The Worthing Table Tennis Club Christmas 1* Tournament delivered plenty of festive surprises, with several top-seeded players failing to achieve the results they expected in a competition packed with upsets and strong performances from lower-ranked players.

Held in a lively and friendly atmosphere, the event attracted a field of nearly 50 competitors from across the region, with players travelling from as far afield as South Yorkshire.

In the Ladies’ Singles, Worthing’s Holly Holder justified her top seeding, coming through the group without dropping a set. Elsewhere in the group, shock results were a recurring theme. Jessica Monis claimed silver after a countback with Kyoko Lancaster; Monis defeated Lancaster but lost to Lydia White, while White beat Lancaster. Dolma Lama Prossor finished fourth, securing an impressive win over White.

Top seed Hoy Wen Leung dominated the Cadet Boys’ event, winning all his matches without dropping a set. His Worthing teammate Jinxi He finished in second place, completing a strong showing for the club.

Junior Band 2 produced a clear winner, with Sebastian Hitchcock-Spencer (Flick) taking gold. Louis Jackson claimed silver but was pushed all the way to five sets by Daniel Michael-Delgado, who finished third after a closely fought contest.

Junior Band 1 was where the seeds truly began to wobble. Third seed Ibrahim Umar (Graham Spicer) eventually took victory, but not without drama. Zak Heap (Worthing) defeated Umar 3-0, only to be beaten in five sets by Liam Higgins. Worthing’s James Fryer then defeated both Heap and Higgins in four sets, leaving a countback between Fryer and Umar. Umar’s five-set win over Fryer proved decisive, earning him the group win.

Men’s Band 3 featured no seeded players, with all competitors unranked. Worthing’s Pak Wan topped the group despite suffering a loss to Sheffield’s Ben Edgar. Edgar finished second, having earlier lost five-set matches to Dominik Paul and Ricky Hensman.

Men’s Band 2 continued the theme of unpredictable results. Second seed Arslan Shah went unbeaten, including a notable win over top seed George Spillett. Shah was made to work hard throughout, requiring five sets to overcome Worthing pair Isaac Burgess and James Anderson. Both enjoyed strong days, with Burgess defeating third seed Rudi Dharmaliam and Anderson recording a win over higher-ranked Patel.

Men’s Band 1 saw the biggest shocks of the tournament from the very first match, as eighth seed Brandon Bennett defeated top seed Joe Britnell in four sets. Upsets followed throughout the group, with sixth seed Gabor Bodar ultimately taking victory, his only defeat coming against third seed Mario Ioakim. Second seed Eric Cheng finished in second place after a rollercoaster day of results playing three five-set matches and winning two, only losing to Bodar and Ioakim. Bennett had a great day, defeating higher ranked players Ioakim and Beale to finish in third place.  

A full set of results can be found in the results booklet here.