ALICE LOVERIDGE skipped the chance to win her own age-group title to step up a category and still win the under-16 title at the Secondary Schools International.
Held at the Welsh Institute for Sport in Cardiff, all the home countries were present plus all the top British players.
Having won the under-14 title in 2007, Loveridge (pictured) was seeded one for this year’s under-16s and had a relatively easy qualifying group in which she won her three games in straight sets.
At the quarter-final stage she played England number three Rachel Baker and in the semis England’s second-ranked player Kirsty Wilson. Both were tough propositions, but each time the Island Games singles gold medallist despatched them in straight games with no real alarms.
In the final she met England’s top performer Lucy Davidson, who had beaten Loveridge 12-10 in the fifth set of the team event.
On this occasion the Guernsey girl was very focused and noticeably changed tactics against the powerful, clean-hitting Davidson.
By changing the pace of the ball and targeting the Davidson back- hand, Loveridge succeeded in nullifying the Davidson forehand and this proved to be crucial.
In an entertaining game involving some sensational rallies Loveridge stormed into a two games lead.
But Davidson is a dangerous opponent and, at 10-9 in the third, the rally of the match went to Davidson to put her back in the game. Loveridge held her nerve, however, and stepped up another gear to win the fourth.
In doing so, she gained another national title and her second medal of the weekend.
Earlier, she had picked up a bronze medal in the under-16 girls’ team event partnered by the under-rated Paula Le Ber.
Together they beat Ireland 3-1 to secure third place behind England’s A and B teams.
There were other good performances from Guernsey’s 14-strong contingent, with excellent results for CI champion Gary Dodd and Adam Langlois in the under-18s team competition, where they narrowly missed out on a medal.
Liam Robilliard and Josh Stacey also impressed in the boys’ under-14 team event.
In the individual events as well as Loveridge’s success Dodd, Robilliard and Oliver Langlois also qualified from their groups for the knockout stages, but were unable to turn good performances into medals.
Guernsey Table Tennis Association president Derek Webb was pleased with the squad’s performance.
‘There were some very promising performances from some of the younger players who were playing out of age group, but were gaining valuable experience at this level.
‘The prospect of further medals in the future is good.’
Article posted on 1st July, 2008 - 2.30pm
Loading ...
Most Commented: