Sussex Satellite Grand Prix Report:

There were 90 entrants in the Sussex Satellite Grand Prix, which took place in early January at K2 Leisure Centre on 12 tables.

Men’s Singles: The ROCK Is Back:
There were 36 entrants in this event in nine groups of four. Top seed Ryan Jenkins (Wales), aka the Rock, raced through to the final without dropping a set, with wins over Jack Bennett, Jack Dempsey and Mark Scutts. The second seed, Helshan Weerasinghe (Sx), had a more difficult route. Having dispatched Cheng Zhang (Mi) in straight sets, he was then extended to the fifth game in both his quarter final by the Band 1 runner-up, Amann Ubhi (Wa) and also in his semi-final by Swede Tobias Bergman. Bergman had knocked out Richard Carden (K) and Marcus Giles (Sy) in getting to the semi and Scutts had accounted for Shaquille Webb-Dixon (Sy) and third seed, Danny Lawrence (K). The final was a 3-1 win for the Welshman, who got his own back on Weerasinghe, who had defeated him at the recent Nottingham Grand Prix.

Women’s Singles:
This was a round robin group of seven players. The top seed, England International junior, Emma Torkington (Sx), stormed through the group, only dropping one end to Annie Lo (Sy), who ended up in fourth place. Dawn Morgan (GGY) was comfortably the runner-up and Chloe Le Tissier (GGY) did well to take third place.

Men’s Band 1:
This was a group of four and a group of five. No. 1 seed, Danny Lawrence won his group with Amann Ubhi in second place. Nathan Bingham (Do) did well to win Group 2, at the expense of second seed, Jared Patel (E), who went through in second place. So the top two seeds met in the semi final and it was the higher ranked Lawrence, who prevailed. In the other semi, Ubhi took out Bingham to set up a repeat of the group match between Lawrence and Ubhi. Although the same player won second time round, he was made to work much harder in the final.

Men’s Band 2:
There were three groups of five in this event. The top two seeds, Jared Patel and Adam Laws (Sy) both won their groups and made it to the final, with wins over Dorset players Steve Foster and Nathan Bingham respectively. Bingham had won Group 3. The final was a good match, with yet again the top seed coming out on top.

Men’s Band 3:
This was the largest band with 27 entrants (six groups of four and one group of three). Top seed, Steve Joslin (E), had to withdraw with a neck injury half way through his groups matches. This left an opening for Jarek Klamut (POL), who lives in Sussex, to make some headway. Klamut had lost to no. 2 seed Zayd Mauthoor (E) in the group, but brushed this defeat aside to make it to the final with wins over George Dicker (Mi), Richard Johnson (Nk) and Karim Khassal (Mi). Khassal had two good victories over Martin Matuzevicius (Ha) and Jack Dempsey (La). Mauthoor, suffering from muscle pain, was not quite as successful as Klamut though, as he lost out in a nail-biter semi-final to Billy Ho (Ha) deep in the fifth. Ho beat Klamut relatively easily in the final.

Men’s Band 4:
There were 23 players in Band 4. Top seed Khassal, who did very well in Band 3, unsurprisingly also excelled in Band 4, winning his group and then defeating Dan Pound (Sx) and Dicker to make the final. However, unranked Frenchman, Yoann Labrue, brandishing a legal hard bat, was the surprise package of this event. Having been too strong for opponents Josh Nashed (Mi), Steven Gray (SCO), Mark Collins (Sx) and Tim Denby in the early rounds, he annihilated second seed, Mike White (Sx) in the semi-final to set up a meeting with Khassal. Again the nowadays unusual hard bat style of Labrue proved unplayable for the young London Academy player.

Men’s Band 5:
There were four groups of four and two groups of three in this band. Top seed Jermaine Fearon (E) won his group, but was then struck down, in the quarters by then unranked Jody Bevington (Wa), who had lost in Group 6 to another unranked player, Gary Bristowe (Sx). Bristowe had gone out on count back, with Joel Webb (La) winning the group. Both Group 6 players made their way to the final, with Bevington accounting for Vincent Stacey (Mi), Fearon and Alex Aston (Np) and Webb taking out Zac Dowling (Do), Stuart Herriott (Mi) and Eren Gozcu (Mi). Webb, who had lost to Bevington in the group, reversed the result to win the final.

Men’s Band 6:
There were 16 in this band. Webb, the winner of Band 5, also won Band 6. He was unranked at the time, but has now got 1462 ranking points. En route to the final he knocked out Aston and Roger Pyle (He). His final opponent, Dowling had wins vs Herriott and Stacey to get to the final. Webb emerged triumphant in the final.

Women’s Band 2:
There was no Women’s Band 1, as there was only one entrant, Dawn Morgan (GGY), who was placed in Men’s Band 3 instead. However, Morgan made up for not getting to play in Band 1 by destroying the opposition in Women’s Band 2. She won all five of her round robin matches easily 3-0. Sally Hughes (Sx) fared better than three players ranked above her to finish in second place. Hiba Feredj (Mi) came third.

