- Southampton-based pro wins Jersey Open at first time of asking.
- Guernsey’s Loveridge regains women’s title after last year’s defeat, and Wykes claims U21 honours.
PROFESSIONAL David McBeath won the NatWest Jersey Open at FB Fields on Sunday with a 3-1 success against London 2012 Olympian Darius Knight.
On his first visit to the Island, McBeath triumphed 10-12, 11-5, 11-7, 11-6 at the Geoff Reed Table Tennis Centre; denying Knight – who finished runner-up in 2012 and 2013 – from claiming top spot once again.
Men’s Open singles: David McBeath
Women’s Open singles: Alice Loveridge
Restricted singles: David Wetherill
Veterans singles: Mike O’Driscoll
U21 singles: Jordan Wykes
Women’s U21 singles: Kelsey Le Maistre
Band 1: Sam Perry (men); Alice Loveridge (women)
Band 2: Sam Perry (men); Jane Vickers (women)
Band 3: David Arrowsmith (men); Soffia Uddnas (women)
Band 4: Jordan Wykes
Band 5: Dylan Curry
Band 6: Luc Miller
Team events
Men: Darius Knight/Mike O’Driscoll
Women: Jane and Emma Vickers
Veterans: Eugene Ellis/Kevin Allen
Juniors: Calum Morrison/Dylan Curry
Sarnian Alice Loveridge reclaimed the women’s singles title – after dominating the event from 2010-2013 – thanks to a 12-10, 11-2, 11-3 victory against last year’s winner, Emma Vickers from Derbyshire.
With Jersey’s representatives – including Craig Gascoyne, Jordan Wykes, Chris Morshead and Josh Band – all knocked out in the last-16 and quarter-finals, first and second seeds Knight and McBeath progressed to the final with wins against Matt Ware and Mike O’Driscoll, and McBeath then made the most of a number of unforced errors from Knight (plus an element of luck) to pick up the top prize.
‘I lost to Darius in the team event on Friday so I’m happy to get revenge,’ said McBeath.
‘I played well today, I found my stride a bit in the last two games and everything was going right for me.’
On Friday, Knight and O’Driscoll made the final of the men’s team event without dropping a game (defeating Jersey’s Band and Wykes in the semi-final) before beating Hampshire pairing McBeath and Ware (who had seen off Gascoyne and Sam Perry in the last four), while the women’s team event was won by Derbyshire duo Jane and Emma Vickers after they beat Jersey’s Kelsey Le Maistre and Sofia Uddnas 3-0. There was local success in the veterans’ team competition, though, with Eugene Ellis and Kevin Allen beating John Magnall and Geoff Ware 3-0.
In the junior event, Wykes and Tyler Gosselin beat Guernsey’s Ben Foss and Luke Greenfield to secure a place in the final, but the visiting pair of Calum Morrison and Dylan Curry proved too strong and claimed the junior title 3-0.
In the banded singles on Saturday, Wykes and Luc Miller claimed top honours for Jersey in Band 4 and 6 respectively, while David Arrowsmith won Band 3 thanks to a 3-0 defeat of Max Tupper. Curry won Band 5 – beating Miller in the final – and Uddnas won women’s Band 3. Elsewhere, Perry won both Band 1 and Band 2 with two wins against Sussex-based Mark Scutts, while Loveridge and Jane Vickers took Band 1 and 2 for women respectively.
Following his semi-final defeat in the open singles, O’Driscoll finished on a high with a, 11-9, 11-5, 11-9 victory against Ellis, and there were further home wins in the under-21 competitions, with Wykes and Le Maistre both claiming 3-0 final successes. Paralympian David Wetherill won the restricted singles in five against Jody Bevington.
‘These competitions are vital at a young age to learn the techniques and understand your strengths and weaknesses,’ said Jersey’s table tennis development officer Gascoyne. ‘Table tennis is a specialisation sport, it’s about consistency, speed and understanding spin, and you’ve got to learn how to do all that in a match.
