It takes five sets to separate Stacey twins in Capelles Open

Tuesday 14 January 2025

The Stacey twins' recent run of success in open table tennis tournaments shows no sign of stopping as Lawrence Stacey defeated his brother Josh to claim victory in the Capelles Open Singles tournament.

Following his triumphs in the Channel Islands Top 12 Qualifier and the Senior Group tournaments, Lawrence Stacey entered the Capelles event as the top seed.

He breezed through the group stages with wins over Division 3 players Ken Falla and Keira Eldridge.

Not all seeded players had it their own way, however, as fifth seed Dan Collenette was defeated in the group by up-and-coming junior Barnaby Groves, while Oskar Cleal survived a difficult group, despite losing to Second Division player Mark Fenwick in five sets.

Cleal, only 15 years old, used this setback as motivation, delivering a strong performance in subsequent matches. He defeated Joe Bourgaize 3-1 before narrowly losing to sixth seed Jamie Ferbrache 11-8 in a tight deciding set.

Indeed, by the quarter finals, there were very few one-sided matches as Division One's best players slugged it out, and it was difficult to predict a favourite at that stage. Matt Casey ended the run of Ferbrache with a fine 3-1 win, while Jez Powell played some intelligent shots to take a game off Lawrence Stacey before succumbing 3-1.

In the semi-finals, Lawrence saw off the fight of Casey with relative ease, while Josh Came through a 4-set encounter with multiple time previous winner Phil Ogier.

"It always goes to five" is a phrase frequently heard in the hall before the brothers face off in a major final, due to their tendency to battle out some tight matches and this was no exception.

Lawrence claimed the first set, but Josh bounced back with his trademark whipped backhands to take a 2-1 lead. Lawrence ensured the match went to a fifth and deciding set, where the key moment came at 8-8 with an extraordinary rally that drew loud applause from the supporters. Fuelled by the adrenaline of this moment, Lawrence closed out the match 11-8, 9-11, 10-12, 11-9, 11-8 to secure the title.

The Capelles series continues on Monday with the Ladies Handicap Singles tournament.

Pictured top: The Stacey twins, (l-r) Lawrence and Josh.