Crawley 2 Star Report:

(By Rory Scott-Referee)

There was a total entry of 65 players across 6 different age groups at the Crawley 2 Star on Friday 13th April. Thanks go to Tim Harris & the Organising Committee of the VETTS Southern Masters for the use of the venue on the Friday night before their weekend events.

A ‘Gallen’ of Grit:

U11s consisted of two groups of four players. Group 1 was won by U9 player, Anish Padalkar (Horsham Spinners TTC) with Lorcan Gallen (Bk) in second place, losing 3-0 to Anish. Group 2 was won by Chamika Weerasinghe (K), who won his matches 3-0 and second place went to Ollie Cann (Ashington), who won a five-gamer over Isabelle Anderson (Horsham). In the semi-finals Anish beat Ollie 3-0 and Lorcan beat Chamika 3-1 to set up a repeat of the group 1 match between Anish and Lorcan in the final. However, this time the result was reversed with Lorcan showing grit and determination to win 3-1 (9-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-7). In the U11s consolation Kieran Bonner (Horsham Spinners) beat Liam May (Horsham) 3-1 and Isabelle beat brother Leo. In the final Kieran beat Isabelle in three close games.

Ben’s Talent is ‘Foster’ed:

U13s was two groups with five players in group 1 and 4 in group 2. Ben Foster (K) had a good win in four games against the higher ranked Anthony Close (He) the top seed. Alex Widdowson (Horsham Spinners) took third place in the group. Group 2 was won by Sam Wilson (Bu), the second seed, with a five-game win over second placed Josh Gallen (Bk). Adam Wilson finished third. In the semi-finals Ben beat Josh in straight games and Sam took out Anthony also in three. However, the final was very close with Ben taking the first two games 11-8, 12-10 before Sam fought back to clinch the next two, 11-9, 11-8. The final game was close again and Ben came through 11-8. In the consolation semis Alex beat Kate Bridger (Bolney) 11-5 in the fifth and Alistair Smith (East Grinstead) scraped a victory over Adam Wilson 12-10 in the fifth. In the final Alistair got his own back on Alex in four games after he had lost to Alex in the group earlier on.

Triumph for Trevillion:

U15s was four groups of three and one group of four. Niall Harris (Bu) won group 1, aided by the non-arrival of the top seed, but also beat the higher ranked James Arnold (Horsham Spinners) 3-1. New top seed, Dan Pound (Horsham) won his group, although only just beat Lucas Papantoniou (Mi) 11-9 in the fifth. In group 3 Jamie Trevillion (Do) won with ease with Ovi Eyarhono (Sy) in second place. Timur Hashimi (Mi) won group four with Evie Foster (K) the group runner-up. Jack Davies (K) topped group five and Vyas Raina (Sy) was second. The quarter-final line-up was Niall vs Ovi, Jack vs Timur, Jamie vs James and Dan vs Evie. In each case the higher ranked player progressed to the semis, which meant Ovi faced Timur and Jamie faced Dan. Timur won in four games, but Jamie upset the seedings by beating Dan 3-1 (11-7, 1-11, 11-8, 11-6). In the final Jamie won a very close 3-0 (12-10, 11-8, 11-9). In the consolation event Sasha Somers (He) beat Ryan Gregory (Eastbourne) 3-0 in the final.

Joseph’s ‘Salmon’ Fishing is 2nd Time Lucky:

The U18s was the largest event with 19 entrants (four groups of four and one group of five). There was a big surprise in group 1 with Micah Salmon (Mi) defeating top seed Joseph Langham-Ferreira 11-1 in the fifth game. Also a good win for Matt Van Yperen (Horsham Spinners) over Martin Matuzevicius (Ha). Second seed Dan Barna (Horsham) won his three matches 3-1 and Shane Clark (Mi) was second in the group. Mickel Miller (Sy) topped group 3 with Murray Wilson (Sy) getting an unexpected win over Dan Pound to progress to the main draw. Fourth seed Andre Dunkley (Sy) came unstuck in group 4 with a four-game loss to Jimmy Yeung (Ha) and a five-game win over Charlie Bates (E), meaning he went out on countback. Jimmy won the group with Charlie second. George Harris (Sy) was victorious in group 5, but James Mason (Ha) beat two higher rated opponents to take the runner-up position.

