Club of the Year 2023, Worthing Table Tennis Club, continued its development and growth and held its first ranking tournament on December 16.

With 55 entries from as far as Jersey and Yorkshire, it was a full house event, and there was even a waiting list for entries which could have been its own tournament.

The morning started with the age categories Junior Girls (U19) and Junior Boys (U19) and Senior Women (O19) and Senior Men (O19)

Top seed Bly Twomey demonstrated her growing experience and soared through the Junior Girls event without dropping a set. Eventually she saw off clubmate and second seeded Kate Smith in the final 3-0. Bly and Kate are pictured above. Hasali Kuruppuarachchi and Freya Allaway were the losing semi-finalists.

The consolation event saw Worthing’s own Ava Muggeridge battle with Horsham’s Adrika Shibu, with Ava coming out on top.

The junior boys saw the seedings go out the window with top seed Luca Gerrard going out in the quarter-finals to Viktor Gusak. Victor, who had gone through his group on countback, beat Worthing’s Isaac Burgess in the last 16, who had taken out the sixth-seeded Luke Harrison in his group, before beating Jerseys’ Theo De Poreck in the semis. De Poreck had beaten fourth seed Harley Sinclair in the quarter-finals.

The bottom half of the draw went to the seeding till the semis, where third seed Angus Priestley-Tonner took out second seed Spike Ward, both from Brighton, to reach the final. The final was a scintillating match with both players vocal in their pursuit of the title, With Viktor coming out the winner in the fifth set.

The junior boys’ consolation saw a five-set thriller between Brighton’s Finley Atkins and Horsham’s Alain Shibu – the whole hall knew when the winner had reached the finish line. Well done, Finley!

The Senior Women was a round-robin event which saw top seed Julie Snelson come out in top position and Chi Ying Luk from Southampton get the silver medal.

The Senior Men’s saw some unexpected results at the group stage, which resulted in all four seeds in the bottom half of the draw. Top seed Rory Scott set up a quarter-final clash with third seed Dan Pound while second seed Phil Snelson had to face Rudi Dharmaligham.

The top half saw unseeded Jake Collins race to the final, beating James Gorridge in his semi-final, while Scott and Snelson battled it out to face Collins in the final with Snelson coming away winner. The final saw Collins get his first gold of the day, winning in three sets.

The Men’s Consolation final saw Yorkshire’s Forster Chiu overcome Kent’s Simon Kear.

In the afternoon all players came together in Open Events for both men and women.

The Men’s Open saw a similar scenario, with top seed Scott going through as runner-up to set up another quarter-final clash with Pound, with Pound coming out as winner in five. His prize was a semi-final clash with Snelson.

Again, Snelson found himself in the final, facing Jake Collins who had made his way through the top half of the draw, beating Theo De Poerck in the quarters and Simon Kear in the semis, Kear who had beaten the fourth seed in his group. The final, like the morning, went the way of Jake, coming out winner in three sets for his second title of the day.

The Women’s Open saw para star Bly Twomey take her second gold of the day, beating Freya Allaway from Jersey in the final. Bly had defeated Julie Sneldon in the semi-finals, with Freya having beaten the Ladies’ Singles silver medallist Amelia Luk.

The consolation event saw Bognor’s Hasali Kuruppuaradudui overcome Jersey’s Carol Allaway.

A big thank you to our barrier sponsors Hack & Craft and Clearpath Recruitment.

If your business or table tennis enthusiast would like to support Worthing TTC and receive national event coverage, please reach out for more info to [email protected]

Full event results:

Junior Boys
Winner: Viktor Gusak; runner-up: Angus Priestley-Tonner. Consolation Winner: Finley Atkins; Consolation runner-up: Alain Shibu

Junior Girls
Winner: Bly Twomey; runner-up: Kate Smith. Consolation Winner: Ava Muggeridge; Consolation runner-up: Aadrika Shibu

Senior Men
Winner: Jake Collins; runner-up: Phil Snelson. Consolation Winner: Forster Chiu; Consolation runner-up: Simon Kear

Senior Women
Winner: Julie Snelson; runner-up: Amelia Luk

Women’s Open
Winner: Bly Twomey; runner-up: Freya Allaway. Consolation Winner: Hasali Kuruppuarachchi; Consolation runner-up: Carol Allaway

Men’s Open
Winner: Jake Collins; runner-up: Phil Snelson. Consolation Winner: Spike Ward; Consolation runner-up: Forster Chiu