves narrowly triumph 3-1.
Band 2 witnessed the rise of young female talent, with Ella Le Ber claiming the top spot. Ten-year-old Isla Bretel finished second, with the final positions decided on countback after both players suffered one loss. Le Ber's 3-1 victory over Bretel in their initial match proved decisive, while Thea Cummins finished third.
Eleven-year-old Connor Osborne clinched the Band 3 title, overcoming tough competition from his peers. Newcomer Jack Dorey impressed and showcased his rapid improvement with some fine attacking play and picked up 5 wins, securing second place.
Eight-year-old Isabella De Carteret was named Player of the Day for her outstanding performances in her first competitive tournament. The afternoon featured a series of closely contested matches, with many games going down to the wire. GTTA President Derek Webb said "I was particularly impressed by the high standard of play, especially as many of these players have very little experience of competitive table tennis"
The next Collenette Jones Tournament is scheduled for Saturday February 1st, 2025.
Band 1 Winner: Barnaby Groves,
Runner-up: Luke Evans
Band 2: Ella Le Ber
Runner-up: Isla Bretel
Band 3: Connor Osbourne
Runner-up: Jack Dorey
Player of the Day: Isabella De Carteret
24th February 2024
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
7th October 2023
The Collenette Jones Junior Banded table tennis series got off to a start at the weekend, with 29 different juniors taking part in the first of three tournaments this season. Competitors were split into 4 bands by ability, all the players were in their new purple shirts courtesy of the sponsors.
In Band 1 the title went to 10-year-old Luke Evans who finished the event undefeated dropping only 2 sets and runner up spot went to Albie Lihou. Evans beat Lihou 11-5, 11-7 with some long fast rallies.
In Band 2 11-year-old Luca Sidaner finished top, despite losing to Oakley Francart who finished in 7th place. He finished joint with Daniel Read, both only losing one game, but Sidaner took top spot through beating Read 11-7 in the 3rd and final set. Band 3 saw another fast-improving young junior, 10-year-old Daniel Martin came out on top with second place going to Noah Nicolle who lost out narrowly to Martin in the final set.
The Band 4 title went to 9-year-old Mason Eldridge with some narrow, hard-fought wins over the other players in his band. Second place went to another young and improving female player, Olivia Gilbert, whose confidence improved with each game as she worked hard for the runner up spot.
Player of the day for good sportsmanship, both on and off the table, went to Band 1's Xavier Ingrouille and Band 3 player Millie Pragnell. The tournament saw some exceptional table tennis on display across the bands during the day, with many matches going to the wire.
The winners & runners up were:
Band 1 winner: Luke Evans
Runner-up: Albie Lihou
Band 2 winner: Luca Sidaner
Runner-up: Daniel Reed
Band 3 winner: Daniel Martin
Runner-up: Noah Nicolle
Band 4 winner: Mason Eldridge
Runner-up: Olivia Gilbert
Players of the day: Xavier Ingrouille & Millie Pragnall