RANKED  in the top ten in the UK, 18-year-old Damien Nicholls won the third NatWest men’s table tennis Jersey Open on Sunday.

Also, as expected, No 1 seed Sanja Clements won the women’s title.

Both were impressed by the tournament which attracted 65 competitors to Geoff Reed Centre at FB Fields, including half from the UK, and vowed to be back.

Of the two winners 18-year-old Nicholls arguably had the easiest route to the title although he confessed that his 3-2 win over Sussex’s Rory Scott on Sunday morning was a close-run thing.
He also won the under-21 men’s singles by beating Jake Collins 3-1.

In the women’s event former Yugoslav international and Dorset doctor Sanja Clements used guile and artful blocking play to beat Jersey’s Nicola Duke 3-0. Duke beat the 2007 winner, Rachel Pilgrim from Yorkshire, 3-1, in the semis.

 • Picture: Jersey’s Trevor Lefebvre prepares to serve. Picture by David Ferguson  (00666219)

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