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An action-packed weekend of action from the La Fratenelle Home Insurance Island Table Tennis Championships has seen finalists reached in all but two events.
Only the final lineup of the Men’s and Women’s Doubles events remain to be decided, they take place this evening.
The highlight of the weekend came within the flagship Men's and Women's Singles events, held on Saturday evening at the busy GTTA centre at Hougue Du Pommier.
The strong favourites in the form of Garry Dodd and Alice Edwards both expectedly made their way to the finals, which will be contested on Finals Night on Wednesday evening, where 20 victors across all events will be crowned as the island's best.
Dodd and Edwards, vying for their 12th and ninth Singles titles respectively made serene progress, with each player dropping just the single set throughout the evening.
Dodd's opponent in the semi-final was unexpected in the form of seventh seed Paul Hainsworth, who had caused a big upset in the Quarter Finals when ending the campaign of fourth seeded Green Trophy representative Lawrence Stacey over the full seven sets.
Dodd was always in control of the match, although three of the sets were closely contested.
The match started with Dodd edging through a patchy opener 12-10 before Hainsworth took the second end 11-8 to restore parity.
From here Dodd motored forward and won the next two sets for the loss of just seven points.
The fifth and final set of the match was another close one with Hainsworth showing good fight, however Dodd finally closed it out 14-12.
Dodd's opponent in the final is second seed Ben Foss. Foss was embroiled in a titanic battle against third seed Joshua Stacey in the last match to finish on the night and despite trailing twice, fought back strongly to take the deciding seventh set of their encounter 11-6.
Edwards on the other hand was to meet the expected seed in her semi-final and was utterly ruthless in winning the first three sets over fourth seed Paula Le Ber for the loss of just nine points. Le Ber rallied well and pinched the fourth set 13-11, however this pushed Edwards back to top gear where she closed out the fifth end emphatically 11-4.
Edwards will play against second seed Kay Chivers in the final after the Division 2 stalwart defeated third seeded Division 1 player Shelby Timms in five sets.
The Men's Singles Event saw some good matches throughout, but Dodd's progress was clinical all night. He dispatched Ben Foote, Jamie Ferbrache and then sixth seed Ryan Bichard, all without dropping a set.
During the early stages of the night, there were some intriguing first and second round matches between Division 1 team-mates.
The closest of these saw Sam Clark compete against Lions D team-mate Steve Ozanne. This match saw the games traded in order, however as it was Clark that won the opening set, he was never behind, and he closed out the deciding end 11-8.
Another first round match saw Ferbrache compete against Lions B team-mate Nye Matthew. Matthew started strongly and led 2-0 before Ferbrache rallied strongly to win four straight sets and take it 4-2. A key set was the fourth, which Ferbrache crucially won 13-11.
Fourth seed Lawrence had the hardest first round match on paper across the eight seeds as he was up against fellow top-flight player Matthew Casey. He was however in command of the encounter and dropped just one set en-route to victory.
Hainsworth had a tough test of his own against Lions E team-mate Connor Powell in the second round. Despite winning the opening two sets, Powell had been causing him problems with some effective serving and attacking strokes. This started to pay dividends as it enabled him to take the next two sets by matching 11-9 scores.
Hainsworth regrouped and comfortably won the fifth 11-5 and when leading the sxith 10-6 looked to be heading to victory. Powell fought well and got back to 9-10, before Hainsworth was able to conclude the match and set 11-9. The other seeded players all navigated the second round with relative ease, however eighth seed
Liam Robilliard did need six sets to overcome the tricky southpaw veteran Andy Gill, with three of the six sets contested going beyond the regulation 11 points.
The Quarter Finals were all well contested, but ultimately it was just the match between Hainsworth and Stacey on the first table which went deep.
Heading into this match Hainsworth had not picked up any wins this season over the top six players in the Division 1 averages, despite coming close on a number of occasions. It looked unlikely that this would happen this time out either as Stacey was in control when taking the second end comfortably 11-5, having edged through a tight opener 13-11.
The third proved to be important as Hainsworth gained a foothold in the match when he took it 11-9. Stacey however reasserted his dominance with strong attacking table tennis when taking the fourth 11-8 and opening up a sizable 3-1 advantage in the process.
