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DIS ELECTRICAL JERSEY CLOSED TABLE TENNIS TOURNAMENT, DAY 5 MEDIA REPORT.

The Doubles “A” and the Over 50 Singles acted as curtain raisers to last night's main event of the Division 1 singles at the Geoff Reed Table Tennis Centre at F.B.Fields.

There were a few surprises in Doubles “A” where the number 2 seeds, Darren le Brun and Barry Breuilly were knocked out in the quarter final by the junior team of Tom Marsay and Sam Elliott. The young duo made a superb comeback from two games down to beat their very experienced opponents 5 / 11 , 9 / 11 , 11 / 9 , 13 / 11 , 11 / 8 .They went on to meet the ladies pairing of Nicola Duke and Carol Milnes who had dispatched Ed Le Quesne and Matt Cooper 4—1 in the previous round. The ladies proved to be a little bit too canny for the juniors as they just squeezed through to the final by three games to one with the last game ending 15 / 13 in their favour. In the top half of the draw the number one seeds Mark Liron and Hugo Tupper had no such problems as they did not drop a game in their matches. Young Hugo took great satisfaction in beating his father Martin, who paired up with Malcolm Gallichan in the semi 11 / 6, 13 / 11 , 11 / 5 .

The Over 50's Singles saw the expected outcome with the old warhorses of Hansford and Gallichan getting to the final with only one game dropped in the rounds between them.

The Ist Division Singles started with a re-match of the thriller a day ago between juniors Scott Cassin and Luke Walker. This time it was Walker who exacted revenge in another very tight and hugely entertaining encounter. The match was as before finally balanced and went to the fifth as Walker fought back from two games to one down. His expansive smashes finally won the day to give him the prize of meeting the number one seed Craig Gascoyne in the last sixteen. Gascoyne however forced a string of errors from his young opponent in their match and proceeded to the quarters as expected. Hugo Tupper also made the last sixteen with a 3—1 over Matt Cooper along with Ian Lambert and Clive Hansford who had relatively straightforward wins over Myles Hawgood and Andy Gallichan. Gascoyne and Hansford wasted no time in their quarter finals either, knocking out Ian Lambert and Hugo Tupper three straight. The semi final was a joy to watch as Hansford rolled back the years with some fantastic winning loops and a brilliant recovery from two games down to force a decider. Gascoyne had to call on all his reserves to fend off the onslaught from the ever popular Veteran who was cheered on by a very partisan older section of the crowd but finally the Development Officer's stamina and power told as he edged through to the final in the fifth, 11 / 5.

In the bottom half of the draw, second seed Bruce Gallichan finally beat Kay Lefebvre

3--0 after a marathon third game which ended 18 / 16 in his favour. He was joined by Kevin Allen who vanquished Paul Routier in four, Marcus Hawgood and Josh Band, who eased past Max Tupper in three straight games. Band then saw to the end of Hawgood's chances with another {now almost trademark} three nil win. Kevin Allen then played his match of the season as he recovered twice from a game down to beat Gallichan for what was the upset of the night. Allen never gave up and bided his time against his opponent's defensive style. Eventually he got his reward of a place in the semis winning

11 / 6 , 2 / 11 , 7 / 11 , 11 / 8 , 11 / 6. The semi final was a little bit of an anti climax after Allen's previous match. He did all he could but did not manage to stop the talented 14 year old Josh Band reaching his fifth final of the Championships with another three love result.

The tournament continues on Friday 25 th [tonight] with the 3 rd and 4 th Division singles and the Veteran Men's Singles.