The Crawley 2 Star and Circuit event attracted more than 100 players – the biggest entry in its five-year history.
All 29 tables were in use at the K2 venue held on the eve of the VETTS Southern Masters, with the support of VETTS.
Under-11
The under-11s was the smallest event with nine players in two groups. Group One was won by Mahmood Kelani (K), who beat top seed Anish Padalkar (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC) 11-9 in the fifth. Harry Filson, also of Horsham Spinners TTC, extended Padalkar to five sets and was third in the group of five.
Group Two was won by unranked William McCarthy (K), who beat second seed Roddy McGillivray (Sx-St Michael’s TTC) in three close games. McGillivray beat Felix Thomis (Bk) in the deciding set to finish second in the group. Padalkar proved too strong for McCarthy in the semi-final, winning in straight sets, but Kelani had to withstand a comeback from McGillivray in the other semi, taking it 11-7 in the fifth.
The final was a repeat of the group match between Padalkar and Kelani and had the same result, but even more dramatically, with Kelani winning 15-13 in the fifth game. McCarthy repeated his straight sets victory over McGillivray for the bronze medal. Filson won the consolation event, beating Morgan Steel (Sx-Goring TTC).
Under-13
The under-13s was the largest event with 26 players, including England No 2 James Smith (K). The top six seeds won their groups with relative ease, but seed No 7, Alice Hazell (Sx-Horsham TTC) was made to work by No 8 seed Will Michell (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC), only coming through 11-9 in the fifth.
There were no upsets in round 1, but Hazell continued to live on the edge with another 11-9 in the fifth victory, this time over Tim Walters (K).
The top three seeds negotiated the quarter-finals in straight sets. Smith beat Charlie Hough (Sx-Warden Park TTC), Reiss Vydelingum (K) beat Hazell and Jamie Liu (Bk) beat Hammad Ansari (K). However, in the battle between seeds 4 and 5, it was the lower ranked Bertrand Siu (Sx-Warden Park TTC), who emerged victorious 15-13 in the fifth against Ryan Darwen (Sx-Bognor Regis TTC).
The semis went to the higher ranked Smith over Siu & Vydelingum over Liu, both in straight sets. The biggest upset of the tournament came in the final with Vydelingum beating Smith, who was a whopping 550 points above him, 3-1. Liu beat Siu comfortably for the bronze medal. Rokas Dedinas (E) beat Greenhouse Eastbury club mate Ali Cangir (E) in the consolation final.
Under-15
There were four groups of four in the U15s and again all of the seeds won their groups, although third seed Marcus Bracey (Sx-Lancing TTC) was extended to the fifth set by Hamza Ansari (K). Worthy of mention is the fact that unranked Ollie Guile (Sx-Brighton City TTC) beat Sussex County Cadet Team player Ryan Heselden (Hollington TTC) and went 2-1 up over another Sussex County player, Alistair Smith (East Grinstead TTC).
The top four seeds won their quarter-finals, with the closest contest being Bracey’s 10-12, 11-8, 13-11, 11-8 win over Ben Worley (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC). The other results were George Hazell (Sx-Horsham TTC) beating Smith, Dexter Sherin (Sx-Brighton City TTC) knocking out Hamza Ansari (K) and Josh Gallen (Bk) defeating Anthony Atkins (Sy).
The semi-finals were both in straight sets, with top seed Hazell taking out Sherin and second seed Gallen putting out Bracey. Gallen upset the seedings in the final, winning a comfortable 3-0 match. The bronze medal went to Sherin by default, as Bracey was still playing in the U18s and did not have time to play the third place play-off. Kangmin Heo (Sy) won the consolation event with a walkover in the final against Tyreek Edwards (Sy), who had to leave early.
Under-18
The theme of the evening continued, with all four seeds topping their groups, although fifth-ranked Bracey took fourth seed Sam Liu (Bk) to the fifth game. In the quarters, No 1 seed, Dan Pound (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC) beat Will Goodstone (Sx-Cavendish TTC), No 2 Gus Thomis (Bk) seeing off Lewis Kean (Sy) and Liu put Richard Pelc to the sword. However, Bracey upset No 3 seed Jake Mitchell (Sy) in three close games (12-10, 11-9, 13-11).
The semis were both decided 11-6 in the fifth, with the top seed prevailing over Liu and Bracey getting another unexpected win over Thomis. Pound won a closely contested final with some long exciting rallies 3-1 (11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8). Emma Sheen (Sx-Brighton City TTC) won the consolation event at the expense of James Boltwood (Sx-Littlehampton TTC), whom she had already defeated in the group.
Senior Team
There were 11 two-player teams split into four groups. Group One was won by top seeds, Morpeth (Luke Savill (K) and Tyla Anderson (Mi)). Second place went to Bognor Regis TTC (Jarek Klamut (POL) and Miles Ross (Sx)), with Ross losing the third game to Anderson 38-36. Klamut had a good win over Alex Forshaw (Sx) of Crusaders and Ross beat Dean Rose (K).
Finsbury I (Fabien Mauroy (K) and Kevin Kan (Mi)) won Group Two, with Patriots (Alan Taylor (K) and Paul Waumsley (K)) taking the runners-up spot. Taylor pushed the much higher ranked Mauroy to the fifth set.
