Six nations showcase

THE British Primary Schools Championship Table Tennis Tournament is to be held in Guernsey for the first time. The event, from 16 to 18 April, will be a major showcase for the Guernsey Table Tennis Associa-tion's new building at The Bowl stadium and the junior island teams are expected to do well.

Teams from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the Isle of Man will take part and Jersey has also been invited. Guernsey will play host to 48 players under 12 and their coaches.

GTTA president Derek Webb said the association was excited about the event.

'We have been taking part in the six-nation tournament for four years and our players have improved out of sight since the first time we entered,' he said.

'We are particularly delighted to be able to host all these teams for the first time in our new home which has 18 tables and is state-of-the-art.

'The championships are a real showcase for Guernsey table tennis.

Junior table tennis sponsor Abacus Financial Services Group will be the main sponsor for the flagship event, with further support from the Sports Nautical Group and the Guernsey School Sports Federation.

Abacus has also helped contribute to the employment of table tennis development officer Rebecca O'Keefe who has been training hard with the youngsters to field excellent boys' and girls' teams.

'The youngsters and I have trained really hard and we are very optimistic about coming away with some good results,' said Ms O'Keefe.

Abacus operations director David Jeffreys said the improvement shown in the junior teams was remarkable.

'Abacus has been solidly supporting junior table tennis for four years and in that time we have seen the youngsters go from strength to strength both in their ability and their determination to improve, he said.

'We are delighted to be the main sponsors of these championships at the new table tennis centre and we expect that the other five nations will be impressed with the facilities and the standard of play.'

The four boys competing will be: Tim Ravenscroft, Oliver Langlois, Matthew Stubbington and Peter Mitchell (reserve: Liam Robilliard).

Alice Loveridge, Paula Le Ber, Bonnie Le Noury and Isabelle Wray will compete as the Guernsey girls' team (reserve: Grace Le Page).