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Garry Dodd’s march to retaining three top titles was relentless at La Fratenelle Home Insurance Island Table Tennis Championships.
The finals night was not all as straightforward elsewhere, with some shocks and tight encounters in a packed GTTA Centre at the Hougue Du Pommier.
Dodd was successful in the Men’s Singles, Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles.
A repeat of the final from last year saw Ben Foss as the challenger and he played his part in a good final which contained some excellent rallies.
Pictured: Ben Foss serves.
Dodd was, however, always in command of the affair, including those rallies where Foss was on top, with excellent top-spin strokes from the back of the court and retrieving shots.
Foss rallied well in the fourth set from 7-8 to 10-8 with an excellent forehand counter top-spin down the line, however Dodd used all his experience with two super reverse serves to save both set points comfortably courtesy of service return errors.
Another point of good retrieving skills took Dodd to match point and his twelfth title was sealed in the following point after a strong forehand topspin on the stretch led to Foss placing the ball long.
Dodd’s opening salvo was in the Men’s Doubles alongside Joshua Butler where the defending champions were up against Foss and Ryan Bichard.
The top seeds started strongly when taking the opener 11-6, however they were up against it in the second, where they trailed throughout and were set point down at 8-10.
Both were saved thanks to some super backhand returns from Dodd, however strong backhand strokes from both Foss and Bichard saw them edge it 12-10.
Dodd and Butler regained control in the following set by taking it comfortably and an 11-8 fourth set put them on the brink.
Foss and Bichard were quick out of the blocks in the next set at 3-0, but quickly found themselves 6-3 adrift. A good timeout at this stage worked wonders and saw them regain the lead at 7-6 before forcing the set beyond the regulation 11 points. Dodd and Butler saved a set point at 10-11 and from them closed it out 13-11.
Dodd’s final title of the night came in the Mixed Doubles alongside Alice Edwards against Joshua Stacey and Shelby Timms.
The latter pair came out strong and led the opener 9-7, however the strong combination of Dodd and Edwards held firm and took it 12-10. From here they increased their level and romped to the title.
Edwards was also competing in the remaining flagship events in the form of the Women’s Singles and Women’s Doubles.
However, this did not yield the expected results in both and saw the biggest shock of the night.
The Women’s Singles title went according to script as Edwards clinched her ninth crown over the vastly experienced 17-time former winner Kay Chivers.
Edwards was in control of the match throughout, and it was not until the concluding fourth set until Chivers got close, eventually succumbing 11-9 after a strong forehand led to Chivers going long.
The Women’s Doubles, however, saw the first victory of the evening for an unseeded pair.
Chivers was playing with Juliette Yeaman in this event and the duo had done excellently to reach the final having dispatched second seeds Timms and Paula Le Ber in the semi finals on Monday evening.
The odds were stacked against them in competing against eight-time former champion Edwards and Division 1 player Charlotte Casey.
Edwards and Casey took the opener 11-7 and were looking good when holding a 6-2 advantage in the second.
Yeaman did superbly to save a set point at 9-10 with a strong forehand smash down the line and that was the catalyst for them edging it 13-11 and getting an important foothold in the match.
Edwards and Casey led the next set 7-5, but once more the underdogs did well to fightback and took it 11-9.
The important fourth was another close one and when it went the way of Edwards and Casey 11-9, it seemed probable that they would push on from there.
The next set was nip and tuck until around 6-6 when an uncharacteristic missed forehand smash from Edwards saw Chivers and Yeaman on their way to an 11-7 set win, following some strong forehand smashes from Chivers.
From a position of 4-3 up in the sixth set, Chivers and Yeaman rammed home their advantage with some excellent shots from both players. It saw them comfortably close it out 11-5 and conclude an extraordinary upset.
Outside of blue riband events, there were some great matches in both the Veterans and Junior categories, however one eagerly anticipated match was in the Restricted Singles between top seed and Green Trophy Reserve Ryan Bichard and eight-time former winner and second seed Paul Hainsworth.
The event for players between 21 and 40 and excluding those to have played in the Green or have been crowned Men’s or Women’s Singles champion in the prior two seasons often includes fringe players just outside the top three in the Island.
Bichard was a firm favourite heading into the match having defeated Hainsworth on each occasion this season.
Hainsworth, however, had shown some good form in singles action during the Island Championships, culminating in a semi-final run in the Men’s Singles.
The first set saw a slow start from Bichard which enabled Hainsworth to comfortably take it 11-3, but Bichard bounced back strongly to take the second 11-6.
The third was tight and Bichard played a strong point at 9-9 and a missed forehand stroke from Hainsworth enabled the younger player to seal it 11-9.
The momentum was firmly with Bichard when leading 5-2 in the fourth, but a few strong points from Hainsworth saw parity regained at 5-5. A critical point at the match came at 9-9 after Bichard had fought back from 7-9.
Hainsworth had seen a lot of joy in the match with his short backhand serves and two more effective unreturned serves saw the match levelled at 2-2. Some more errors had crept into Bichard’s game at this stage, and it saw Hainsworth comfortably take the fifth set 11-5.
This momentum carried into the sixth set and a fortunate unreturnable net to open a 6-1 lead for Hainsworth put him in pole position. Bichard fought back strongly to 6-4, however Hainsworth did not relent his two-point advantage with four match points being reached at 10-6. The concluding point was one of the best in the match as it saw Hainsworth retrieve three forehand topspin drives from the back excellently to seal his ninth title in this event.
Players bagging two titles
Alongside Dodd and Edwards, there were a plethora of players who managed to achieve two titles on the night.
