This Is Guernsey

By Aaron Scoones

IT IS a family affair in the Guernsey contingent of the Channel Islands team for the European Pool Championships in Malta. The Sarnians leave tomorrow for the Mediterranean island.

Among the travelling party are brother and sister Phil and Sian Jones.

Sian, 23, is captain of the CI women’s team that is entirely made up of Guernsey players while Phil will be the first Channel Islander to compete in the wheelchair event.

‘It’s nice that we’ve got each other’s company while we’re away,’ said Sian.

Twenty-seven-year-old Phil took up pool five years ago after Sian got involved in the sport.

He plays regularly in the island leagues but next week will be the first time that he has played in the wheelchair tournament.

‘I’m looking forward to it,’ he said.

‘It’s going to be interesting to see how I get on against other wheelchair players. I’ve always played against able-bodied people.

‘I’ve not got any idea how good they are going to be, but I know they are all European standard, maybe even world class. I’m going to take every game as it comes.’

Because of a lack of wheelchair players going, Jones will compete in a round-robin competition against some Malta players, but the European title will still be up for grabs.

Depending on how he does, Jones will then make a call as to whether he will go to the world championships in Blackpool in June.

‘I’m hoping that this will give me experience so that I can go and play in the world championships,’ he said.

One aspect that the Sarnian will come up against in Malta is that he will play against players who have specially raised and modified wheelchairs. Jones plays in a normal wheelchair.

‘They will be able to play long shots and see better angles,’ he said.

The tournament is also going to be a learning curve for Sian - who works as a nanny - and her team.

The rest of the side is made up of Sophie Dorfner, Alicia Corbin, Lianne Priaulx and Dorota Piskorska, who is originally from Poland.

They have played in only one competition before - November’s Channel Islands International in Jersey.

‘We’re really looking forward to it,’ she said.

‘It’s going to be a nice week away and a hard competition. For most of them, it’s their first competition.

‘We went to Jersey but this is a real competition against big opposition. We aim to win a couple of frames.

‘We’re playing England and Wales who have millions of women players.’

World number two Jess de la Haye leads the CI junior team at the competition and he is joined by fellow Sarnians James Kirk and Ryan Yates in the line-up.

Guernsey cueists in the CI men’s A team are Tom Simon, Mark Hancock, Darren Hughes and Ashley Perriam while in the B team the island is represented by Tom Le Page, Miles Plumley, Lee Roome and Chris Greening.

‘I think the juniors have a reasonable chance without a doubt,’ said the chairman of the Guernsey Pool Association, Trevor Kirk, who is travelling with the squad. ‘We expect them to be there or thereabouts.

‘The seniors have got a fairly strong team and it’s the first time that the ladies have played at this level.

‘They’ve played quite well since Jersey. They’ve learnt a bit and got a bit more confidence. We don’t expect them to do wonderfully well, but they will hold their own.’