Incredibly, though, Hainsworth showed real grit and fight and with some strong play and with the benefit of a few more errors creeping into Stacey's game, was able to win three sets unanswered 11-8, 11-7, 11-6 to complete a super comeback victory.
As well as Dodd's previously mentioned win over Bichard at this stage, Joshua battled past fifth seed Phil Ogier in straight sets, while Foss came through a very tight five set win over Robilliard in a match where all sets played were decided by just two points, including the final fifth set which Foss won 15-13.
There were no surprises in the Women's Singles event as the four seeded players all made it to the semi-finals. Edwards dispatched youngster Emily Gavey in straight sets, while Chivers beat Division 1 player Charlotte Casey in straight sets. Timms beat Juliette Yeaman in straight sets, while Le Ber saw off the challenge of
GTTA development officer Becks O'Keefe in five sets.
Dodd and Edwards continued their success from Saturday evening by comfortably reaching the Mixed Doubles final, in the last event to be concluded in Sunday's action.
They were in cruise control throughout, and they reached the final with an emphatic straight sets win over Kay Chivers and Keith Opie, who had caused an upset in the prior round when edging third seeds Hainsworth and Casey in seven sets.
Their opponents in the final will be second seeds Joshua Stacey and Shelby Timms after they navigated their way through a real battle against fourth seeds Andy Gill and Paula Le Ber, a match which they won in seven sets.
Mark Pipet and Craig Dunning were the first finalists of the Championships as they battled through in the opening event of the Championships on Friday evening.
Top seed and defending champion Pipet reached the final by dispatching third seed Kay Chivers in six sets, whilst Dunning overcame fourth seed Andy Ferbrache in five sets.
This event is for players between 21 and 40 and precludes players to have competed in the Green Trophy Inter-Insular team match or that have won the Men's or Women's Singles in the previous two stagings. Despite excluding players like Dodd, Edwards, Foss, Lawrence and Josh, it contained a strong pool of players, a number of which are 1st Division players and three of which were part of the eight seeds in the Men's Singles event.
Top seed and last year's beaten finalist Bichard will compete against second seeded eight-time former champion Hainsworth in the final on Wednesday evening.
Bichard needed to get past two top-flight players on his way to the final, starting with Clark, who he defeated 4-1. His opponent in the semis was fourth seed Joseph Bourgaize and he came through the well contested affair 4-2.
Hainsworth started with a straight sets win over Ben Foote before squaring off with third seed Robilliard in the semis. Hainsworth won the first two sets before Robilliard fought back to win the third 12-10. The fourth set was key as it saw Hainsworth eventually edge it 13-11 after a number of consecutive service return errors from both players. Hainsworth was then able to close out the deciding set 11-7.
The third and final event contested on the opening evening's action saw the most surprises of all events and the finalists are unseeded.
Aiden Ozanne will compete against Cameron Powell in the final.
The surprise results started from the off with Third Division player Barney Groves battling back from 3-1 down to oust top seeded Division 1 player Timms in seven sets.
Ozanne had a strong win of his own over Second Division player Oskar Cleal in six sets, despite having lost the first two sets.
The Quarters saw more surprise results as the third and fourth seeds both exited the competition. Third seed James Crocker was beaten by Cameron in six sets, whilst foiurth seed Connor Powell was beaten by Ozanne, also in six sets.
The first semi-final saw Powell dispatch Alex Paul in straight sets, following the withdrawal of second seed Caden Brouard from the bottom half of the draw.
The other semi-final between Ozanne and Groves was expected to be a classic, given that all their meetings in Division Three this season have been hard fought. In the end this however did not transpire and on this occasion, Ozanne won in straight sets. The opening set was pivotal as Groves held a sizable lead, only to be edged out 14-12. He also threatened a comeback in the fourth set but Ozanne held his nerve and closed it out 17-15.
One of Guernsey's most promising young talents, Luke Evans, expectedly lived up to his billing as top seed in the Under 11 Open Singles on Saturday morning and will play against second seed Isla Bretel in the final. He beat third seed Thea Cummins in straight sets in the semi-finals, whilst Bretel held off fourth seed Olivia Guilbert in six sets in the other.
