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DIS ELECTRICAL JERSEY CLOSED TABLE TENNIS TOURNAMENT, DAY 4 MEDIA REPORT.

The midnight oil was burning brightly well past eleven o'clock last night as the two top seeds in the Under 21's Singles had to dig very deep in both pulsating matches to reach the final.

The route to the quarter finals was negotiated by all the usual suspects although Sam Elliott gave Andy Gallichan a good five game workout before Gallichan took the fifth 11 / 4 to win 4---1. Top seed Josh Band reached the semis without dropping a game in his previous matches against Matthieu Fisher and Tom Morgan. Chris Corfield did likewise in the bottom half of the draw against Myles Hawgood and Matt Cooper. The other two quarter finals set the scene for what would happen later on into the night. In the first, Max Tupper was drawn against his much older and more experienced opponent Andy Gallichan. Both players attacked from the start but errors from Gallichan saw Tupper almost at the finishing post by winning the first three games 11 / 9, 11 / 8, 11 / 7. Gallichan battled back with a string of winning shots to take the next two games 4 / 11, 8 / 11, but he was finally overpowered 11 / 6 as Tupper took the match 4---2 with some measured loops. The last quarter final was arguably the very best match of the DIS Closed Tournament so far. Luke Walker and Scott Cassin slugged out an incredible encounter following their respective 4---0 wins in the last sixteen against Hugo Tupper and Sarah Cooper respectively. A large audience were treated to a magnificent display of shots by both players with Cassin taking the lead no less than three times only to be pegged back by the resilient and determined Walker. The game scores speak for themselves, 11 / 13 , 6 / 11 , 11 / 7 , 7 / 11 , 11 / 9 ,

7 / 11. The final game could easily have gone to either player such was the even balance of the match. In the end it was Cassin who forced the errors to take the seventh and final game 11 / 6 to get to the semis with his first ever win against Walker. And then came the semi-finals!!! The in form Cassin took the first two games against Josh Band 11 / 7 , 16 / 18 and an upset looked to be on the cards. Band then fought back with some exquisite backhand and forehand winners to take the next three games 11 / 4 , 11 / 6 , 11 / 6. It was then expected that he would close out the match after the earlier scare but Cassin was having none of it. He powered back to take the match to a deciding seventh game with a score of 11 / 8. The final game was 5/ 4 to Band at the change of ends and the defending champion then ground out the last few points to win 11 / 7 to rapturous applause for both players from an appreciative and knowledgeable audience . On the next table Chris Corfield was having a similar battle against Max Tupper. The match swayed back and forth with Tupper attacking and Corfield chopping back defensive counters. After an exhaustive six games the outcome was even with scores of 12 / 10 , 9 / 11 , 11 / 7 ,

10 / 12 , 7 / 11 , 11 / 4. The final game was a complete nail biter with both players taking and then losing the lead. It was the older Corfield who finally forced the errors to take the game 15 / 13 and the match 4---3.

The Women's Singles also saw the top two seeds through to the final although their passage was a tad less dramatic. Nicola Duke beat the young and talented Helen Liron in the semis after Liron had battled her way past Sarah Cooper 4---2 in the quarters in a match that could easily have gone the distance. Kay Lefebvre joined Duke in the final with a business like win against Carol Milnes by four games to love.

The Mixed Doubles saw the father and daughter pairing of Mark and Helen Liron negotiate their way past siblings Matt and Sarah Cooper in four games only to go out in the semis to the top seeds Dave Cronin and Nicola Duke by the same score. In the bottom half of the draw Luke and Lucy Walker succumbed to the experience of Kevin Allen and Carol Milnes in four games. This pairing then met Craig Gascoyne and Kay Lefebvre in the semi who despite losing the fourth game 6 / 11 ran out comfortable winners 4---1.

The Men's Doubles also saw the main seeds through to the final although the pairings of Yogi Ellis and Luke Walker took a game off Gascoyne and Cronin as did Paul Routier and Andy Gallichan off Clive Hansford and Gallichan Snr. The latter highly experienced doubles team cruised through to the final with an emphatic win against Bobby Vincent and Hugo Tupper by four games to love. Gascoyne and Cronin joined them with the identical scoreline against Ian Lambert and Kevin Allen who found their opponent's barrage of loops and smashes too hot to handle.

The tournament continues tonight Thursday 24 th with the 1 st Division singles, Doubles “A” and the

Over 50 Singles.