NAOMI WINS IN BRISTOL
There was a strong Welsh representation at the Bristol Grand Prix held in the diversity of West England sports complex on 14 and 15 November.
The first day was a marathon which lasted for over 12 hours and resulted in the women’s band 1 final having to be delayed until the Sunday.
During Saturday, there were a number of notable performances by the Welsh players. Charlotte Carey won the women’s band 2, whilst Lee Morgan won the band 5 and reached the semi-final of the band 4 event. Meanwhile, Dan O’Connell reached the final of the band 3 and was involved in a highly competitive match against the talented Lewis Gray. Lewis Williams followed up his victory in the band 4 event in the Newcastle Grand Prix by reaching the final of the same event here in Bristol. In the women’s band 3, Nicole Hall fought her way through to the semi-final, which was also the stage reached by Josh Jenkins in the Band 5. In band 6, Ashley Stravakis reached the semi-final, whilst Tim Evans won his group, despite being ranked 4th.
In the main competitions of the day, the Band 1 events, both Steve Gertsen and Patrick Thomas won their way out of their groups whilst in the women’s events a similar achievement was accomplished by Charlotte Carey, Megan and Angharad Phillips. The Phillips twins went on to reach the quarter finals with Angharad going on to reach her second consecutive Band 1 semi-final. Angharad also, probably, achieved the best one off win of the day by a Welsh player when she beat Irish number 1 senior, Amanda Mogey.
The men’s and women’s open competitions, as well as the under 21 events, were held on Sunday. Again, it was heartening to see such a large number of Welsh players willing to test themselves against some of the best players in the UK.
The men’s event saw five Welsh players, Ceri James, Patrick Thomas, Dan O’Connell, Lewis Williams and Steve Gertsen progress to the last 32, with Steve making it through to the last 16. The strength of the women’s game in Wales was highlighted as no fewer than six Welsh players made it through to the last 16-Naomi Owen, Naomi Wilson, Charlotte Carey, ChloeThomas, Angharad and Megan Phillips. Despite some good performances, it was only Naomi Owen and Chloe who made it through to the last 8. Naomi confirmed her number 1 ranking and was undoubtedly the class player in the event as she went on to win the final 3-1 against Egle Adomelyte.
The last event of the weekend was the under 21s. Dean Cundy, Dan O’Connell and Patrick Thomas made it through to the last 16. Patrick, displaying high quality table tennis, fought his way through to the semi-final, beating David McBeath in the quarter finals before losing 3-1 to Damien Nicholls in the last 4.
The Welsh women were again prominent in their under 21 event with 5 players, Natasha Rees, Charlotte Carey, Chloe Thomas, Angharad and Megan Phillips making it through to the last 16. Megan, Chloe and the rejuvenated Natasha made it through to the last 8 before losing to Yolanda King, Emma Vickers and Claire Nelson respectively.