Table tennis: Stacey seals Whistlers Open Singles title for fourth time

Thursday 14 November 2024

Another large field gathered for the Whistlers Open Singles event with 42 entrants vying for the spoils.

The players included defending champion and three-time prior winner Ben Foss, another three-time winner in Lawrence Stacey and another former winner in Phil Ogier.

In the end it was Lawrence that took his fourth title, following a strong straight sets win against twin Joshua in the showpiece final, to cap off an entertaining evening of table tennis.

There were no surprises during the initial group stages as all 14 seeded players emerged. The only seed not to top the group was 13th ranked Caden Brouard, who was defeated in straight sets by junior Oskar Cleal.

There was a surprise qualifier in the form of Terry Trustum, who played some excellent table tennis to qualify as runner-up in group F. He defeated the dangerous Kennedy Chepkor in straight sets and also came close to earning a super upset against fifth seed Jez Powell. Trustum led 2-0 after taking the second 14-12, however he could not get over the line, with Powell taking the remaining sets 11-9, 11-7, 11-5.

Trustum's evening was ended in the first knockout round, as Cleal dispatched him in four sets in the closest match of the round. The other closer match saw eighth seed Jamie Ferbrache end the evening of Brouard in four sets.

The Last 16 saw the meeting of all other seeds and in each contest the higher ranked player made it through to the Quarters. Notably, Ferbrache continued on his way by beating 12th seed Kay Chivers in four sets, champion Stacey beat 14th seed Connor Powell in four sets and fifth seed Ryan Bichard beat ninth seed Nye Matthew in four sets.

Ferbrache's evening ended at the quarter finals stage, however he won the opening set against top seed and former Lions team-mate Foss, before falling in four sets. Lawrence was extended to four sets by Powell, the same score which Ogier defeated Bichard by. The final quarter saw Joshua dispatch seventh seed Steve Ozanne in straight sets.

The first semi-final between the most decorated winners of this event in recent years, Foss and Lawrence, was a classic. Foss won the opener before Lawrence powered back to lead 2-1. Foss comfortably won the fourth to set-up a final set sudden death shootout. The set could have gone either way, but Lawrence managed to sneak through 12-10.

The other semi-final saw an impressive performance from Joshua as he defeated Ogier strongly in straight sets.

The final was a fitting end between Whistlers players Lawrence and Joshua. Every set was closely contested, with only a few points in it, but Lawrence had the edge throughout and sealed the title thanks to an 11-8, 11-9, 11-8 win.

The next tournament is the Ping Pong Challenge competition, which will see the return of the blue sandpaper bats for the first time since the 2022/23 season.