In Group Three, Brighton City could count themselves unlucky to finish bottom of the group, as having been all square after two matches with both of their opponents, they lost the toss on both occasions, meaning the lower ranked David Pringuer (Sx) had to play the deciding singles, and he lost both times. Tim Holtam (Sx) was undefeated, including beating the higher ranked Billy Ho (Ha). The Tactical Tic Tacs (Ho and Ed Slot (Ha)) won the group with MACBUG (Petar Tancevsky (K) and Miroslav Danadzhiev (K)) second.
Group Four was just two teams and Finsbury II’s (Patrick Green (K) and Sam Do (Mi) both beat Fusion’s Steve Hirst (K), whose partner failed to show up.
In the Band A semi-final Morpeth beat Finsbury II 2-0, but Green did well to take England No 2 cadet Savill to five sets. There was an upset in the other semi, with Ho and Slot beating the higher ranked Mauroy and Kan. In the final, Savill beat Ho 3-1 and Anderson defeated Slot 3-2 for the gold medals. Finsbury I beat Finsbury II 3-1 in the third/fourth place play-off, but Do got a good win over Kan. Patriots won Band B and Crusaders won Band C.
Veteran Team
There were four teams in this event, all playing each other with four singles per match. Hastings Old Boys (Paul Barry and Dave Butler) were very clear winners and impressively won a total of 36 ends without conceding a single end. The silver medals went to Alan Stone (Sy) and Richard Hazell (Sx). Crawley, made up of Fawzi Yousif (Sx) and Lynne Trussell (Sx) were third on countback. They drew with KA (Andrew Hancock (Sx) and Keith Barber (Sx)), but had a slightly superior games difference.
Circuit Band A
This was a group of five players, which was won by favourite Matt Pickles. However he did not have it easy, as he only defeated Tom Sherin (St Michael’s TTC) 3-2 (9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 12-10). Sherin beat third-placed Samuel Shoubridge (Horsham Spinners TTC) 3-2 (10-12, 11-5, 13-11, 11-7). Harry Clayton (Littlehampton Academy TTC) was fourth.
Circuit Band B
This was a group of six players. The last match was between the two undefeated, Matt Weller and Ollie Michell (both of Horsham Spinners TTC), and the result was a win for the younger Michell, 3-2 (11-8, 11-7, 10-12, 9-11, 18-16) Weller had survived a scare earlier from another Horsham Spinners player, Ollie Thorne, only winning in the fifth set. Alec Minshull (Hampden Park TTC) was third and Xavier Strickson (Cavendish TTC) fourth.
Results
(2 Star)
U11s: Mahmood Kelani (K) beat Anish Padalkar (Sx) 3-2 (11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 10-12, 15-13); Consolation: Harry Filson (Sx) beat Morgan Steel (Sx) 3-0 (11-9, 119, 11-6)
U13s: Reiss Vydelingum (K) beat James Smith (K) 3-1 (10-12, 11-9, 11-2, 11-4); Consolation: Rokas Dedinas (E) beat Ali Cangir (E) 3-2 (5-11, 11-4, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6)
U15s: Josh Gallen (Bk) beat George Hazell (Sx) (11-8, 11-4, 11-4); Consolation: Kangmin Heo (Sy) beat Tyreek Edwards (Sy) W/O
U18s: Dan Pound (Sx) beat Marcus Bracey (Sx) 3-1 (11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8); Consolation: Emma Sheen (Sx) beat James Boltwood (Sx) 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-8)
Senior Team Event positions
1) Morpeth: Luke Savill (K) and Tyla Anderson (Mi)
2) Tactical Tic Tacs: Ed Slot (Ha) and Billy Ho (Ha)
3) Finsbury 1: Fabien Mauroy (K) and Kevin Kan (Mi)
4) Finsbury 2: Patrick Green (K) and Sam Do (Mi)
5) Patriots: Alan Taylor (K) and Paul Waumsley (K)
6) Bognor Regis: Jarek Klamut (POL) and Miles Ross (Sx)
7) MACBUG: Petar Tancevski (K) and Miroslav Danadzhiev (K)
8) Fusion: Steve Hirst (K)
9) Crusaders: Alex Forshaw (Sx) and Dean Rose (K)
10) Brighton City: Tim Holtam (Sx) and Dave Pringuer (Sx)
11) ISH EVO: James Lennard (Mi) and Peter Klinger (Sy)
Veteran Team Event positions
1) Hastings Old Boys: Paul Barry (Sx) and Dave Butler (Sx)
2) Crawley & Horsham League: Alan Stone (Sy) and Richard Hazell (Sx)
3) Crawley: Fawzi Yousif (Sx) and Lynne Trussell (Sx)
4) KA: Andrew Hancock (Sx) and Keith Barber (Sx)
Circuit Band A positions:
1) Matt Pickles (Sx)
2) Tom Sherin (Sx)
3) Samuel Shoubridge (Sx)
4) Harry Clayton (Sx)
5) Otto Waddell (Sx)
Circuit Band B positions:
1) Ollie Michell (Sx)
2) Matt Weller (Sx)
3) Alec Minshull (Sx)
4) Xavier Strickson (Sx)
5) Ollie Thorne (Sx)
6) Ellie Simmonds (Sx)
Rory Scott (May 6, 2014)