Home Counties International success

Guernsey’s table tennis team returned from the Home Countries International in Dublin with two bronze medals after a competitive weekend.

The biennial tournament is one of the highlights of the table tennis calendar and featured teams from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Jersey, and Isle of Man, and Guernsey’s squad included several younger players competing near the lower end of their age categories.

Garry Dodd and Josh Stacey secured bronze in the Men’s Doubles, while Cadet Girls Keira Eldridge and Isla Bretel matched that result with a win over Wales.

Pictured: Garry Dodd and Josh Stacey and Keira Eldridge and Isla Bretel with their medals.

Dodd and Stacey helped the Men’s team to a creditable fifth-place finish, with victories over Wales (3-1) and Isle of Man (4-0). The Junior Boys also had encouraging results, beating Isle of Man 4-0 and narrowly losing 3-1 to Wales, with Oskar Cleal defeating Nye Evans. Against Jersey, Cleal continued his strong recent league form with a confident win over John Le Fondre, following an unlucky 11-9 loss to William Cornethwaite in the deciding game.

The Cadet Girls team finished in joint 6^th but were within touching distance of a medal as they had close matches against Jersey, Ireland and Wales, while the Cadet Boys picked up an individual win apiece against Wales and Jersey. The latter point courtesy of Luke Evans’ fine attacking play in his defeat of last week’s CI Top 12 champion, Callum Allaway.

The doubles events saw Guernsey’s best results.

Dodd and Stacey delivered a solid 3-1 win over Ireland’s top-seeded pair, Tom Colvin and Adam Faulkner, before falling in the semi-finals to England’s top seeded Isaac Kingham and Jakub Piwowar. Eldridge and Bretel earned their bronze with a 3-2 win over Irish pair Eimear Hutchinson and Nuria Goldston, before losing to Scotland.

The respective draw for the Singles events was not kind to the Sarnians as most faced top-seeded opposition. Dodd was drawn against England number 14 Isaac Kingham but played some dazzling strokes as he pushed his opponent hard before succumbing 3-1, while Stacey also performed well in losing to Ireland’s experienced Paul McCreery.

In the Cadet Girls event, Eldridge played well to beat Wales’ Evelyn Turner Samuels before being beaten by top seen Alyssa Nguyen from England and Isla Bretel narrowly lost out to Ruby Devlin in close games.

Pictured: Guernsey in action at the Home Counties International.

Team manager Becks O’Keefe said: “The travelling players all did themselves proud with excellent attitude, focus, and sportsmanship throughout the competition. Most of the players secured wins, reflecting the commitment and hard work invested over recent months. It was particularly pleasing to see this dedication rewarded with two bronze medals in the Men’s Doubles and Cadet Girls’ events, both against higher-ranked Irish pairings. These results highlight the continued progress and development of our players and their ability to compete strongly on the international stage.”

Guernsey Team