Morshead smashes it

THE crème de la crème of the Channel Islands took to the Guernsey Table Tennis Association over the weekend to compete in both the CI Championships on Friday and the Inter-Insular competition on Saturday.

The Friday night saw a total of 20 individual trophies up for grabs between the best of the old rivals’ bat-weaving superstars. The Sarnians’ dominant force, Garry Dodd, was the star of the evening, picking up three trophies in the Men’s Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles events, while his fellow Guernsey’s Alice Edwards took the Women’s Singles title.

In total, Guernsey took home 11 of the 20 available trophies, but there were some outstanding Caesarean performances in hostile conditions on enemy territory. One particular highlight was Jerseyman Chris Morshead, who took the Restricted Singles title with a crushing 4-0 victory over Paul Hainsworth. Morshead said: “It was a brilliantly run event. The crowds were huge, bigger than we usually get, which added its own pressures and excitement.

“I was delighted to get the Restricted title, Paul [Hainsworth] is excellent and someone I have come up against before.”

The Restricted category is for players between the ages of 21-40 and Morshead, 28, believes his cool head-space was crucial in his win over his early-thirties Sarnian opponent.

“I just felt in a really clear frame of mind going in,” Morshead continued.

“I felt completely in control from the off and felt like I was able to stop him getting into a rhythm. There were some excellent rallies and I felt I defended at times really well and then earned my opportunities to attack and put him under pressure.”

Morshead’s straight sets win was one of six straight set wins recorded by Jersey players, with Oscar Karwowski, William Cornthwaite, Esther Lewis, Freya Allaway and Alfie Sutherland joining him with dominating performances of their own.

Jersey’s junior dominance was in overdrive, with the players in red winning six of the seven events under the age of 18. The senior age groups were a reversal of results, as the Sarnian’s took charge. Only Morshead (Restricted) and Eugene Ellis (Over 60 singles) claimed titles.

Most, if not all contests, were one-sided affairs either way, with the exception of the Veterans Doubles. Jersey Table Tennis Association head coach Miguel Freitas partnered with Ian Lambert to take on Guernsey’s Jamie Ferbrache and Andy Gill in a thrilling seven set contest, that eventually fell to the latter pair 4-3.

After a night’s rest, the sun rose on Saturday and the contest moved away from the individual to the team as the Inter-Insular contest began. With Jersey having won it last year, Guernsey set about regaining the honours on home soil. A total of 13 age and event categories were fiercely contested. Each game won was worth one point to the teams overall standings, every match adding up to the Island’s overall ‘aggregate’ total.

The morning session was a see-saw occasion that ended with the sides level at 35 matches each on aggregate. The U11’s event was incredibly tight, with Jersey’s excellent team of Evan Ness, Rory Quinn and James Cleverly battling hard to earn a hard-fought 5-5 draw. However, Jersey opened up an early lead by taking both the U15s and U18 women’s categories 8-2, and the U21 bracket 10-0.

The Sarnian’s would drag themselves level by winning a close Over 40 bracket 6-4, before taking both the Over 60 and Restricted categories 10-0. Although Guernsey dominated in the Over 60’s, Jersey were handicapped by lack of availability in the Restricted bracket. By not being able to field two or more players, Morshead being the only available player, they forfeited the event and received the 10-0 defeat.

More close finishes ensued in the afternoon session, as Jersey took the U13 group 6-4 and shared the spoils in the U18 men 5-5. Guernsey would take the Over 50s 6-4 and the Over 70s 8-2 to take the overall score to 58-52 in Guernsey’s favour, before the main card of the men’s and women’s singles events rounded off a enthralling contest.

It looked as though the Jersey men, competing for The Green Trophy, were going to snatch a win and valuable aggregate points when they found themselves 4-1 up. However, an outstanding debut performance from Guernsey’s Ryan Bichard saw him win all three of his matches and help his team to a 6-4 win in the Green Trophy, and utterly vital aggregate overall points.

The ladies singles, competing for the Margaret Trophy, went the way of the Sarnian’s also. Their margin of win was 8-2, leading to an overall Guernsey win and the green half of the Channel Island’s taking back of the Inter-Insular crown 72-58 on aggregate.

Channel Island Championships results:

Juniors

U11s: Luke Evans (Gsy) 4 – 0 Evan Ness

U13s: Aidan Ozanne 0 – 4 Oscar Karwowski (Jsy)

U15 Boys: Aiden Ozanne 0 – 4 William Cornthwaite (Jsy)

U15 Girls: Keira Eldridge 0 – 4 Esther Lewis (Jsy)

U18 Men: Oskar Cleal 2 – 4 John Le Fondre (Jsy)

U18 Women: Shelby Timms 0 – 4 Freya Allaway (Jsy)

U18 Doubles: Oskar Clean/Cameron Powell 1 – 4 William Cornthwaite/John Le Fondre (Jsy)

Seniors

U21s: Cameron Powell 0 – 4 Alfie Sutherland (Jsy)

Restricted (age 21-40): Paul Hainsworth 0 – 4 Chris Morshead (Jsy)