Women’s Band 3:
London Academy cadet player Feredj won the round robin of seven players in Women’s Band 3. However she was pushed to a decider by Sussex Junior player Bethany Pemberton-Hill, who eventually finished fifth. She did turn the tables on Hughes, who had defeated her earlier in the day. Hughes again fared better than her ranking to take the silver medal for the second time that day, although was defeated by the up and coming Pemberton-Hill in five games.  Top Seed Sally Cimiotti (Sy), originally from Germany, came third.

Women’s Band 4:
There were only three players in this event, but local girl, Lynne Trussell, playing in her first ranking tournament since her junior days, grabbed the bull by both horns to defeat both Pemberton-Hill and Chloe Le Tissier (GGY) in straight sets and pick up the gold medal. Pemberton-Hill got the silver.

Restricted Singles:
No. 2 seed, Steve Joslin, recovered from his neck injury, won this event, beating team mate Michael Andrews (E) in the semi-final and top seed Richard Carden (K) in the final in a marathon five-setter. Carden had beaten Group 2 runner-up, George Dicker in the other semi-final.

Veteran’s Singles:
Paul Carter (Sy), playing in his first ever veteran’s tournament, defeated top seed and ex-England International Tony Clayton (Do) 13-11 in the fifth in a dramatic final. Carter had beaten Aston in the semis & Clayton had defeated Sanya Clements (Do).

Men’s Under 21s:
Top seed Marcus Giles (Sy) pulled out and was replaced by scratch entry Jamie Trevillion (Do). Trevillion beat Group 3 winner, Jack Bennett (Sx) to progress to the final. In the other semi-final, the new top seed Jared Patel (E) put paid to Martin Matuzevicius. Despite the huge ranking gap (637 points), Trevillion played well to lead 2-1 in games, only to be pegged back and lose it in the fifth.

Women’s Under 21s:
This was a round robin group of five players and was won by top seed Ella Patel (E). She jus dropped one end to runner-up, Sussex Junior, Holly Holder (Sx). Another Sussex Junior, Emma Sheen finished in third place.

Doubles:
Team mates Joslin and Andrews excelled to win the doubles competition, with wins over Patrick Garlick (Ha)/Chloe Le Tissier, second seeds Eddie Liu (Sy)/Kevin Kan (Mi) in the semi-final and Clayton/Clements in the final. Clayton/Clements had beaten Rory Scott (Sx)/Alex Aston easily and then stunned top seeds Danny Lawrence/Jack Dempsey 3-1 in the semi-final. The final was extremely close and was concluded 11-9 in the fifth to the Essex pair.

Sudden-Death (One Point Challenge):
This is a fun competition where opponents play just one point (straight knockout), with the lower ranked player serving. Players pay £1 to enter and the winner takes the pot. There were 12 entrants and George Dicker beat Mike White, Ross Lingard (Ha) and Martin Matuzevicius to take the £12 prize. Highly rated players Tobias Bergman (SWE), Danny Lawrence and Owe Karlsson (K) failed to make it to the final.

Summary of Results:
Men’s Singles:
Ryan Jenkins (Wal) beat Helshan Weerasinghe (Sx) 3-1

Women’s Singles:
Emma Torkington (Sx) beat Dawn Morgan (GGY) 3-0

Men’s Band 1:
Danny Lawrence (K) beat Amann Ubhi (Wa) 3-2

Men’s Band 2:
Jared Patel (E) beat Adam Laws (Sy) 3-2

Men’s Band 3:
Billy Ho (Ha) beat Jarek Klamut (POL) 3-0

Men’s Band 4:
Yoann Labrue (FRA) beat Karim Khassal (Mi) 3-0

Men’s Band 5:
Joel Webb (La) beat Jody Bevington (Wa)

Men’s Band 6:
Joel Webb beat Zac Dowling (Do) 3-2

Women’s Band 2:
Dawn Morgan (GGY) beat Sally Hughes (Sx) 3-0

Women’s Band 3:
Hiba Feredj (Mi) beat Sally Hughes

Women’s Band 4:
Lynne Trussell (Sx) beat Bethany Pemberton-Hill (Sx) 3-0

Restricted Singles:
Steve Joslin (E) beat Richard Carden (K) 3-2

Veteran’s Singles:
Paul Carter (Sy) beat Tony Clayton (Do) 3-2

Men’s U21s:
Jared Patel (E) beat Jamie Trevillion (Do) 3-2

Women’s U21s:
Ellla Patel (E) beat Holly Holder (Sx) 3-1

Doubles:
Steve Joslin & Michael Andrews (E) beat Tony Clayton & Sanya Clements (Do) 3-2

Sudden Death (One Point Challenge):
George Dicker (Mi) beat Martin Matuzevicius (Ha)

Rory Scott (February 2, 2014)

Horsham Spinners Table Tennis Club Secretary & Head Coach
Licensed ETTA Level 3 & UKCC Level 2 Table Tennis Coach