A party of seven junior table tennis players travelled to Largs recently to take part in their first off-island tournament since January 2019.

They were accompanied by coaching staff John Shooter, Malc Lewis, Rhys Yardley and Maggie Mulhern, as well as umpires Steve Curtis and Graham McFarlane.

Mulhern was coach to the under-16 girls, Rhys was coach to the u16 boys A team, Shooter the u16 boys B team and Lewis the u14 boys team.

The party was looking forward to meeting up with old friends again and to make new ones during the weekend.

Unfortunately Ronan Thompson, who was in the u16 boys event with William Dalugdugan, was unable to travel because of an accident leaving him with broken bones in his hand.

The hosts were sadly unable to find a player to partner William at short notice which left him to play on his own against strong opposition. With his matches finishing earlier than his team-mates, William decided to put his coaching skills to good use.

Having qualified as a level one coach in January, his twin sister Wilma and her partner Francesca Lord, playing in the u14 girls, received most of his attention. Both girls played well but were outclassed by strong teams from England, Wales and Ireland.

Up against Scotland in the last match they started to take ends off the opposing players and were unlucky not to win at least one match, with Wilma losing out to Maria De Silva 10/12 in the fifth end.

In the individual event both girls got through to semi-finals of the plate event, Francesca after receiving a bye in the quarter finals and Wilma by beating Irish player Lily Smith. Unfortunately neither progressed through to the final.

Under-16 boys

A field of 11 teams competed in the u16 boys category as IoM B team members William Shooter and Ege Niyazi took their place in the six-team group two and faced off against hosts Scotland A in the first round of matches.

After this tough opener, things didn’t get any easier against Ireland A featuring eventual u16 individual boys champion Jonathan Moroney but both pushed him hard, Ege taking him to 8-11 and William to 9-11.

After acclimatising a little to the serves, spins and speeds, first up on day two were England B who ended up tournament winners, eventually beating England A 3-1 in the final. The Manx pair put in competitive performances, William pushing Joseph Dennison to 8-11 and Ege taking Nathanial Saunders to 7-11.

In the doubles, the first two games were conceded narrowly 9-11 and 8-11, with some of the Manx play drawing rapturous applause from the English supporters.

First up in the afternoon sessions were Guernsey, with William taking his first match 3-0. In the second match, Ege was level at 1-1 in sets and trailing 3-9 in the third set. An incredible sequence of events followed as Ege clawed back the deficit and, despite being set points down, eventually took the set 13-11.

Enthused, and with infectious momentum, Ege went on to quickly take the fourth set 11-5 and the match 3-1.

Buoyed by the 2-0 overall lead, the pair combined for a flawless match of doubles which they took comprehensively 3-0. William took the fourth match 3-2 and Ege rounded off the fixture with a solid 3-0 victory, thus giving the Manx team a perfect 5-0 win.

The final group match saw the boys take on Jersey who had also recorded a 5-0 win against Guernsey.

John Le Fondre beat Ege 3-0 first up and William was soon tied at 2-2 in the second match against Oscar Watkins. A dominant fifth set saw William take it 11-1 to level the overall score at 1-1.

The doubles was no less tight and, down 2-1 in sets, the boys put in a tremendous fourth set which they took 11-1. The fifth was closer but the confident and well-controlled play from the Manx pair resulted in a 11-6 win and a 2-1 overall lead.

Le Fondre then took the fourth match 3-0 against William, leaving the overall score tied at 2-2 with Ege to play Watkins. Trailing 2-1 in sets, Ege dug deep and put in a mature performance, taking the set 11-8 and rushing into a 4-0 lead in the deciding fifth set.

Watkins would not roll over though and Ege needed to remain focused, determined and positive, eventually taking the set 11-9. Therefore, a narrow hard-fought but well-deserved overall win 3-2 and a very creditable fourth place group finish.

The final position play-off match was against fourth-place group one finishers Ireland B. The first two singles matches were lost 0-3 but William took Sean Loughnane to 15-17 in the first set and Ege pushed Senan Sheridan to 11-13 in the second set.

The pair combined well in the doubles, taking the opening set 11-5 after an exceptional performance but the Irish pair took the next three sets and the win to give them an unassailable 3-0 overall lead.

In summary, a finishing position of eighth for the Manx boys after a gruelling competition and much from which they can take great satisfaction.

In the individual event, both boys came third out of three in their groups. In the plate qualifier, William lost to Senan Sheridan of Ireland 3-0 - he played well in the latter part of the match and narrowly lost the third 9-11.

Ege beat Oscar Watkins of Jersey in his plate qualifier 11-3, 11-8, 14-12. He then had to play Senan in the semi-final. He lost the first two sets 2-11 and 4-11, but staged an amazing bounce back to win the third set 11-4, but then lost the fourth set 6-11. Senan was the overall plate winner, with both Manx boys having been knocked out by him.JOHN SHOOTER

More in a future edition