Fearless Stacey sinks the Gotlanders
JOSH STACEY heeded the words of his Guernsey Table Tennis Association president Derek Webb who told him 'you've got nothing to lose' and brilliantly booked Guernsey a place in today's team final.
An extraordinary semi-final with hosts and favourites Gotland ebbed and flowed one way then the other as both sides took turns leading the best-of-seven encounter.
But it all came down to the final men's singles encounter after Garry Dodd and Dawn Morgan had pulled off an against-the-odds win over top Gotland mixed doubles pair Bjorn Axelsson and Evelina Carlsson, both of them Island Games stars for many years, to level the scores at 3-3.
It left Stacey to face Nisse Lyndberg in the winner-takes-all rubber and the Sarnian fell two sets down before fighting his way back to force a decider in which Lyndberg got off to a flying start to take the first five points, only for Stacey to claw his way back once more and clinch a famous 9-11, 8-11, 12-10, 12-10, 11-9 win.
Guernsey had earlier endured an anxious wait after finishing the group stage level on points with both Jersey and Greenland, having beaten their old rivals before losing to Greenland, with only the top two in each group progressing.
It came down to games difference and Greenland placed first, narrowly ahead of Guernsey.
