THE girls team of twins Ella and Ruby Devlin, Anna Middleton and Maia Bowden were the highlight of an exciting and competitive British Primary Schools International tournament at Fort Regent, as they secured a bronze medal for Jersey.
Players from England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Guernsey, as well as the hosts, all took part, showcasing high technical skills and intense competitive spirit.
It was the third time the girls’ team from Jersey had competed in the British Primary Schools International and they have gone from strength to strength. The last time the Island won a team medal was in 2012 with the boys’ team when they picked up a silver.
They beat Ireland 9-1 and Guernsey 10-0 but lost to England, 10-0, and Scotland narrowly in a closely fought match 6-4. However, the crucial match was against Wales, which went down to the wire in an electric atmosphere at Fort Regent. Jersey were leading 5-4 and needed to win the last match. Ruby Devlin was 2-1 up in games and 10-5 up in points in the fourth to win this match, but the Welsh player came back to make it 10-10 and closed out the game 12-10, to make it 2-2. In the fifth game, Ruby was 5-2 down, but valiantly fought back to win 11-8, take the match and seal a precious medal for her and her team-mates.
The boys’ team was an inexperienced side, with Jonty Porter, Evan Ness, Rory Quinn and James Cleverly. However, Porter excelled in the team event, winning two matches against Wales, one against Ireland and one against Guernsey.
In the individual competition, Bowden reached the consolatory ‘Plate’ final, eventually losing 3-2 to Scotland’s Lacey Caden in a keenly fought match, but picked up a silver medal in doing so. Caden had also beaten Middleton in the quarter-finals.
Ness won a bronze medal in the boys’ consolation competition, after being knocked out by Welsh schoolboy Oliver Harvey in the semi-finals.
Both Ruby and Ella Devlin did brilliantly to reach the main draw of the girls’ event, having won two of their group games. Ella then went to win her opening knockout round against Ireland’s Polly Smith, but lost in the quarter-final to eventual champion Amber Lemmon. Porter also won two games in the group stage of the boys’ event but was defeated in the first round of the knockout phase.
The overall competition was dominated by England. They picked up gold in both the boys’ and girls’ team events having won all of their matches, while it was a one-two in the individual finals. Zaid Aldilimi beat Rishaan Sawant to become boys’ champion, while Amber Lemmon took gold in the girls’ singles after beating Hannah Saunders.
Reflecting on the Jersey team’s performance, coach Martin Tupper said: “It was a brilliant performance by the girls’ team to win the bronze medal, and they have all worked exceptionally hard to get this result. This is in spite of losing the use of the Geoff Reed Table Tennis facility, which was put out of action by Storm Ciarán.
“There were also fantastic performances by the boys and the future of Jersey table tennis is looking bright.’
Also watching on was the new Jersey Table Tennis Association president, Eleni Middleton, who took over from the long-serving Paul Routier last year, and she was full of emotion after hosting a successful tournament.
“It’s really high profile event for the sport for this age category. Our players have been practising for two to four years, six days a week, two hours a day. You’ve got to be really dedicated. We are a very technical sport and a peaceful sport, so when someone wins you really feel it,” said Middleton.
“It’s been amazing to have the support of the home crowd, and we’ve had the support of the older players.
“They’ve been here all day, helping coach the younger ones, which has been fantastic. We’re super proud of them as well. It keeps the team spirit going. We’re really close to each other and none of this can happen by just one person on their own.”
The JTTA extended their gratitude to main sponsors G4S for their support.
