Stacey’s perfect weekend

Lawrence Stacey headed a successful raid at FB Fields in the first inter-island table tennis contest since the initial Covid lockdown, winning all six of his matches against the home Jersey opposition.

This backed up his marginal victory in the domestic qualifying stage, where he had edged Ben Foss and Phil Ogier on countback in a round-robin designed to filter an extended entry down to just six spots.

The same top three, albeit with Ogier overtaking Foss, had prospered in Saturday’s decider where each island’s qualifiers play the best six players from the rival team.

The top Caesareans covered positions four through six, with the brilliant young Hannah Silcock – who at just 14 made history as the first female player to win the Jersey qualifier – leading from Leon Pierre and Grzegorz Frankowski.

Lawrence sailed through most of his matches to reclaim the trophy that twin brother Josh Stacey won last time it was contested.

His duel against Frankowski was his only match to go the full distance, but he eventually won 3-2 to turn the tide on an opponent who has previously troubled him.

‘I’ve not previously achieved a podium place at this event, let alone being able to win it,’ the in-form champion said.

‘Going into Saturday on joint points with Ben and Phil from Guernsey, and Hannah and Grzegorz from Jersey, I knew it was anyone’s tournament to win and that every match really counted.

‘The aim in these events is always to try and keep the result in your own hands rather than relying on your fellow islanders to beat your opposition for you, and so I was really happy to come home with six wins out of six.

‘I feel as though I played some of my best table tennis all season and had to stay as focused as possible on each point, especially considering how equal the playing field was overall.’

Enduring veteran Ogier, a five-time CI Top 12 champion between 2001 and 2006, won four matches last weekend.

Recent Capelles Open winner Ogier met his match against Silcock, losing 3-2, but Foss flipped that scoreline on the Jersey starlet after bouncing back from 2-0 down.

Teenager Pierre overcame both Ogier and Foss, the latter of whom also lost to Frankowski.

Reigning champion Josh Stacey eventually finished ninth, but he helped his teammates by edging Silcock 3-2 in a gripping match.

Ryan Bichard (10th) and Matt Casey (12th) completed the Sarnian six.

Jersey Table Tennis Association president Paul Routier felt that a lot of matches could have gone either way – many indeed needing a fifth set to decide.

‘The experience in the Guernsey side certainly showed in the tighter matches, with many going their way,’ he said.

‘It might have been a different story if we had our top two [Luc Miller and Jordan Wykes] in the event, but I am so proud of them all.’