Joshua Stacey put an end to twin Lawrence’s dominant run of domestic titles on Monday evening, when he picked up his second Senior Open tournament of the season, the Lions Spot for Sport.
Joshua’s victory was his third in this event in the last five seasons and denied twin Lawrence a hat-trick of titles this season, following his Whistlers Open Singles and Capelles Open Singles triumphs in November and January.
The final did saw a repeat of those prior events with a battle between the siblings, with Joshua the stronger player on this occasion as he sealed the title courtesy of a 3-1 win.
There was a healthy entry of 37 players that comprised the initial group stages of the event, which saw all 12 seeded players navigate safely to the knockout rounds as group winners.
This was however doubtful on a few occasions and none more so than in an extremely tough Group G, which was the only one to be made up entirely of Division 1 players.
Sixth seed Dan Collenette was immediately on the ropes when he was defeated in five sets in the opening match by upcoming junior Barnaby Groves, however he put himself back in contention of qualification thanks to a strong straight sets win over Nye Matthew.
Groves came remarkably close to topping the group, only to be edged out 14-12 in the deciding fifth end of his encounter with Ravenscroft Panthers A team-mate Matthew. The result on countback was that Collenette topped the group, with Groves as runner-up.
On an adjacent table, seventh seed Jamie Ferbrache was also embroiled in a tough match against the tricky Second Division player Kennedy Chepkor. Ferbrache managed to weather the storm as he overturned a 2-1 deficit to come through 11-9 in the decider.
The final seed to have a tough test was 12th seed Craig Dunning, who had a very close contest with Martin Sarre. Dunning comfortably took the opener 11-4, however when he was edged out 15-13 in the second end, there was all to play for in the deciding third end, due to this being the sole group containing four players. The decider was incredibly even closer than the second, with Sarre’s strong forehand attacking strokes causing Dunning issues. Dunning however did just enough and eventually squeezed past by the lengthy 18-16 scoreline.
The Last 32 stage saw some close matches, as well as a surprise victory.
That came from Second Division junior Cameron Powell, who did superbly to dispatch 10th seeded Division 1 player Joseph Bourgaize in four sets with an assured performance. In the close matches, 11th seed Sam Clark battled back from 2-0 down to defeat Sarre, Chepkor withstood a fightback from Terry Trustum to come through in five sets, while Brandon Ferbrache fought back from 2-1 down to oust fellow Ravenscroft player Ben Foote, 14-12 the score in the deciding end.
The Last 16 saw some well contested matches, however only one went the distance and it saw Ferbrache defeat Andy Gill. The round also saw an impressive four set victory obtained by ninth seed Steve Ozanne over fifth seed Liam Robilliard, whilst the other battle between seeded players resulted in a four set win for Collenette over Clark.
The Quarter Finals thus largely contained the expected seeds and saw some interesting clashes. The closest saw fourth seed Paul Hainsworth come through a tough encounter with sixth seed Matthew Casey in five sets, the final set being narrowly won 13-11 at the fifth time of asking, with Casey having done well by saving match points from 8-10 down.
Champion Joshua defeated Collenette in four sets, Lawrence beat Ferbrache in straight sets, whilst Ogier defeated Lions B team-mate Ozanne in straight sets.
The first semi-final saw Lawrence come through against Hainsworth in four sets, however the match on the neighbouring table between Joshua and Ogier was a classic tussle, containing several exceptional rallies and shot making. Ogier has tested Stacey on each occasion they have played this season and once more he looked in a strong position, when opening up a 2-1 advantage. Stacey has however always managed to navigate his way past his elder opponent, and he was able to so once more here, powering through the final two sets 11-7, 11-6.
The final was a typically close and well contested clash, which saw all sets contested only settled by just two points. A key set was the third which saw Joshua open up a 2-1 lead when he snuck it 14-12, however Lawrence was in charge for large stages of the fourth set and it seemed that another deciding set was inevitable to decide proceedings between the pair. Joshua however battled well and managed to force his way back into the set and over the line, 11-9 the score that secured him another Spot for Sport crown.
The next domestic tournament in the calendar is just a couple of weeks away, when the Lions Jack Carrington Tournament takes place on 24 February. This event is open to all players except for those that have represented Guernsey in the Inter-Insular Green Trophy event in the past two seasons. This precludes entry by both finalists from this event, Joshua and Lawrence, as well as Ben Foss and Ryan Bichard.
