Foss peaks to retain area junior crown
BEN FOSS added the CI Junior Top 12 title to his belt after an unblemished record of match wins at the Geoff Reed Centre at FB Fields.
Only last year Foss became the first Guernsey player to win the tournament in six seasons, but hopes were high once again after he won all his matches in last month’s local qualifier, conceding just a single set to Dan Collenette.
He showed similar form in Jersey as he extended his clean run against Caesarean opposition.
There, Foss earned the overall honours over Leon Pierre, who had qualified as top Jerseyman following Luc Miller’s transfer to boarding school.
He beat Pierre 3-1 in their individual clash, turning the tables after an early deficit to dominate the next three sets.
Ellis Tomlin recorded a second Guernsey victory against the eventual-runner up, replicating Foss’ score, although it was fellow Sarnian Ryan Bichard who came through for third in the tournament.
But Foss was the deserving champion after winning 33 total sets from 36 and the absence of annual rival Miller did little to dampen this.
‘It was really good to win,’ he said.
‘It’s a shame because they did not have their strongest player [Miller] as he is at boarding school at the moment, but the win felt just as good either way.
‘It was especially nice to do it only dropping three sets across the 11 matches – I felt I played some of the best I have played, and to stay at that level for the whole day was satisfying.’
