Aadil Anand won both the under-13 and under-15 events at the Burgess Hill 2 Star – at the age of just 10.

The tournament at the Triangle Leisure Centre, attracted a full entry of 72 players, with 64 entries in the morning age groups (U10s, U12s and U15s) and 54 in the afternoon age groups (U11s, U13s and U18s). This made for a very busy day, with over 260 matches being played.

Anand, of the Fusion TT Club impressed, winning the U13s & the U15s against players up to five years older than him.

U10s

This was just a group of three players. The winner was Sophie Chiang (E), who beat both Brandon Sangchin (Sy) and Marco Plate (He) 3-1. Sangchin won 11-4 in the 5th set to take second place.

U11s

There were 15 players in this event in three groups of four and one group of three. The top three seeds won their groups, but No 4 seed, Ollie Michell (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC) was defeated by Chiang 3-0.

In the quarter-finals, top seed Mahmood Kelani (K) knocked out Arthur Bracken (K) 3-2, Chiang once again beat Sangchin, 3-0 this time, third seed Felix Thomis (Bk) overcame Michell 3-0 and No 2 seed Dylan Tynan (Co) ended the run of Zach Hodges (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC) in three very close games.

In the semi-finals, Kelani beat Chiang 3-1 and Tynan beat Thomis in three. In the final Tynan took the first 11-8, but from there Kelani took charge and won 12-10, 11-6, 11-6. Chiang got third place, as Thomis was too tired to play after a very long day. Spencer Blyth (Sy) beat Luke Darwen (Sx-Arundel TTC) 3-1 in the final of the consolation event.

U12s

This was six groups of four. There was only one minor upset at the group stage, which was Jaden Aulakh (E) beating sixth seed Charlie Cunningham (Sy), but there are only 20 ranking points between them. Another interesting result was Luke Darwen just losing out 12-10 in the 5th set against third seed, Tynan.

In the quarters, top seed Kelani overpowered Cunningham 3-0, fourth seed Charlie Graham-Adams (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC) was too consistent for Thomis, winning in three, Tynan again scraped over the line vs Aulakh 11-9 in the fifth and No 2 seed Will McCarthy (K) beat Ben Palmer-Jones (Mi) 3-1.

In the semi-finals, Graham-Adams upset the seedings, overcoming Kelani in a close four-setter 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 12-10. In the other half McCarthy sailed through against Tynan 3-0. McCarthy was too strong for Graham-Adams in the final, winning 11-4, 14-12, 11-7. Kelani won the bronze medal match 3-0 vs Tynan. Louis Beesley (Sy) won the consolation final against Bracken 3-1.

U13s

There were 22 players in this category in six groups. There was one upset at the group stage. Sixth seed Robert Pelc (Sy) was beaten by Graham-Adams in four, but there was only a nine-point difference in the rankings.

In the quarters, top seed Anand (K) played McCarthy and won 3-1, third seed Samuel Pang (Sy) beat Feiyang Yang (Mi) 3-1, Graham-Adams defeated Palmer-Jones in straight sets and No 2 seed Ryan Darwen (Sx-Arundel TTC) knocked out Timmy Walters (K) 11-5 in the deciding set.

In the first semi-final, Anand won 3-0 (12-10, 11-8, 11-8) over Pang and in the second semi Graham-Adams came back from 2-1 down against Darwen to win 3-2 (11-9, 4-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-7).

Anand steamrollered Graham-Adams in the final 11-3, 11-3, 11-5. Pang got the bronze medal by default, as Darwen had left without realising there was a bronze medal match. Thomas Arnott (K) beat club-mate Richard Holmes (K) 3-0 in the consolation final.

U15s

This was by far the largest event, with 37 entries in nine groups. In Group 2 the No 2 seed Ben Naylor-Smith (Bu) had a bit of a scare, only scraping over the line 11-9 in the fifth against Jamie Watkin-Rees (He), having been 0-2 down in games. It was a similar situation in Group 6, where sixth seed Kieran Gray (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC) went 0-2 down against Adam Plakas (Sy), but came back to win comfortably in the decider.

