Shooters win senior and junior table tennis titles

The Isle of Man Table Tennis Association Mixed Doubles tournament was recently held at the NSC.

It was played as a round robin, with three pairs participating. Top seeds Scott Lewis and Becky Bayley won both matches to take the title, beating Malc Lewis and Francesca Lord plus siblings Wilma and William Dalugdugan.

The final pair then defeated Lewis and Lord to take second place.

Another round robin with five players participating. Top seed Luke Begley played excellently, winning all his matches without dropping a set to take the title.

Runner-up Liav Lanin struggled, but managed two wins and finished in third place. Seth Hornby Wheeler finished second, losing only to Luke 3-11, 9-11, 12-14 in a closely contested match.

The only match that went the distance was between Henry Weaver and Liav, with the latter winning 11-8, 13-15, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9 – a great display of determination and endurance from the youngster .

That result left Henry in fourth place after beating Sister Sydnie in straight sets.

Six players participated in this event and the game started in two groups of three. In group A, all three players won one match each. Amit Lanin defeated Wilma Dalugdugan 13-11, 11-9, 11-9.

Wilma then defeated Dan Levine 11-2, 8-11, 11-9, 11-3 and in the match between Dan and Amit, the former won 11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 11-4.

After a countback, Amit emerged as the winner, leaving Dan in second place and Wilma in third place.

Group B was a simpler affair, with William Shooter winning both his matches in straight sets, leaving Ege Niyazi and Francesca Lord to play for second place. Ege took this by beating Francesca 12-10, 11-6, 11-8.

The semi-final between William and Dan was another straight sets victory for William, while in the second semi-final between Ege and Amit the latter entered the final with a score of 11-8, 11-9, 4-11, 11-8 . .

In the final, Amit took the first end 11-6, but William fought back to take the next three ends 11-3, 14-12, 11-5 and take the title in style.

Nine players were divided into three groups of three.

Top seed John Shooter won both his matches to win Group A, leaving Stu Perry and Julian Briercliffe to battle for second place. Perry played extremely well and was a bit unlucky when he lost in the fifth end 15-13, 9-11, 11-5, 6-11, 6-11.

Group B saw top seed Liam Chan fall into first place after losing to Dave Parsons 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 9-11, 8-11. Darren Shaw was the third player in the group and struggled before finishing in third place.

In Group C, Mike Tamarov defeated Jason Quirk 13-11, 8-11, 11-4, 11-8 to win the group, leaving Quirk second. Tony Sewell, playing in his first championship, finished third.

While six players advanced to the knockout stages, the winners of Groups A and B were given byes to the semi-finals, leaving the remaining four players Chan, Quirk, Briercliffe and Tamarov to compete for a place in the semi-finals.

In the first match, Tamarov defeated Briercliffe in straight sets, while Chan had a tougher match against Quirk before eventually winning 9-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-8.

The first semi-final was between Shooter and Chan, and was ultimately settled in Shooter's favor in the fourth end: 11-8, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7.

In the second semi-final between Tamarov and Parsons, the former won in straight sets to book his place in the final, but it was Shooter who retained his title with a comfortable score of 11-6, 11-1, 11-7.

Seven players lined up to compete for the title, playing in groups of three and four.

In Group A, Malcolm Cummings took top spot after beating Steve Curtis in straight sets and Ken Mitchell 16-14, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9. The latter came second after beating Curtis in three runs.

In Group B, John Magnall finished top after winning all his matches. Geoff Ball came second after playing extremely well to beat Malc Lewis in the longest match of the evening, winning 12-10, 9-11, 11-4, 7-11, 13-11. That left Kevin Drewry in fourth place.

The first semi-final was between Cummings and Ball, with the former winning 4-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-3. In the second semi-final, Magnall defeated Mitchell in the fourth end 11-5, 11-5, 8-11, 11-2.

The final was a great match between attacking and defensive styles, with Cummings taking the title in the fourth end after a fighting performance from Magnall 11-9, 11-5, 8-11, 11-8.

– For more information about local table tennis, visit the association's website at www.tabletennis365.com/IOM KEN MITCHELL