Ogier takes silverware for third time in four seasons

Twenty-seven players took part in the competition, which saw players from all four divisions competing.

The beauty of open tournaments that cross the divisions is that they give junior and lower division players the opportunity to mix it with the best, testing their mettle against quality players from the higher divisions.

But the Jack Carrington opens the competition up even more for those players wishing to knock on the door of success as it excludes senior players who have represented the island in the Green Trophy against Jersey in the previous two seasons, omitting the likes of Josh and Lawrence Stacey and Ben Foss.

That sets the scene for Fourth Division players like Pierre Jehan, who beat Third Division player Mark Windsor 3-1 in the round robin, and who then managed to take a game off First Division player Liam Robilliard in the same group.

The scene was also set for Second Division player Ben Foote to take First Division player and seventh seed Joe Bourgaize right to the brink in the preliminary of the knockout stage – taking two games off Bourgaize and only narrowly losing in the fifth and final set.

The tournament also enabled Third Division player Mick Ingrouille to showcase his powerful attacking back hand game. Although losing comprehensively in terms of the score line, in the round of 16, Ingrouille had one purple patch taking several great unanswerable points off top-flight player and eventual finalist Matt Casey.

For Robilliard in the round robin section, a momentary lapse of concentration on his part and some hard hitting and great running retrievals by Jehan saw the latter open up a gap in the third game that the quality player was never able to fully close. Jehan won that one 11-7.

Nevertheless Robilliard reasserted his class and closed the last set out, beating Jehan 3-1 with an 11-2 score in the final set.

Jehan’s improving technique and his competitive edge and focus suggest he will be moving up the ranks before long.

Another highly competitive Second Division player, junior Shelby Timms, continues to show her mettle, coming second in her round robin group and beating the more experienced player Richard Edwards in the preliminary stage of the knockout part of the tournament.

She went out fairly comprehensively to eventual winner Ogier in the round of 16, but his winning score of 11-4, 11-3, 11-5 belied her battling qualities and positive attacking play, which she did not hesitate to take to Ogier when she could.

In the final of the event, Ogier’s win in the Jack Carrington did not come as a great surprise, although the stalwart never takes anything for granted.

His record over the last few seasons has shown he is still up there with the best of them. But this year, his record is phenomenal – he is ahead of the best of them, in fact – as he tops the First Division player averages.

Seeded one, Ogier beat third-seed Casey in straight sets in a one-sided final.

Casey, whose shot selection and quality of delivery improve every season, put up a good fight in the first game, which he lost 11-9, but he somewhat fell away in games two and three, which he lost to six and four points respectively. Casey would have been more pleased with the way he dispatched fifth seed Andy Gill in three straight sets in the semi-final.

Ogier’s sternest opposition in the competition came from fourth seed Jez Powell in an entertaining semi-final.

Ogier won the first game 11-8, but Powell, who had to beat his son Connor in the round of 16, replied to win the next two 12-10 and 11-9.

Undaunted, Ogier came back to take games four and five, 11-6, 11-5.

The key to success in table tennis is attuning competitive edge to composure. And if anyone is a master of composure, it is Ogier.