Event report from Paul Bolton
The mens team for this years world championships have had their usual mixed bag in Blackpool. They faced the French in their first match and as always a close encounter ensued.They won the first session 4-3 as Martin Desperques beat Akim Benchiek, Ady Lihou beat Sebastian Malezieux, Tristane Ozanne beat Olivier Roullet and Ady Holly beat Patrice Sellin. Session two was a complete disaster as they lost it 6-1 to trail 9-5. It was unfortunate in the third session as they won it very convincingly 5-2, but lost the match 11-10. This has been the story over the last few years as like last year when the team lost 4 games 11-10.
The second game was against Ireland, a team they have never managed to beat in the last 8 years of attending…Although the team did not play bad, in actual fact they won 9 frames, but it was as always the clinical approach of the Irish in completing clearances that was the deciding factor. Desperques won all three of his frames as he beat John McMahon, Robert McNulty and John Columb. The third match was the newly formed Spanish team and the boys showed them what experience at this level was all about as they destroyed them 14-7. Again Desperques was the star as he won all three again as did Ady Holly.
On the Tuesday the first game was vs S Africa, and over the years there have been some great games against them. This was very close after the first two sessions as the CI team won the first one 4-3 and lost the next one 4-3. It was the third session that was their undoing as only Shorto and Holly winning as they lost the match 13-8.
Next was the might of Wales, and another close battle ensued. Shorto, Bougourd and Ozanne won in the first session as they trailed 4-3. They won the second session by the same scoreline as Bougourd, Mildner, Desperques and Shorto all won, to level at 7-7 This was always going to be close, but unfortunately for the CI team they lost the session 4-3 and the match 11-10….yet again.
The Juniors had their mixed bag of fortunes, but had high expectations after the success of reaching the final of the team event at the European Championships earlier in the year in Bordeaux, They faced Wales in the first match, but certainly did not fire on any cylinders as they where beaten 9-6. The worst part was the last session which they lost 5-0.
They made up for it in the second match as they faced Spain, They won it easily 10-5 as James Kirk won all three as he beat Rikki Hatherley,Mathew Fry and Juan Arasmous. Andy Stentiford did likewise as he defeated Andrew Winill, Hatherly and Nicholls. On Tuesday, the first match was against N Ireland and again the boys played very well. They won the first session 3-2 as Chris Hamon, Jess De La Haye and Ashley Perrium all won. The second session was even better as Stentiford, Hamon, De La Haye and Perium all won to lead 7-3. Stentiford beat Daniel Gorman to win the match as De La Haye and Kirk also won to bring the final score to 10-5
Malta where unbeaten after their first 3 games, and after the game with the CI it was 4 as they beat them very convincingly 11-4.
The juniors had to beat the Irish team if they wanted to finish in the first three as 2 v 3 and 1 v 4 is the format after the round robin stages. Although the final score was 8-7 to Ireland, it was never as close a games as that suggests,, They had lost the match at 8-4, but won the last three. They had to play Australia, England and Scotland on their last day, and will have to at least win 2 of them, even to have an outside chance of winning the fourth spot.
The mens singles started and the CI had some mixed fortunes, along with some great results too. There are three qualifying rounds before the last 64 is played, and any player who gets through, you can be sure will be a top player.
Qualifying round 1
Tristann Ozanne 2 v 7 Tom Bailey (West Indies)
Ady Holly 4 v 7 Micky Wareham (England)
Martyn Desperques 7 v 4 Jean-Marie Chiapolino (France)
Ady Lihou 2 v 7 Adam Davies (England)
Andy Mildner 6 v 7 Marcel Micallef (Malta)
Adam Shorto 7 v 1 Danny Miller (England)
Round 2
Adam Shorto 7 v 6 Lee Venables (Wales)
Martyn Desperques 1 v 7 Micky Wareham (England)
Round 3
Adam Shorto 7 v 4 Jason Watters (Ireland)
This was a great feat for Shorto as he took out hotly fancied Danny Miller but not only that he completely destroyed him 7-1. In the second qualifier he was 6-5 down to Lee Venables, and pulled out 2 magnificent clearances under extreme pressure to win 7-6. And he made the elite last 64 as he out potted Lee Venables 7-6 in another close encounter. He has always been a top player in the Channel Islands, but has now come to the fore at world level too. He will face Pat Broderick from Australia.
Ady Bougourd will face Sonny Sing (India) as a mix up with the seedings put him through to the last 64 instead of our no1 seed Martyn Desperques. Martyn had a good first round game as he out potted Jean-Marie Chiaplolino of France. But he was then outputted by Mickey Wareham from England. The Juniors all exited within 2 rounds and also failed in their attempt to get into the last 4 for the first time as they ended their last day with three defeats from Scotland, Australia and the might of England.
The Mens team section had 4 games on the heavy schedule and the firt one of the day was vs team England. This is as always the toughest game in the worlds, but one which the team always relish….It was the worst start possible as they lost the first 9 games on the way to a 14-7 defeat.. It was annoying as they actually won the second session 4-3 and lost the third one only 4-3.
Next up was the W Indies and this was as tight as it gets. A 5-2 lead after session one as desperques beat Ian Crowle, Shorto outputted Des Smith, Bougourd did likewise to Rob McKay, Ozanne beat Michael Brown and Holly beat Tony Bailey. Session two saw the CI team take a 9-5 lead as they won it 4-3. The next session saw Shorto beat Crowle and even although they lost the next two games, Holly beat Francios Teratllien to secure the points. They lost the last three, but the points where more important.
The third game was vs the Indian team and even though the team were beaten 13-8, it was a very tight game all the way through. The difference was always on the breaks, with the CI team coming up dry on too many occasions, wheras the opposition always seemed to get the balls from the break. It made up for the heavy defeat inflicted by the CI team on India at the CI International last November.
The last game of the evening was the Auld Enemy, Scotland, there has been some very close battles over the last 8 years with the Scots, and this was no different. They lost the first session 5-2 as Mildner, and Lihou beat Mark Gravener and Phil Craig respectively. Session two was better for the team as they won it 4-3 with Bougourd, Shorto, Holly and Lihou all winning to trail 8-6. The next four frames where shared and then in the next frame the Scots landed the points as Craig beat Desperques on the way to a 12-9 win.