The sixth Jarvis Sports Burgess Hill 2 Star took place on 28th May at the Triangle Leisure Centre, Burgess Hill. There were 66 entrants.

Jacob Evans (Sx), who recently joined Horsham Spinners TTC, as well as being a long-time member of Horsham TTC, excelled to win his first ever 2 Star event and in the older age category no less. No player won two age groups this time, but five players won two medals.

Under-11

There were 14 players in the U11s and no major surprises at the group stage. James Hamblett (He) beat No 4 seed Max Wilson (Sx-Brighton City TTC), but only 18 points separates these two, so it wasn’t a big upset.

However, Hamblett then proceeded to make his way to the final, first beating Jenson Moreno (Mi) 3-0, then top seed Ben Poulter (Ha) 3-1 (the only end Hamblett conceded in the U11s), then third seed Thomas Palmer (Mi) 3-0 in the final. Palmer had defeated Wilson 11-9 in the fifth set, then Charlie Nabarro (Mi) 3-1 in the semi-final.

In the remaining quarter-finals, Poulter had overcome Troy Williams (Ha) 11-8 in the fifth and Nabarro had knocked out Joseph Hunter (Mi) 3-1.

Poulter beat Nabarro in straight sets, but close, in the bronze medal match. Louis Treffel (Sx-Brighton City TTC) defeated Tommy Lyons (Mi) 3-2 in the consolation final.

Under-12

There were 18 players in this age group. All of the seeds successfully negotiated their groups. In the quarters, top seed Jake Grayson (Mi) outplayed Eduardo Bolanos (Wa) 3-1, Poulter was too strong for Nabarro (3-0), Marco Plate scraped a victory over Hamblett 11-9 in the fifth and Palmer ousted No 2 seed, Ollie Maric-Murray (Sy) 3-1.

In the semi-finals, Grayson won in straight sets over Poulter, while Plate beat Palmer in four. In the final Grayson got his revenge on Plate in four, who had beaten him in the U13s that morning, thus consigning Plate to his second silver medal of the day.

Poulter won the third/fourth place play-off 3-0 over Palmer, therefore winning his second bronze medal of the day, while Grayson had won a gold and a bronze. Williams beat Hunter 3-0 in the consolation final.

Under-13

There were 20 players in this category. Almost every match of the group stage went according to ranking. In Round 1, Henry Maric-Murray (Sy) upset the rankings to beat James Henry (Mi) in three close games.

In the quarters, No 1 seed Grayson put out Henry Maric-Murray in three, Plate ended Ollie Maric-Murray in four, Raquel Sao-Pedro (Mi) put paid to Alessio Marrocco (Sx-Brighton City TTC) 3-1 and Zach Hodges (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC) beat team-mate and No 2 seed, Ollie Michell (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC) 3-0.

In the semis, Plate beat club-mate Grayson in four and Pedro overcame Hodges 11-9 in the fifth. The final was another five-setter won by Sao-Pedro. In the bronze medal match, Grayson eased to victory 3-0. In the consolation final, Barney Mindlin (Mi) won in three vs Abbie Hurley (K).

Under-14

This was the largest event with 28 players in five groups. All seeds except eight seed, Sao-Pedro won their groups, but in fairness Sao Pedro lost to the ninth highest ranked player, Howard Onweng (Sy), by 14-12 in the fifth set and Ricardo Bolanos (Wa), who should have been seeded No 2, but due to an error, was unseeded.

In round 1, top seed, Charlie Graham-Adams (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC) got his own back on Evans 3-0, who had beaten him in the final of the U15s earlier. At the same stage, Mihnea Dascalu (Mi) got a good win over sixth seed, Jack Trafford (Do) in straight sets and Yacine Boubekeur (Mi) got a narrow victory over London Academy team-mate, Mojtaba Adel (Mi) 11-9 in the fifth set.

However, the win of Round 1 was Onweng, taking out No 2 seed, Owen Brown (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC), who had won the previous three U14s events at 2 Stars, which he had entered, in four games, having lost to him earlier in the U15s 3-0.

In the quarter-finals, fourth seed Daniel Hearne-Potton (Ca) defeated Bolanos 3-1. The other three quarter-finals were walkovers, as all of the London Academy players had to leave, most without completing their matches, although as it happens in all three cases, the LA players were the underdogs based on ranking.

Graham-Adams knocked out Hearne-Potton in five sets in the semi-final and Goitom took out club-mate Onweng in three close games in the other semi. The final followed a similar pattern as the U15s final had in the morning, with Graham-Adams winning the first end and losing the next three, with games three and four being exactly the same scores in both cases, Goitom thus gaining revenge for his loss to Graham-Adams in the U15s earlier and also meaning Graham-Adams had to settle for his second silver medal.

