Saturday the 5th saw the biggest date in the Welsh Table Tennis season. The Nationals is the place to show National team selectors what you can do and settle some old scores from events earlier in the season. The Ferndale players had tough draws and the day was going to be very difficult for everybody.
Junior Boys - Group Stage
Group 1 saw two Ferndale players up against eachother (Dylan Lewis and Ethan Lewis) both players got to test themselves against number 1 seed and eventual winner Connor Edwards. Both lost there match 3-0 against Connor. The other player in the group was Jac Jenkins. Ethan beat Jac comfortably with a 3-0 win. Dylan lost out 3-1. Against each other Dylan started strongly but Ethan then found his game and ended up winning 3-1. Ethan qualified in 2nd place and progressed in to the main event.
Group 2 saw Chris Griffiths seeded at 2 and to show he was out to mean buisness he won this group comfortably by only dropping 1 set against Alex O'Connel. His two wins were both 3-0 against Jon Bisp and Tommy Heydon.
Group 5 had Steven Fawkes. Steven had a good chance at progressing through this group but sadly on the day he could not find his feet and struggled to really get himself going in the important matches. He won 3-0 against Myles Battle but lost 3-0 to both Callum Evans and Alex Prosser.
Group 7 had Liam Winder in a group of 3 but probably 1 of the toughest groups. Liam won his first match 3-1 in an exciting match against Stefan Jeczalik. Sadly Liam could not take the same form into his 2nd match against Ash Stravakis and lost 3-0 but still progressed in to the main event.
Junior Boys - Main Event
Liam Winder met Dan O'Connel in the last 16 and probably the hardest match he could of got. Liam gave a good account of himself but sadly Dan was just sharper and quicker than Liam.
Ethan Lewis had to play Ash Stravakis in his last 16 match, with the winner meeting Chris Griffiths in the quarters. Ethan played really well to win the match and set up an all Ferndale quarter final.
The match between Chris and Ethan was a very close game that could of gone any way but in the end Chris's attacking style just conquered Ethan and his defense but Ethan performed well.
This set up a semi-final match against Lee Morgan for Chris. Lee just seemed to have the edge on Chris in this match with Chris failing to assert his game on Lee and ended up doing a lot of defensive work instead of the other way around.
Cadet Boys - Groups
Like in the Junior event Dylan Lewis was drawn against another Ferndale player but this time Liam Winder. The boys were in group 2 and up against Alex Prosser. Dylan lost this match 3-0 but Liam played well to get a set but Alex was playing fantastic and was a difficult player to beat on the day. The other player in this group was Jon Bisp, who both players beat. Liam won 3-1 but made harder work of the game than he should of. Dylan played very well in this match and beat Bisp 3-2 in a match that most would of expected Jon to win. Dylan, agian like in the Juniors, won the 1st set against Liam but then Liam's experience kicked in to change the match and win it 3-1.
Ethan Lewis was in group 3 and started the group well winning 3-0 against both Myles Battle and Ryan Hale. The seed in his group was Ryan Oyler and Ethan lost this 3-1. Ethan had plenty of chances in this match but consistency let him.
Group 4 saw Chris Griffiths as the seed and he showed that winning both his games 3-0 against Alex O'Connel and Jac Jenkins.
Group 5 had Steven Fawkes out to show that the morning results were not going to effect him. He beat the seed in his group Ash Perry 3-0 but sadly Callum Evans got in his way again beating Steven 3-1.
Cadet Boys - Main Event
Liam Winder met Callum Evans in the last 16 and the Tonyrefail player did the double over Ferndale by beating Liam in a game that Liam could of won but sadly could not on this occasion.
Ethan Lewis in the last 16 met Stefan Jeczalik and Stefan struggled through-out against Ethan's defensive play and Ethan set up another quarter final match with Chris Griffiths.
Steven Fawkes had a bye in his last 16 so met Alex Prosser in the quarters. Alex was on devastating form through-out the day and Steven fought hard but could not get past Alex.
Like in the Juniors Chris and Ethan had another difficult match that Chris once again won but Ethan again played well and made Chris fight for the match.
This set up a semi-final between Alex Prosser and Chris. Chris started the match very positive and went storming in to a 2-0 lead but sadly Chris could not keep it up and Alex fought back very well. Chris lost his fight and rhythm and Alex ended up with victory 3-2 but it was a fantastic game.
Ferndale success did prevail in the end with Chris Griffiths and Ashley Stravakis winning the Junior Doubles event. A very good result as the boys beat number 1 seeds Lee Morgan and Connor Edwards in the Semi-Final stage.
Charlotte Slye did play in the Junior girls event but had a very difficult day losing out 3-0 to Kate Roberts and eventual Junior girls winner Charlotte Carey.
Overall Ferndale had a good day but the players will be expecting to have maybe got a round further and shall hopefully use this to work that little bit harder in training and focus more.
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