Players from the host club, Horsham Spinners TTC, won three of the four bands at the HSTTC Circuit event on March 18 refereed by Ray Crockford. There were 25 entrants from eight clubs, which is a good number.

Band A: No Frown for Brown

A late withdrawal left Band A with only five players. Owen Brown (Horsham Spinners TTC), won all four of his matches to win the Band, only dropping one end, which was to Jacob Evans (Horsham TTC). Evans came second with three wins, losing just one end in his victories.

To get third place, Ed Cozens (Horsham Spinners TTC) beat Railways TTC duo Adrian Harvey & Ian Fowlds 3-1 and 3-2 respectively and Fowlds got the better of Harvey in straight sets to get fourth place.

Band B: Filson Finds Form

There were some surprising results in this Band. James Francis (Warnham TTC) was moved up from Band C after another late withdrawal. Although he didn’t win any matches, he competed well, losing one match 3-2 and three others 3-1.

Harry Filson (Horsham Spinners TTC) won the band with five wins out of five, including a good five-set win over Tommy Worley (Warden Park TTC) and a revenge win over Dylan Ward (Horsham Spinners TTC), who had beaten him 3-0 at the West Sussex Schools Individual Championships.

Harry Francis (Horsham Spinners TTC), who had won Band C in his first ever circuit tournament in January, excelled to clinch second place, in a two-way countback with Worley. They both won thrice, but since Harry beat Tommy, Harry got second place. Worley had beaten Sasha O’Halloran (Horsham Spinners TTC) 3-2 in one of his wins.

Ward came fourth in a two-way countback with his step-sister, O’Halloran. They both won two matches, but Dylan beat Sasha and so finished above her.

Band C: Steady Freddie

Band C was made up of seven players, who would normally have been in Band D, but since there were quite a few new young players, who had to go in Band D, they found themselves in Band C. 10-year-old Freddy Marchant (Horsham Spinners TTC), playing in his first ever table tennis tournament, impressed, winning all six of his matches in straight sets!

Tom Pearson (Horsham Spinners TTC) had a good 3-0 win over Ben Aylward (Arundel TTC) plus four other 3-0 victories to get the silver medal. Pairo Lor (Horsham Spinners TTC) won four times to finish in third place. Three of these were 3-0, but his final win went to the deciding set, where he beat team-mate James High (Horsham Spinners TTC).

High got two wins to finish fifth, with a five-set win over Alfie Finn (Leechpool School TTC), who finished sixth.

Band D: Jones in the Zone

Band D was made up of school club players, with five from Holbrook School and two from Shelley School (Jack Sear & Jason Gander). Harrison Jones defied expectations to win all six of his matches to get the gold medal. He only conceded one end in his six matches, which was to club-mate, Frankie Wilson.

Wilson won five matches to grab the silver medal, winning four of them in three and one in a close encounter of the fifth kind vs club mate Jamie Morse.

There was a three-way countback for the next three positions, with Zac Brown, Sear and Morse all winning three matches and after a sets countback, they ended up in the order just listed. Gander beat Stanley Wilson to get sixth place.

Finishing Positions

Band A
1) Owen Brown (Horsham Spinners TTC)
2) Jacob Evans (Horsham TTC)
3) Ed Cozens (Horsham Spinners TTC)
4) Ian Fowlds (Railways TTC)
5) Adrian Harvey (Railways TTC)

Band B
1) Harry Filson (Horsham Spinners TTC)
2) Harry Francis (Horsham Spinners TTC)
3) Tommy Worley (Warden Park TTC)
4) Dylan Ward (Horsham Spinners TTC)
5) Sasha O’Halloran (Horsham Spinners TTC)
6) James Francis (Warnham TTC)

Band C
1) Freddie Marchant (Horsham Spinners TTC)
2) Tom Pearson (Horsham Spinners TTC)
3) Pairo Lor (Horsham Spinners TTC)
4) Ben Aylward (Arundel TTC)
5) James High (Horsham Spinners TTC)
6) Alfie Finn (Leechpool School TTC)
7) Aaron Wilson (Holbrook School TTC)

Band D
1) Harrison Jones (Holbrook School TTC)
2) Frankie Wilson (Holbrook School TTC)
3) Jack Sear (Shelley School TTC)
4) Zac Brown (Holbrook School TTC)
5) Jamie Morse (Holbrook School TTC)
6) Jason Gander (Shelley School TTC)
7) Stanley Wilson (Holbrook School TTC)