Island Table Tennis Trio Impress At Sussex Tournament

Three Isle of Wight table tennis players have recorded a series of strong results against mainland opposition at the Sussex 4-Star Tournament.

Joe Chapman, Alex Rorke and Ryan Cates represented the Island during the two-day competition last weekend.

Chapman reached the semi-finals of both Band 5 and Band 6 on Saturday, recording nine victories, before beating Jamal Dennison on Sunday — a player ranked more than 500 places above him.

Rorke and Cates both topped their Band 4 groups on Saturday, while Cates narrowly missed out against Middlesex player Janak Shah, ranked 14th nationally at under-19 level.

The pair progressed through their groups again on Sunday, with Cates suffering another close five-set defeat to Shah.

Island players will next travel to Southampton for the opening Senior British Club League weekend, with Cates, Chapman, Steve Mills and Paul Rainford due to compete across four matches.