Lawrence Stacey signalled a return to form as he claimed his fourth Whistlers Open title in five years on Monday evening.

There was a healthy entry as players from across the four Guernsey Table Tennis Association leagues competed for one of the major tournaments of the season, perhaps inspired by unseeded Barney Groves’ surprise Senior Group win two weeks prior.

There were some unexpected results in the early stages as 2nd Division junior Albie Lihou defeated Ian Le Page and 13th seed Andy Gill to top the group, while Division 1 regular Connor Powell exited Group N at the hands of juniors Luke Evans and in-form Ollie Sparks.

Gill still managed to qualify by virtue of finishing second in his group and was unlucky not to beat 5th seed Liam Robilliard in the first round, while Lihou’s run continued as the 15-year-old compiled a fine 3-2 win over Cameron Powell before being defeated by Josh Stacey. Groves was again unseeded due to his current league form, but he found his rhythm to overcome Peter Vivian and 10th seed Sam Clark, setting up a quarter final clash against Josh Stacey in a repeat of the Senior Group final. Some exceptional attacking forehands were interspersed with some slower, tactical play between the pair, but this time Stacey’s extra experience showed as he came through 11-7 in the final set.

Lawrence Stacey also had a tough match against Robilliard and after losing the 4th game 11-2, he rallied well to scrape through 11-9 in the decider. His semi-final opponent was top seed Phil Ogier, whose change of rubbers and playing style has added an extra dimension to his game. On this occasion Stacey’s powerful attacking strokes were consistent and he sealed a strong win, 14-12, 11-8, 11-8. Second seeded Alex Robinson, in increasingly good form having returned to the island over the summer, had navigated a trouble-free route to the semi-final before his encounter with Josh Stacey. His strong play continued as he negated his opponent’s forehands with some excellent shot-making and explosive rallies, coming through in straight games 11-8, 11-7, 11-8.

Stacey started the final by attacking Robinson from the start and had the better of the early exchanges to take a 2-0 lead. His opponent dug in and countered well to win a tactical 3rd game on deuce, but with so much recent tournament success, Stacey’s experience showed as he dug in to win a more attritional 4thgame, 11-3, 11-8, 13-15, 11-8