In Group 7, Joe Walker (E) usurped No 7 seed, Ryan Darwen (Sx-Arundel TTC) in four sets. In Group 8 the rankings were turned on their heads, with No 8 seed Robert Pelc (Sy), coming unstuck twice against both Ross Campbell (Do) and Ollie Guile (Sx-Brighton City TTC), both in straight sets.

In the last 16, Billy Keegan (Sx-Brighton City TTC) took No 3 seed Sam Hume (E) to five sets and in the same round Charlie Hough (Sx-Warden Park TTC) took Gray to 11-9 in the fifth.

In the quarter-finals, top seed Anand (K) won 3-0 against Feiyang Wang (Mi), No 4 seed Jack Stockdale (E) defeated Gray in four, Hume knocked out fifth seed, Bertrand Siu (Sx-Warden Park TTC) 3-0 and finally Naylor-Smith overcame Walker in three games.

In the semis, Anand was too strong for Stockdale, winning in straight sets, whereas Naylor-Smith struggled a lot more against Hume, only winning 11-7 in the decider. The final was extremely close with Anand taking the first and then the two alternating, with Anand winning 11-9 in the fifth. The match for the bronze medal was also a five-setter, which Stockdale won against Hume. Samuel Pang (Sy) won the consolation final 3-1 against Timmy Walters (K).

U18s

This ended up having 17 entrants in six groups, due to a few pull-outs, including the Nos 3 and 5 seeds. In round one, Freddy Goodall (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC) had a good win over club-mate, fifth seed Gray in the fifth set, despite losing the first two sets, and had also overcome seventh highest ranked player, Alex Malloch (Do) in the group.

In the quarter-finals, top seed Richard Pelc (Sy) beat Goodall 3-0, Walker defeated Stanley Garnham-Sankey (Sy) 15-13 in the fifth, Andrew Jackson (Sy) now the third seed, knocked out Matthew Johnson (Sx-Brighton City TTC) 3-0 and finally Naylor-Smith beat Keegan in straight games.

The semis were both straightforward matches with the top two seeds Pelc and Naylor-Smith ending the hopes of Walker and Jackson, both 3-0. The final was a good match, with Naylor-Smith making up for his defeat in the U15s final, by beating Pelc in five sets. In the bronze medal match, Walker overturned his group loss to Jackson 3-1. In the consolation final Matthew Hooper (K) beat Evan Delage (He) 3-0.

The next 2 Star tournaments in Sussex are in Collyers Sixth Form College in Horsham on

June 28 and July 12, 2015 and the entry forms are available on the entry forms page of the Table Tennis England website.

Summary of Results:

U10s
1st Place: Sophie Chiang (Sy)

U11s:
Main: Mahmood Kelani (K) beat Dylan Tynan (Co) 3-1 (8-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-6)
Consolation: Spencer Blyth (Sy) beat Luke Darwen (Sx) 3-1 (11-7, 11-6, 5-11, 11-6)

U12s:
Main: Will McCarthy (K) beat Charlie Graham-Adams (Sx) 3-0 (11-4, 14-12, 11-7)
Consolation: Louis Beesley (Sy) beat Arthur Bracken (K) 3-1 (11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8)

U13s:
Main: Aadil Anand (K) beat Charlie Graham-Adams (Sx) 3-0 (11-3, 11-3, 11-5)
Consolation: Thomas Arnott (K) Richard Holmes (K) 3-0 (11-4, 12-10, 11-9)

U15s:
Main: Aadil Anand (K) beat Ben Naylor-Smith (Bu) 3-2 (11-9, 9-11, 16-14, 3-11, 11-9)
Consolation: Samuel Pang (Sy) beat Timmy Walters (K) 3-1 (8-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-9)

U18s:
Main: Ben Naylor-Smith (Bu) beat Richard Pelc (Sy) 3-2 (8-11, 11-8, 14-12, 8-11, 11-3)
Consolation: Matt Hooper (K) beat Evan Delage (He) 3-0 (11-4, 12-10, 11-8)

Rory Scott
June 15, 2015