The sixth NatWest Jersey Open is on the horizon with an impressive £2,500 minimum in prize money on offer at the satellite Grand Prix event.
The cash prizes are given out to the winners and runners-up of each of the categories, which include: men’s and women’s singles, bands 1-6 competitions, veterans events, team events and under-21s events. As a satellite Grand Prix the points earned at this tournament will count towards your rankings.
The closing date for entries is on March 24th and you can find the entry form at the bottom of this article.
J.T.T.A. President Chris Band said: “Entries are coming in very well for our increasingly popular NatWest Jersey Open at Easter, part of the ETTA Grand Prix circuit for 2011/12.
Good Friday sees the team tournaments for two man teams of Men, Women and Veterans and a Junior team giving the players something different and an extra day of competitive play. The Saturday and Sunday are the standard Grand Prix format of Banded and then Open Singles events. Early booking is highly recommended to get good transport deals either by flying or on the ferry.”
He added: “Coupled with this we have negotiated an excellent deal with a hotel next door to our purpose built table tennis centre and also car hire with AVIS. Everyone can therefore enjoy some excellent table tennis and couple it with a short break in our beautiful Island during Easter, which is a perfect time to see the Island at it’s very best. Not only this, but all the events over the three days carry prize money from a minimum fund of £ 2,500.00 with last year’s Men’s singles champion taking home £ 525.00 and the Ladies singles champion taking £ 360.00.”
Band also noted events taking place before the tournament as well: “We will also be offering a training camp for the week leading up to the tournament led by Brian Kean which has also proved hugely popular in previous years. I would however strongly recommend that anyone interested in entering [and we have had a huge number already saying that they are coming over] to book without further delay so as to avoid disappointment.”
Last year at the fifth running of the open, the main prizes went to Wales’ Ryan Jenkins and Guernsey’s Alice Loveridge who won the men’s and women’s senior events respectively.
Jenkins triumphed 3-0 (11-5, 11-3, 11-9) against Englishman Matt Ware in the men’s final while Loveridge, securing her second successive Jersey title, beat Emma Vickers 3-2 (5-11, 11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4) in the women’s final.
Both losing finalists didn’t leave Jersey empty handed though as they were equally victorious in the under-21 competitions.
Ware beat Damien Nicholls 3-1 (7-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-9) in the boy’s event while Vickers exacted perfect revenge on Loveridge by beating her in the girl’s event 3-2 (6-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9, 11-7) in a repeat of the women’s final.
For the full report of last year’s tournament click here.
This year’s event will be held on 6-8th April at the Geoff Reed Table Tennis Centre in St. Clement once again.
You can find the entry form here or, for further details e-mail the tournament organiser Chris Band at: [email protected]