Dodd and Chivers lead the Championship charge

Garry Dodd and Kay Chivers are the players that will be leading the charge across the majority of finals in the table tennis Island Championships next week.

For Dodd, his goal of a 14^th Men’s Singles Island title progressed smoothly on Saturday evening where he did not lose a single set during proceedings, culminating with a hard-fought straight sets win over 3^rd seed Joshua Stacey, which was closer than the scoreline suggested.

Having come through a tight 2^nd set 17-15 to open a 2-game advantage, it looked like the writing was on the wall when he opened a 6-0 lead in the 3^rd set. However, to his great credit, Stacey did not waver and he fought back strongly to force the set beyond the regulation 11 points.

Despite having an opportunity to seal the set, he was unable to take it, with Dodd coming through 13-11. The 4^th set followed a similar pattern, with a late rally from Stacey not enough to prevent defeat, falling to a high respectable 11-6, 17-15, 13-11, 11-9 defeat.

It will be a repeat of last year’s final, as 3^rd seed Lawrence Stacey came through the bottom half of the draw. Stacey’s route to the final was smooth sailing until the semi-finals, where he needed to work hard to come past 2^nd seed Alex Robinson in 5 sets. Robinson started brighter by taking the opener 11-9, however Stacey played some strong table tennis to navigate the following 4 sets despite some excellent exchanges.

The event was not without surprises as it saw unseeded player Matthew Casey recover superbly from a 3-0 deficit to oust 6^th seed Paul Hainsworth. Casey continued his strong form against Robinson in the Quarter-Finals, going down narrowly in 6 sets in a well contested encounter.

In the other half, another unseeded player, Jamie Ferbrache, put an end to another seeded player in the same round. Ferbrache played excellently to dispatch 7^th seed Liam Robilliard across 6 sets, eventually losing to Josh Stacey over 5 sets in the Quarters.

In the Men’s Doubles, Dodd combining with Robinson for the first time proved fruitful as the duo cruised into the final on Monday evening. They reached the final without dropping a set, ending the run of 3^rd seeds Ben Foss and Ryan Bichard in straight sets in the semi-final. They will meet 2^nd seeds Joshua and Lawrence Stacey in the final, after the twins defeated 4^th seeds Paul Hainsworth and Liam Robilliard in 4 closely contested sets in the other semi.

The Mixed Doubles saw Dodd’s toughest test as alongside first-time partner Juliette Yeaman, they were made to work extremely hard to reach the showpiece final, where they will meet 2^nd seeds Robinson and Dodd’s partner from last year, Marli Barker. Whilst they reached the semi-finals of Sunday afternoon’s event with relative ease, they soon found themselves staring down the barrel, when trailing 3^rd seeds Andy Gill and Paula Le Ber 3-0. However, they did not let this phase them as they proceeded to produce a fantastic comeback, winning 10-12, 12-14, 6-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-4, 11-3. For Robinson and Barker, their path was smoother and they defeated 4^th seeds Lawrence Stacey and sister Vikki in straight sets in the other semi-final.

Chivers remains on track to secure a 19^th Women’s Singles title when she faces the rising young star Keira Eldridge in the final. The top seed and defending champion faced Division 1 3^rd seed Barker in the semi-finals and managed to come through across 5 sets. For Eldridge, the 4^th seed continues to impress as she earned a 6-set win over 2^nd seed Paula Le Ber. The recently crowned Divisional 3 Championships winner and Division 2 Championships runner-up’s clash with Le Ber was one which could have gone either way, with Eldridge crucially winning the decisive 6^th set 11-9 to prevent a 7^th set shootout.

In the Women’s Doubles, Chivers can win an incredible 30^th title alongside Barker, as they reached the final where they will compete against 2^nd seeds Yeaman and GTTA Development Officer Becks O’Keefe. The semi-final triumph for Chivers and Barker came against the dangerous youthful duo of Eldridge and Thea Cummins in straight sets, whilst Yeaman and O’Keefe were 5 set winners over Vikki Stacey and Isla Bretel in the other semi.

The final event which saw success for Chivers was in the Women’s Veterans Singles. Chivers will face off against O’Keefe following her straight sets win over Yeaman. For O’Keefe, she overcame Maija Hansen in 5 sets.

Phil Ogier continued his dominant form in the Veterans categories, reaching another 3 finals. The first final reached was in the Over 50’s Open Singles, where he comfortably dispatched Ian Le Page in straight sets in the semi-final. He will meet the unseeded Jez Powell in the final, after Powell played some strong table tennis to oust 2^nd seed Nye Matthew in 5 sets.

Ogier’s route to the Over 40’s Open Singles Final was more challenging and saw him with a trio of tough matches to reach the final. He started with matching straight sets wins over Steve Ozanne and left-hander Andy Gill. His semi final was against 3^rd seed Jamie Ferbrache and this close clash resulted in a 4-2 win for Ogier. In the final he will meet 2^nd seed Matthew, who defeated Mark Pipet in 5 sets.

The Veterans Open Doubles saw the formidable new combination of Ogier and Matthew cruise to the final without dropping a set. This concluded with a semi-final win over the unseeded duo of Mark Fallaize and Rolands Tracums. 2^nd seeds Jamie Ferbrache and Steve Ozanne will meet them in the final after they dispatched 3^rd seeds Kay Chivers and Keith Opie in straight sets.