Chivers picked up her second title of the evening when she defeated GTTA Development Officer Becks O’Keefe comfortably in straight sets in the Women’s Veterans Singles.
Phil Ogier won his 11th title in the Over 40’s Open Singles, meaning he has won it every year since competing in it for the first time in 2014. His opponent in the final was Lions B team-mate Jez Powell and despite the score, Powell competed well and the tight third end was only clinched 12-10.
Ogier’s other title was a new one as his entry to the Over 50’s Open Singles proved fruitful courtesy of a comfortable straight sets win over fourth seed and defending champion Andy Gill.
There was however another of the surprise results from the evening in the Over 40’s Open Doubles, where Gill and Jamie Ferbrache did superbly to defeat Ogier and Powell 4-1. Ogier and Powell had won this event in each of the past 10 stagings, albeit they did have a close-run encounter with Gill and Ferbrache in the final last year, when the underdogs had led 2-1 before going down in six sets.
On this occasion however the upset did transpire, and the final result was a 4-1 win. The fifth set was key. Two set points were saved by the defending champions during the long set. A missed forehand topspin from Powell at 13-13 gave Gill and Ferbrache the chance to seal it and this was done emphatically thanks to a strong Gill forehand topspin into the corner.
Mark Pipet has reigned supreme in the Over 60’s Open Singles, takingthe honours in six of the prior seven stagings. He had a tricky test this time out in the form of Craig Dunning, who was competing in this category for the first time.
Dunning was making life difficult for the defending champion and opened up a 2-1 lead when he clinched the third end 11-8. The fourth was pivotal as it saw Pipet save a set point at 9-10 when Dunning missed a forehand drive. Pipet went on to take it 12-10 and level the match up. Pipet carried that forward into the fifth which he won 11-8 and he dug deep to overturn a 9-7 deficit to close the match out 12-10 in the sixth
Terry Trustum is a two-time former winner of the Over 70’s Open Singles and he reclaimed the crown following a hard fought five set victory over top seed and defending champion Keith Opie.
The story could however have been very different as Opie led the opening set 9-5 only to be edged out 14-12, with Trustum saving three set points before clinching it with his first following a strong forehand smash. The fifth saw further set points saved by Trustum at 10-8 and he sealed the title at the first time of asking 12-10.
A number of the Island’s rising Junior stars showed their quality across the remaining events, which included the Under 21 Open Singles, also contested by Junior players.
Again, there were multiple title winners, including Aiden Ozanne, Oskar Cleal and Cameron Powell, who each picked up two titles.
Ozanne was the busiest player all evening due to his five finals and he came through as victor in the Under 13 Open and the Under 15 Boys.
His victory in the Under 13 Open was against fellow Lions player Luke Evans. The match was well contested but the elder Ozanne had too much firepower on the night and won in straight sets, despite some excellent points.
His victory in the Under 15 Boys Singles was perhaps the match of the night as it was the only final to be fought out over the full seven set distance. His opponent was Barnaby Groves and the Ravenscroft Panthers player was looking very strong when he sealed the fourth set 11-9 to open up a commanding 3-1 lead.
Ozanne is a battler though and he comfortably won the fifth 11-6 before getting embroiled in a humdinger of a sixth set. Groves was seemingly in control throughout and had leads of 5-1 and 7-4, before setting up two championship points at 10-8. Ozanne saved both with aggressive table tennis into the Grove backhand wing and another strong point at 12-11 saw him edge it 13-11. This spurred him on to close out the decisive seventh set comfortably 11-4.
Cleal was firstly victorious in the Under 18 Boys Singles courtesy of a five-set win over Ozanne. After conceding the opening set 11-4, Cleal went from strength to strength and roared through the next four ends strongly to take the title.
His other title came alongside Cameron Powell in the Under 18 Open Doubles against Ozanne and Evans in five sets. It was a close match, however the elder players played the big points well and this saw them win three of their sets by narrow two-point margins, including the decisive fifth set 11-9.
Powell was involved in a close match in the Under 21 Open Singles against Ozanne. In what must be the first time in recent history, both finalists were not seeded for the event.
Every single set throughout the encounter was hard fought, however Powell was looking in an excellent position when 3-0 up in sets and with match point at 10-9 in the fourth. This match point was saved by Ozanne as were a further two and Ozanne pinched it 15-13.
Another match point went begging in the fifth as Ozanne edged another set 13-11 and the youngster looked set to take it all the way when leading the sxith 10-8. Powell saved both including some super shots at 9-10 and he finally concluded matters 12-10 and ran out a 4-2 victor when Ozanne could only return a strong backhand topspin of Powell’s long.
Evans may have lost to Ozanne in the Under 13’s Open Singles event, but the extremely promising youngster showed his talent during a comfortable straight sets win over Isla Bretel in the Under 11 Open’s Singles event.
Bretel was on the wrong side in the Under 15 Girls Singles too, as Keira Eldridge also won in straight sets to claim the title.
The last event saw top seed Shelby Timms retain her Under 18 Girls Singles title courtesy of a straight sets win over Emily Gavey.
The Island finalists have little time to celebrate as they are straight back into action against their Jersey counterparts tongiht in the Channel Island Championship finals. The matches will take place at the GTTA centre in Guernsey commencing at 18:30 and entry is free to spectators.
The Inter-Insular team event matches will then conclude the weekend of action all day on Saturday, culminating with the Men’s and Women’s Green and Margaret Trophy matches, with action due to kick-off at 18:00. Guernsey will be hoping to reclaim the overall Aggregate Trophy on home soil.
Watch the Island Championship action on Youtube.
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