Fresh from his 14th Guernsey singles crown, homing in on the 16 held by the prolific winner of the 1920s and 30s, he won a 12th Channel Islands Championships title on Friday night to close within one of Brenton’s record against Jersey. It also capped Guernsey’s terrific haul of 15 CI titles from 20 on the night.
The outstanding left-hander dominated the first two sets, 11-4, against Leon Pierre in front of a home crowd at the GTTA Centre, and though his game became somewhat scrappier from there, he got the job done 4-1.
After lifting that trophy for a dozenth time, Dodd spoke about how much it still means to win these titles in Guernsey colours.
‘I’m obviously privileged,’ he said.
‘This is probably the reason that I play now. I’m 36 and this is probably the one where I want to play my best table tennis.
‘It’s nice to come back as well – I grew up here, it’s my home, parents are here, hundreds of people here that I’ve known for a long time.
‘It’s my home event and I’ll play it for as long as I play.’
As for Brenton’s title tally, Dodd has it in his sights.
‘Why not? I’ve still got 10 years left in me, so why wouldn’t anyone look at that?
‘It’s not that I look at it as a religious thing or whatever. I know the number and I’ve just got to go and perform.’
Although he had dropped just 23 points during his straight-sets victory over Lawrence Stacey in the Island final, he was not quite so dominant against the Jersey champion.
But the result matters much more than the performance for Dodd.
‘The last three sets there weren’t great, but I just ground it out and got the win and that’s the most important thing.’
Dodd is ‘not ruling out’ next summer’s Island Games in the Faroes – which would be the first away Games in eight years for Guernsey’s table tennis players – but is not ready to commit just yet.
‘I’ve probably got a few months to sit down and think and work out if I can put the time in to go.
‘If I can, great. If not, then someone else can have a chance, but that’s a decision I’ve not made yet.’
Although he also won the men’s doubles with Alex Robinson, who added mixed and restricted singles titles, no senior player was as busy as Kay Chivers on the night.
The women’s singles duel in which she overcame Jersey youngster Freya Allaway 4-1 was her fourth final, and third victory, of the evening.
Underlining her remarkable longevity is the fact that it marked 50 years since her first CI singles crown.
‘I feel fantastic,’ she said.
‘At my age, to win it again is a rare opportunity really.
‘We’ve got some really good youngsters coming up and Keira [Eldridge] played really well in the [Island] final of the ladies’ singles, so I was really chuffed to beat her.’
She also added to her stack of veterans’ singles titles in beating Anne-Cecil Clair while, for the first time, becoming a CI open over-60s champion – against male opposition.
After losing out to Eugene Ellis for the 2019 CI crown, she shocked Mark Pipet in straight sets for her second Guernsey title and then echoed that against Jersey’s Martin Tupper.
‘I’m really pleased,’ she said after an exhausting but rewarding evening at the CI finals.
‘It’s a long time since I’ve been in four finals – I did not really want that ladies’ singles to go to five.
‘It gets harder every year, which is good, because we want our youngsters to be coming up.’
Promising junior Luke Evans also had an especially busy night, contesting the U13, U15, U18 and U21 singles and winning the first two.
