Nicola Duke (left) and Karen Lefebvre

JERSEY’S table tennis team are guaranteed silver or gold in Aland.

In the team competition they finished second behind Gotland in Group A, which set them up for a play-off against Guernsey, who topped Group B. Jersey beat their close rivals this morning to reach the final against either Gotland or Aland later today.

Yesterday there were stellar performances from Craig Gascoyne, Trevor Lefebvre and Nicola Duke, who each thrashed Aland and Menorca opposition 3-0 in their singles matches.

Duke and Kay Lefebvre repeated the feat in their ladies’ doubles against Aland, while Lefebvre and Gascoyne scored another magnificent 3-0 victory in their mixed doubles event.

Earlier in the day younger team members Josh Band and Max Tupper also got a terrific boost from beating Alderney 3-0 in the men’s singles and mixed doubles, respectively, which Tupper won with Helen Liron.

Jersey team manager Chris Band said: ‘The players this week have been absolutely superb, and they’ve played some fantastic group games, so a medal is definitely well-deserved. We did think we might have had a chance, but there have been a lot of unknown quantities, like Shetland and the Isle of Wight.

‘I already knew Gotland would be very good, because two of their players have played in the elite league in Sweden, which is the top most league for professionals, so they really are a different class. But we have put in a fantastic team performance, it’s really been wonderful to watch.

‘They’ve fought for every single point, and every single match. They’ve been fully focused and on the job. The Island should be very proud of them.’