The unseeded Onweng, who is clearly under ranked, won the bronze medal match over Hearne-Potton in four tight games. The consolation final was a repeat of a group match, where Lewis Hillery (Np) had beaten Sam Watts (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC) 3-2. However this time Sam beat him in a very tight four game match.

Under-15

There were 21 players in the U15s. In Group 2, No 2 seed, Brown lost 3-2 to Natalia Ianau (Mi), but he still won the group on countback, as he beat Onweng 3-0 & Onweng beat Ianau 3-2. Evans was close to going out in his group, as he lost to No 4 seed Goitom 3-1 and was 1-2 down vs Boubekeur. However he won that match and proceeded to have the tournament of his life so far – more on that later.

Bolanos, who was again unseeded in error, beat fourth seed, Hearne-Potton 3-0 in Group 4. In Group 5 Will Michell (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC) narrowly overcame Dascalu 11-9 in the fifth set, but Dascalu did get a good win over Angus Norman (Sy) again 3-2. In a mini-upset, Trafford beat sixth seed, Shikhar Pandey (Mi) 3-1.

Evans had a tough draw to get to the final, but get there he did, with excellent wins over Dascalu 3-0, then Brown 3-2 (to whom he had lost 3-0 the day before in a circuit tournament final), then Bolanos, who should have been seeded No 2, in straight sets in the semi-final, before overcoming new club-mate Graham-Adams, the top seed (ranked over 300 points above him), in the final 3-1. It’s safe to say that Jacob will gain quite a few ranking points with three big wins and not losing to anyone ranked below him on the day.

Graham-Adams had got to the final courtesy of victories over Hearne-Potton (3-0) and Goitom (3-1). The remaining quarter-final matches were Goitom knocking out Michell 3-1 and Bolanos being too strong for Trafford 3-0.

Goitom had a straightforward 3-0 win over Bolanos for the bronze medal. In the consolation final, Adel won in straight sets vs Boubekeur, which was a reversal of their match in the U15s, which was to take place later on.

Under-18

There were just nine players in the U18s in two groups. In Group 1 No 2 seed Michell did manage to overcome Adam Wilson (Np) by 12-10 in the fifth set, but he could not repeat the feat vs Will Poulter (Ha), losing in four sets. Wilson beat Poulter 3-0 to produce a countback with Wilson first and Michell second. Group 2 went as planned, with top seed, Sam Wilson (Np) winning all four of his matches, all 3-0. Second place in the group was keenly contested between Valerio Bucci (Mi) and Alejandro Ito-Aramendia (Sy), with the former winning 11-9 in the deciding game.

In the semi-finals, Adam Wilson beat Bucci in four and Sam Wilson beat Michell also in four. In the final the two brothers faced each other, with younger brother Sam, a combination bat player, winning in four games. Bucci defeated Michell in the bronze medal match 3-1. In the consolation final, Poulter triumphed over Ito-Aramendia 3-1.

Further 2 Stars this season take place in Burgess Hill on 11th June and in Horsham on 2nd July, plus there will be 1 Star tournaments on 24th June and 8th July. Forms for the 2 Stars are on the Table Tennis England website and the 1 Star forms will be there shortly.

Results

Under-11
Main: James Hamblett (He) beat Thomas Palmer (Mi) 3-0 (11-5, 11-5, 11-8)
Consolation: Louis Treffel (Sx) beat Tommy Lyons 3-2 (11-6, 4-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-0)

Under-12
Main: Jake Grayson (Mi) beat Marco Plate (He) 3-1 (10-12, 11-9, 11-8, 11-7)
Consolation: Troy Williams (Ha) beat Joseph Hunter (Mi) 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 12-10)

Under-13
Main: Raquel Sao-Pedro (Mi) beat Marco Plate (He) 3-2 (9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 10-12, 11-4)
Consolation: Barney Mindlin (Mi) beat Abbie Hurley (K) 3-0 (11-4, 11-8, 11-8)

Under-14
Main: Nahom Goitom (Sy) beat Charlie Graham-Adams (Sx) 3-1 (16-18, 11-9, 11-8, 11-3)
Consolation: Sam Watts (Sx) beat Lewis Hillery (Np) 3-1 (10-12, 18-16, 11-9, 12-10)

Under-15
Main: Jacob Evans (Sx) beat Charlie Graham-Adams (Sx) 3-1 (6-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-3)
Consolation: Mojtaba Adel (Mi) beat Yacine Boubekeur (Mi) 3-0 (11-2, 11-7, 11-9)

Under-18
Main: Sam Wilson (Np) beat Adam Wilson (Np) 3-1 (11-5, 7-11, 11-7, 11-4
Consolation: Will Poulter (Ha) beat Alejandro Ito-Aramendia 3-1 (10-12, 11-9, 11-7, 12-10)