3 of the Isle of Wight’s leading table tennis players produced a string of impressive performances against strong mainland opposition at the Sussex 4-Star Tournament.
Joe Chapman, Alex Rorke and Ryan Cates represented the Island at the 2-day competition last weekend, with all 3 enjoying success across their respective events.
Chapman recorded his best mainland performance to date on Saturday, reaching the semi-finals of both Band 5 and Band 6 while picking up 9 victories over the course of the day.
Rorke and Cates also made strong starts to the weekend, with both players topping their respective Band 4 groups.
Rorke also performed well in Band 3, while Cates progressed to the knockout stages and came agonisingly close to a career-best victory against Middlesex’s Janak Shah, who is ranked 14th at Under-19 level.
Cates held a 10-8 lead in the 4th end before eventually losing out in a closely fought contest.
Chapman continued his impressive form on Sunday and produced the standout result of the tournament, defeating Jamal Dennison – a player ranked more than 500 places above him.
Rorke and Cates both progressed through the group stages on Sunday, with Cates coming up against Shah for a 2nd time.
Once again there was little between the pair, with Cates narrowly losing out in a closely contested 5-set encounter.
The weekend represented a strong showing for the Island trio and provided another opportunity for them to test themselves against high-quality mainland opposition.
Attention now turns to the first Senior British Club League weekend in Southampton, where the Isle of Wight will field a 4-strong team of Ryan Cates, Joe Chapman, Steve Mills and Paul Rainford.
The Island side will contest 4 matches across Saturday and Sunday.