Mark Pipet will aim to make it 9 titles in the Over 60’s Open Singles after the top seed reached the final without dropping a set. Having defeated the dangerous 2^nd Division player Andy Ferbrache in the opening round, he was a comfortable straight sets winner over Juliette Yeaman, who had in a preceding round earned an upset 4-1 win over Keith Opie. Pipet’s opponent in the final is 2^nd seed Kay Chivers, after she earned a 4-1 win over Steve Martin the other semi-final.

In the final Veterans Event, the Over 70’s Open Singles, top seed Terry Trustum will meet the unseeded Opie in the final. Trustum eased to a straight sets win over Rob Broad in the first semi-final, with Opie playing excellently to upset 2^nd seed Brian Ferbrache in straight sets in the other.

The Restricted Singles saw some excellent action and upsets and will result in a new champion being crowned on Wednesday evening. Top seed Alex Robinson will meet 4^th seed Matthew Casey in the final, after Robinson earned a comfortable 4-0 winner over Kennedy Chepkor in the semi-finals. Chepkor had earned the upset of the night in the prior round, as he edged out 3^rd seed Robilliard over 7 sets, coming back from 3-2 down in the process. Casey’s semi-final with 2^nd seeded defending champion Hainsworth was one of the closest matches of the tournament so far, with 5 of the 7 sets being settled by the minimum 2-point gap and 3 going beyond the regulation 11-point mark. Casey fought hard to win the opening and 3^rd sets 13-11, 14-12, despite having trailed them 10-8 and 10-7 respectively and this gave him a good foothold in the encounter. Hainsworth rallied well to lead 3-2, after edging a tight 5^th set 14-12, before Casey responded, winning the 6^th comfortably. The deciding set ebbed and flowed with Hainsworth taking a narrow 5-4 lead into the change of ends. With the score tied at 9-9, Casey used his 2 service points to good effect, closing out the impressive affair 11-9 and ending the hopes of the 10-time champion of this event.

In the Junior Events, Luke Evans, Micah Cohen, and Keira Eldridge enjoyed the most success.

Barnaby Groves enjoyed success in the Under 21 Open Singles. The 4^th seed was due to meet top seed Oskar Cleal in the final, however other commitments forced the youngster to withdraw from all events, paving the way for Groves to earn a comfortable 5-set win over Xavier Ingrouille in the semi-finals. He will meet 2^nd seed Evans in the final, after Evans impressively negotiated the tricky defensive style of 3^rd seed Micah Cohen in straight sets in the other semi-final.

Evans reached his second final in the Under 18 Men’s Singles. He was in dominant form on his way to this final and did not drop a set. In the semis he defeated Ollie Sparkes in straight sets. He will meet Cohen in the final, after Cohen stopped the excellent run of the unseeded Albie Lihou in straight sets in the semi-final. Lihou had earlier caused one of the biggest upsets of the Championships, due to his excellent 6-set win over 2^nd seed Groves.

Evans made it an impressive 4 finals as he expectedly showed his dominance in the Under 13 Open and Under 15 Boys events. In the Under 13 Open, he was a comfortable straight sets winner over 5^th seed Morgan Finn and he will meet 3^rd seed Olivia Gilbert in the final, with the third seed earning a strong 4-1 win over 2^nd seed Thea Cummins. Finn had done excellently to reach the semis, as he fought back from a 3-2 deficit to upset 4^th seed Isla Bretel in the Quarters.

The Under 15 Boys Singles saw Evans cruise to a straight sets win over 3^rd seed Louis Ma in the top half. He will meet 4^th seed Keil Butt in the final, as he earned a straight sets win over the unseeded Connor Osbourne. Osbourne had earlier caused another big upset as he shocked 2^nd seed Morgan Finn in the opening round, winning over 5 sets.

Eldridge made her mark in the Under 15 Girls and Under 18 Women’s Singles events. In the Under 15 Girls event, she defeated Isabella De Carteret in straight sets. She will meet 2^nd seed Cummins in the final, after she edged past fellow junior Olivia Gilbert in a 7-set classic that had it all. Having lost to Gilbert 4-1 in the Under 13 Open Singles event in the morning, Cummins reversed the outcome with some excellent table tennis, winning the deciding set of the clash 11-5.

In the Under 18 Women’s event, Eldridge was a 4-1 winner over Bretel, whilst Gilbert battled past Cummins in another 7-set thriller between the pair, Gilbert taking the deciding end of this clash 11-6.

The Under 18 Open Doubles, will see the final contested between 2^nd seeds Cameron Powell and Cohen and 4^th seeds Lihou and Sparkes. Powell and Cohen were too strong for 3^rd seeds Evans and Ingrouille and won in 6 sets, whilst Lihou and Sparkes defeated Groves and Jake Webb, standing in for Cleal, in straight sets.

The final Junior event will see 3^rd seed Noah Finn compete against 2^nd seed Perran Lomax in the final. Finn upset the odds when he defeated top seed Keil Butt in 5 sets, whilst Lomax was a comfortable straight sets winner over Wayne Zhang.

Actions in the prestigious finals’ night will kick-off at 18:30 at the GTTA Centre with attendance free to all spectators.