Jersey Table Tennis facebook site Click here * pics added 19 Dec 08

Appleby Academy Junior Selection Tournament

Proof was very much in evidence this week that junior table tennis in Jersey   is growing in popularity when some twenty seven players took part in the first of this season's Appleby Academy junior selection tournaments.

Players had been graded into bands in accordance of both experience and ability, and the evening produced some close and exciting matches over some four hours of competition at the Geoff Reed Table Tennis Centre.

All players in each band played one another, with Band 1 producing the closest finish of the evening, Scott Cassin just edging out Luke Walker and Josh Band on a count back after all three players had finished level. Walker had produced something of a surprise in the last match of the evening by beating Band, the Island's top junior, in straight sets.

Band 2 saw Tom Marsay win all of his five matches to clinch the title, although he had to work hard to beat his nearest challenger Sam Elliott in four games to do so. Michael Fisher and Jodie Le Maistre produced one of the best games of the evening in this band, three of the games going past deuce (one of them 20-18) before Fisher came out on top.

Oliver Griggs was the comfortable winner of Band 3, winning all of his six matches with the loss of only four games, although he was pushed to a deciding set by Jack Mills. Youngsters Phillip Quinn and Jordan Wykes showed great promise by finishing second and third respectively.

In Band 4, Carl Duncan overcame the challenge of Jake Dunford to take the honours. All of the players in this group are new to the sport, but all showed how quickly they are improving as members of the Appleby Academy under the guidance of the JTTA development Officer, Craig Gascoyne.