The second phase of Isle of Man Table Tennis Association’s Divisionals tournament was played at the NSC last week.

This time it was the Division One title to play for, with Divisions Two and Three having been contested the previous week (see last Friday’s Courier for details).

A total of 22 players entered the first division tournament, although the field was reduced to 19 because of illness and work commitments.

From the group stages the winner of group A, Chris Holland, and group B winner Malc Lewis had byes through to the quarter-finals, with the remaining players in six play-off matches. Winner of group C, Scott Lewis was drawn against Ronan Thompson who had finished as runner-up in group D, with Lewis going through to the quarter-finals with a straight sets win.

Chris Holmes, who had finished as runner-up in group A, took on Amit Lanin from group G and, after a tight match, Holmes emerged the winner 5/11,9/11, 11/8, 15/13, 13/11. Credit to young Amit for playing so well.

Winner of group G, Andy Patterson had a straight sets win over William Dalugdugan, with Julian Briercliffe also having a straight sets win over team-mate Ege Niyazi.

Adam Teare went up against Khayee Vinas and, in what was a topsy-turvy match, the latter took the first two ends 11/3, 11/5 before Teare changed tack and found some form to take the next two 11/8, 11/8 and ended the match 11/5 in the final end to book his place in the quarter-finals.

The last play-off between Jason Quirk and Ryan Holland was a straight sets win for Quirk. The quarter-final line-up saw Holland pitted against Patterson. This was a tight match with Holland being down after two ends, but eventually coming through 6/11, 7/11, 11/9, 11/7,11/7.

Quirk had a more straightforward match against Teare, winning in straight sets. Also winning in straight sets was Lewis against Briercliffe and Holmes against Lewis.

The first semi-final saw Lewis beat Holmes 11/7, 11/6, 11/4, while Holland took his place in the final by beating Quirk in yet another fabulous five-setter 11/6, 11/9, 1/11, 7/11, 15/13.

Holland had a few minutes to draw breath before playing Lewis in the final, which ended in a straight sets win for Lewis 11/7, 11/3, 11/5.

A great spectacle then by two of the island’s top-ranked players in the final and some truly awesome play in several very close matches.

It was also encouraging to see five of the up-and-coming junior players making it through to the knockout stages of this event.

The next major events will be the Barry Callister Memorial Top 12 Tournament and the Malcolm Looker Memorial Junior Top 12 Tournament, both taking place on Sunday, January 22 at the National Sports Centre.

Invites will be issued shortly before Christmas. For more information, follow the association on Facebook.