The first Jarvis Sports Burgess Hill 2 Star of the 2017-18 season took place on 12th May 2018 at the Triangle Leisure Centre.

There was an extremely low entry of 26 players for this one, which was just barely enough to run the event. The U12s, U14s and U16s were played in the morning and the U13s, U15s and U18s in the afternoon.

Krish Chotai (Sy), playing in his first ranking tournament, succeeded in winning both of his age groups, while two others, Jacob Evans (Sx-Horsham and Horsham Spinners TTC’s) and John Strang (Sx-Warden Park TTC), won a gold and a silver each.

Under-12

There were just five players in this age group, so they all played each other. Chotai emerged the winner, with four wins, just conceding one end to runner-up Daniel Clark (Sy).

Clark had two 3-0 victories, but beat third placed James Donald (E) 3-2 to get the silver medal. Donald saw off Rahil Rehman-Furs (Sx-Horsham TTC) 3-2 and Adam Halldorsson (Sx-Horsham TTC) 3-0 for third place and Rehman-Furs beat club-mate Halldorsson 3-0 for fourth place.

Under-13

There were 11 players in this category in two groups. In Group 1 top seed, Saskia Key (K) carried all before her, with five wins, but was pushed to the deciding game by Clark. Clark duly took second place in the group with four wins, while Donald came third in the group.

Group 2 was won by unranked Chotai, who won twice 3-0 and twice 3-1. Arya Lim Amiri (Mi) took second place in the group, with three wins, but only just overcame second seed, Aniket Bhanushali (K) 16-14 in the fifth. Bhanushali came third in the group.

In the semis Lim Amiri had a good win over Key in four, while Chotai took out Clark also in four. Chotai then won the final in four close games. Clark won the bronze medal match in a four-setter. Lucas Gabb (Sy) beat Donald 3-0 in the consolation final, having earlier lost to him 12-10 in the fifth at the group stage.

Under-14

This consisted of eight players in two groups. No 1 seed, Barney Mindlin (Mi) won Group 1 with ease, with three 3-0 victories. Second seed, Ollie Michell (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC) repeated this feat in Group 2. Bhanushali and Key were the Group 1 and 2 runners-up respectively as expected.

In the semi-finals, Mindlin and Michell defeated Key and Bhanushali respectively, both matches being in straight sets. The final was a comfortable win for Mindlin in three. By contrast the bronze medal match went the distance, with Key overcoming Bhanushali 11-8 in the fifth game. Lim Amiri won the consolation final at the expense of Robert Wood (E) 3-0.

Under-15

Eight players contested the U15s in two groups. In Group 1 Jack Trafford (Do) lived up to his No 1 seeding, with three wins and Strang came second with a fifth-game defeat of Ollie Nutting (Sy).

However, in Group 2 Mindlin overcame second seed, Evans 12-10 in the final game. Evans went through as group runner-up.

In the semis both group runners-up prevailed, with Evans knocking out Trafford in three and Strang putting out Mindlin in four. The final was a cracker with Strang recovering from a large deficit in the fifth game, only to lose it 12-10. Trafford beat Mindlin in straight games to get the bronze medal.

Nutting won his second consolation final of the day (see below for his first one) vs William Avery (Wi) 3-2 in games.

Under-16

Nine players took part in the U16s in two groups. Top seed, Trafford won his group, but only after being pushed to 11-9 in the fifth end by Evans. Evans was the group runner-up.

In Group 2 second seed, Strang won all four of his matches, but was pushed to the brink by Alejandro Ito-Aramendia (Sy), whom he beat 11-9 in the fifth. Ito-Aramendia came second in the group with a 3-1 win over Nutting.

In the semi-finals, Trafford knocked out Ito-Aramendia and Evans overcame Strang, both matches being in four games. The final was another close one for Evans, but this time he lost 11-8 in the deciding game. Strang again beat Ito-Aramendia in the third/fourth place play-off, this time in a close four-gamer. Nutting won the first of his consolation events with a 3-0 defeat of Oli Thorne (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC) in the final.

Under-18

There were just four players in the U18s in one group. Strang won the event with three wins, dropping one end each to Ito-Aramendia and Emilio Calcada (Sy).

Ito-Aramendia got the silver medal, but was very close to losing to Thorne, as he trailed 1-2 in games and 2-9 in points, but he somehow clawed his way back into the match to win 3-2. Thorne beat Calcada for the second time that day to finish third.

The next cadet/junior two stars in Sussex will be on Sunday 10th June and Saturday 16th June, both at the Triangle Leisure Centre in Burgess Hill. Entry forms are available on the Table Tennis England website.

Results

U12s
Winner: Krish Chotai (Sy)
Runner-up: Daniel Clark (Sy)
U13s
Main: Krish Chotai (Sy) beat Arya Lim Amiri (Mi) 3-1 (11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8)
Consolation: Lucas Gabb (Sy) beat James Donald (E) 3-0 (11-4, 11-8, 11-8)
U14s
Main: Barney Mindlin (Mi) beat Ollie Michell (Sx) 3-0 (11-6, 11-2, 11-5)
Consolation: Arya Lim Amiri (Mi) beat Robert Wood (E) 3-0 (11-7, 11-6, 11-9)
U15s
Main: Jacob Evans (Sx) beat John Strang (Sx) 3-2 (11-5, 7-11, 8-11, 11-5, 12-10)
Consolation: Ollie Nutting (Sy) beat William Avery (Wi) 3-2 (11-3, 7-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-7)
U16s
Main: Jack Trafford (Do) beat Jacob Evans (Sx) 3-2 (8-11, 11-4, 12-10, 8-11, 11-8)
Consolation: Ollie Nutting (Sy) beat Oli Thorne (Sx) 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-2)
U18s
Winner: John Strang (Sx)
Runner-up: Alejandro Ito-Aramendia (Sy)