Evans reached his second final in short succession and the second seed will compete against fellow Lions player and top seed Ozanne in the final.
Ozanne's second final was reached when he dispatched fourth seed Keira Eldridge in straight sets, whilst Evans beat third seed Luca Sidaner in five sets.
Ozanne upset the odds and while seeded four reached his third final, where he will meet third seed Groves, who also upset the odds to make the final.
Groves was up against top seed Cleal in the semi finals but played some impressive table tennis to win in straight sets.
Ozanne was up against Cameron Powell in a preview of sorts of the Under 21 Open Singles final to come on Wednesday evening. In this clash Powell took the opening set before Ozanne roared back to win in five sets.
The final junior event to be contested on Saturday saw Bretel reach her second final. The unseeded player will compete against top seed Keira Eldridge in the final.
To reach the final, Bretel needed to come through an epic tussle against second seed Ella Le Ber in the Quarter finals. Le Ber had bravely fought back from 3-0 to force a deciding set, before Bretel narrowly clinched the deciding seventh set 11-9.
Bretel then had a more comfortable semi-final against Mille Pragnell and won in straight sets.
Eldridge reached the final by beating Thea Cummins in five sets.
The action on Saturday morning kicked off with the Over 50's Open Singles and it saw defending champion and fourth seed Andy Gill reach the final. He will compete against top seed Phil Ogier in the final.
Gill had a tricky route to the final and this took shape with a clash against fellow top-flight player Mark Pipet in the quarters. He came through this 4-2 to set up a match against second seed Jez Powell. With the match poised at 2-2, Gill edged a crucial fifth end 15-13 before proceeding to win the sixth 11-6.
In Ogier's debut in this event he proceeded to the final well. His opponent in the semis was third seed Matthew and the first three sets were closely contested before Ogier took the final two ends comfortably, concluding a 4-1 win.
The remaining event from Saturday's play saw the eldest players in the Island vying for a spot in finals night.
Top seed and defending champion Keith Opie made his way to the final where he will meet second seed Terry Trustum.
Opie beat GTTA president Derek Webb MBE in five sets, whilst Trustum came through against St Pauls player Maurice James in six sets.
Top seed and defending champion Ogier will play against fellow Lions C team-mate and second seed Jez Powell in the final.
Ogier beat third seed Jamie Ferbrache in straight sets, whilst Powell came through a tough clash with fourth seed Steve Ozanne and won in six sets.
Top seed Chivers will play against second seed O'Keefe in the final.
Chivers defeated Emma Webb in straight sets, while O'Keefe defeated Juliette Yeaman in straight sets in the other semi-final clash.
The first junior event to be contested on Sunday saw top seed Cleal reach the final. He will compete against Ozanne in the final, who made it four finals and counting.
Top seed Cleal had unexpectedly lost to Groves in the semi finals of the Under 15 Boy's Singles just a day prior, but he rectified this in style, winning in straight sets.
Ozanne was also decisive in his straight sets win over the surprise package of unseeded Xavier Ingrouille in straight sets.
Ingrouille had a great tournament and had firstly done well to beat fellow Ravenscroft Panthers player Micah Cohen in the opening round 4-1, despite having lost the opening set but followed up even more impressively with a 7-set surprise win over second seed Cameron Powell in a match where he had trailed 3-1.
Top seed and defending champion Shelby Timms will play against unseeded Emily Gavey in the final.
Timms beat Keira Eldridge 4-1 in the semi-finals. Gavey earned herself an upset six set win over second seed Sian Craig to reach the final.
Top seeds and defending champions Phil Ogier and Jez Powell will meet second seeds Andy Gill and Jamie Ferbrache in a repeat of the final from last year.
Ogier and Powell clinically beat Terry Trustum and Maurice James in straight sets, whilst Gill and Ferbrache defeated Kay Chivers and Keith Opie in five sets.
Aiden Ozanne made his fifth final alongside Luke Evans, who made his third final. The duo, seeded three, will meet second seeds Oskar Cleal and Cameron Powell in the final.
Ozanne and Evans upset the seedings to beat top seeds Shelby Timms and Barney Groves in six sets, whilst Cleal and Powell defeated fourth seeds Ollie Sparkes and Micah Cohen in straight sets.
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