In the quarter-finals Clark faced Salmon, with the latter winning while Harris defeated Yeung. On the other side of the draw, Miller drew the short straw and had to play Langham-Ferreira and missed out while Barna ended Mason’s fantastic run. Mason had also knocked out Bates in the previous round. In the top half semi-final, Salmon continued to show how under-ranked he is with another unexpected win (his third) over Harris. The bottom half semi-final between no. 1 and no. 2 seeds went right to the wire, but the higher ranked Langham-Ferreira booked his place in the final with a last gasp 12-10 in the fifth victory.

The final paired up the two qualifiers from group 1 for an interesting rematch. Micah started the stronger and won the first end, but he was slowly but surely neutralised by the smooth Joseph, who once he got to grips with the excellent serves of his opponent, was more consistent in the rallies and forced errors from his rival. He duly took the match 3-1. In a high quality field for a consolation event, Andre Dunkley returned to form to take the final in style over gallant runner-up Martin Matuzevicius.

Shane Shows his Class:

The Senior event was a round robin of seven players. Unranked Shane Laugesen of New Zealand was undefeated in this event, but did find himself 2-0 down in games to top seed Andy Trott (Np) before pegging back the deficit and winning 11-8 in the fifth game. Andy won his remaining matches to take second place. Second seed Simon Dilkes (K) won four matches and was third. Both Zaid Doraid (Mi) and Simeon Giles (Sy) won two matches each, but Zaid came fourth by virtue of his 11-9 in the last victory over Simeon.

Snelson Steals the Limelight:

The Veterans was also a round robin of seven players. No. 1 Seed Phil Snelson (Sy) most impressively won all 6 of his matches 3-0 to become the clear winner. However second place was more keenly contested with three players (John Alsop (Bd), Dean Rose (K) and Andrew Sharland (Sx)) all winning four matches each. Dean emerged as runner-up on count back due to a superior games difference. John took third place and Andrew fourth. Fifth went to Michael Loveder (Sy), who won twice.

Results Summary:

Main Draws:

U11s: Lorcan Gallen (Bk) beat Anish Padalkar (Sx) 3-1 (9-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-7)

U13s: Ben Foster (K) beat Sam Wilson (Bu) 3-2 (11-8, 12-10, 9-11, 8-11, 11-8)

U15s: Jamie Trevillion (Do) beat Timur Hashimi (Mi) 3-0 (12-10, 11-8, 11-9)

U18s: Joseph Langham Ferreira (Sy) beat Micah Salmon (Mi) 3-1 (6-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-7)

Seniors Round Robin:

1) Shane Laugesen (NZL)

2) Andy Trott (Np)

3) Simon Dilkes (K)

4) Zaid Doraid (Mi)

5) Simeon Giles (Sy)

6) Alan Taylor (K)

7) Paul Waumsley (K)

Veterans Round Robin:

1) Phil Snelson (Sy)

2) Dean Rose (K)

3) John Alsop (Bd)

4) Andrew Sharland (Sx)

5) Michael Loveder (Sy)

6) Andrew Hancock (Sx)

7) Ken Parradine (Do)

Consolation Events:

U11s: Kieran Bonner (Sx) beat Isabelle Anderson (Sx) 3-0 (13-11, 11-8, 12-10)

U13s:  Alistair Smith (Sx) beat Alex Widdowson (Sx) 3-1 (8-11, 11-6, 11-6, 12-10)

U15s: Sasha Somers (He) beat Ryan Gregory (Sx) 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-9)

U18s: Andre Dunkley (Sy) beat Martin Matuzevicius (Ha) 3-1 (11-5, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9)