Guernsey’s leading Junior Boys table tennis players concluded a successful debut season in the Youth British Club Leagues this weekend.

The competition, previously known as the Junior British League, had not been attended by Guernsey for several years, however the return to action was fruitful as it saw the side return as medallists with a second-placed finish in Division 9, the entry level of the leagues. 

Given the system works on ranking points to determine the structures of the Divisions, the points gained by the players this season should lead to promotion next season.

The team to compete this weekend was Oskar Cleal and Barnaby Groves, who had also competed in the opening round of fixtures, as well as Luke Evans, who was making his debut in the competition.

The side went into the weekend in second position in Division 9, knowing that a top four finish was likely – the league then splits into a top half and bottom half to determine the final positions.

The first match of the weekend at the Draycott and Long Eaton Table Tennis Centre in Derby was against seventh placed Irish based side Dublin 1 and a 4-2 victory was achieved. Cleal made a fast start to the weekend and was unbeaten. He dispatched Connor Sheehan in four sets before earning an impressive straight sets win over the number 1 Daniel Patterson. 

Groves was ousted in five sets by Patterson in the match opener, but he overcame Jack O’Connell in the penultimate match to put the win in sight. Evans duly converted in the final game of the match, with a nice four set win over Sheehan. He had earlier been unfortunate not to get past O’Connell, with the Irish player battling back from 2-1 down to come through over the distance.

The final match of the initial league phase saw an emphatic 5-1 win achieved over sixth placed side BATTS II. Cleal maintained his perfect start due to a 4-set win over Matthew Jones and close 5-set victory over Michael Dean. 

Groves was also unbeaten here thanks to a matching five set win over Dean, in a match where he battled back strongly from 2-0 down and a 4-set win over Nikolaos Fillipas in a match where all three sets won by Groves were 12-10. Evans fought back from 2-1 down to defeat Jones over the distance, however he was beaten by Fillipas in a close four set encounter.

Through to the top four battle

Following the second place finish, the Sarnian trio headed into the Top Half of Division 9 alongside the table topping London Academy 3 side, Ackworth TT 2 and Horsham TTC.

The first match of the new Division was a big challenge as it was against the table topping London Academy side and despite some large efforts, a 5-1 defeat was incurred, to the eventual champions. Groves was the sole victor in the encounter as he fought past Lewis MacSween in five sets. He came close in his other match with number 1 and England number 106 Junior Boy Yacoub Rahmani-Walentynski and lost 3-2 in the clash where he had led 2-1. 

London Academy changed their line-up for the fixture, bringing in Adam Riadi, who earlier in the day had been playing for their ‘A’ team in Division 3, and he proved formidable with dominant straight sets wins over Cleal and Evans. Evans came close against MacSween, narrowly falling 13-11 in the fifth set. The final match saw Cleal defeated by Rahmani-Walentynski in four sets, in another very close match.

The final day of action on Sunday commenced with a 5-1 win over Horsham TTC. Cleal started well with two strong wins, comfortably seeing off the challenge from Evan Erskine and Alain Shibu in straight sets. Groves continued his strong momentum with a 4-set win over Shibu and a straight sets win over Luke Harrison, whilst Evans defeated Harrison in four sets.

Winner takes-all clash

This led to a winner takes-all clash with Ackworth TT 2 to see who would finish as runners-up and take home the silver medals. The Ackworth side had inflicted a heavy 5-1 defeat on the Guernsey outfit when they met in October, however despite the one-sided nature of the scoreline, three of those five rubbers had been won over the full five set distance. 

The strong momentum built by the Guernsey side and the continued improvement of the players thanks to regular competition in the top Divisions of the local Doric Insurance sponsored senior leagues proved key to the success as an excellent 4-2 win was obtained this time around. 

Groves was the player to excel as he was unbeaten. He started with a 4-set win over number 1, Muhammad Chishti, and he won the match to secure the medals when he defeated Alfie Mawson in straight sets in the final game of the weekend. Cleal showed great mental resilience in battling back from 2-1 down to defeat the strong Chishti in five sets to secure the medals, whilst Evans was a strong four set winner over Mawson. In the end it was Ackworth’s strong number 2 David Sherwood that was unbeaten, defeating Cleal in straight sets and Evans in 4.

The Guernsey team comprised of players aged only 15, 14 and 12, competing in an Under-19 league, often against much older players so the weekend’s results will stand them in good stead as they wait to see what Division they compete in next season.