The Isle of Man Table Tennis Association’s 2024 Island Championships was played over two weeks at the National Sports Centre recently. 

The men's singles, women’s singles, men's and women’s doubles, and under-12s titles were all up for grabs.  

Men's singles 

This event was played in four groups of five players.  

Group A produced a surprise when number one seed Scott Lewis unexpectedly finished runner-up to Mike Tamarov after the latter battled his way back from 0-2 down against Lewis to take the final three ends and claim a sensational victory.  

In Group B, Liam Chan came out victorious with John Magnall in second place. Group C was won by John Shooter with Malcolm Cummings in second spot, while group D saw Adam Teare in top spot with Duncan Alexander as the runner-up. 

In the quarter-finals, Tamarov continued his good form with a sound four-set win over Magnall, while Teare breezed past Cummings in three ends.  

In the third quarter-final, Shooter saw off Alexander in three ends. Because of Lewis' unexpected runners-up spot in his group, he had an earlier-than-expected encounter with his Travellers team-mate Chan. 

The match saw some sensational attacking rallies between these two top class players. Chan got off to a great start, taking the first end 11-9, before Lewis got the measure of his opponent by taking the next three ends 11-4, 11-2, 11-8.  

In the first semi-final, Teare out-played Tamarov 11-9, 11-6, 11-8 with a tactical masterclass.  

The second semi was between Shooter and Lewis, and for those fortunate enough to see it the contest demonstrated just what an exciting and dynamic sport table tennis can be.  

Shooter edged the first two ends 11-8, 11-5, before being pegged back by the island number one with some really exciting away-from-the table looping.  

Lewis came through 3-2 in the end but he was tested by some great play from the former island champion.  

The final could not quite live up to the hype, but Teare put in a great effort before Lewis took the title in the third end 11-7.   

Women’s singles  This comprised a single group of three players: top seed Becky Taylor, Wilma Dalugdugan and Sonja Shaw.  

Taylor was pushed hard by Shaw in their match but the former pulled through 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4.  

The match between Shaw and Dalugdugan was an even closer affair which saw the latter 2-1 up, only to be pegged back by Shaw who took the final two games and the match.  

With Taylor beating Dalugdugan in straight ends, she topped the group and took the title with Shaw as runner-up.  

Men’s doubles 

This event was split into two groups of five pairs.  

Group A saw John and William Shooter in first place, with Scott Lewis and Liam Chan finishing in second place.  

In group B, John Magnall and Jason Quirk came out top, with Adam Teare and Duncan Alexander in the runners-up spot.  

In the first semi-final, Lewis and Chann saw off Magnall and Quirk in straight ends, while in the other semi the Shooters came back from 0-2 down against Teare and Alexander to win 3-2. 

In the final though, Lewis and Chan really upped their game and took the match by sweeping past the Shooters in straight sets.  

Women’s doubles 

This event went straight to the final between Becky Taylor and Maggie Mulhern up against Sonja Shaw and Wilma Dalugdugan.  

The first end went to Taylor and Mulhern 12-10, with the second going to Shaw and Dalugdugan 11-8.  

In the third end Taylor and Mulhern were 5-10 down before saving five game points to win it 13-11.  

That proved pivotal as they then took the fourth end 11-6 and with it the match.  

Under-12s  

This event also involved one group, including Liav Lanin, Seth Hornby-Wheeler, Henry Weaver, Eben Moore and Sydnie Weaver.  

Some excellent play was witnessed in these matches, with three going down the wire to a fifth end.  

But in the end it was Seth who performed best overall, topping the group, with Liav coming in a close second. Well done to Seth in taking the title and to a very promising group of youngsters.   

Now that the table tennis league season and island championships have finished, the next table tennis event is the Summer League which commences this week and runs throughout May.  

Practice sessions resume June 12 at the National Sports Centre.  

Follow local table tennis on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TableTennisIOM or on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/IOMTTA 

Alternatively, check out the Isle of Man Table Tennis Association website which can be found at www.tabletennis365.com/IOM 

KEN MITCHELL