Report by Derek Tootill
Representatives from ten European countries met at the end of last of week (1st - 3rd October) in the Polish city of Poznan to compete for the 7th European Nations Challenge Cup.
During three days of competition, 21 three-person teams – 13 male and 8 female - representing the Isle of Man, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Gibraltar, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Russia and the Ukraine took part. The Island had a team in both the Men’s and Women’s competition.
The women’s team, consisting of Laura Smith, Vicky Watterson and Lucy Hamilton-Turner, had a tough opening match in Group A.
All three lost in straight sets to their opponents from Malta, who went on to win the competition.
They fared only slightly better in their second match against Estonia, who eventually finished third.
Smith again lost 3-0 as did Hamilton-Turner though the second game went to a decider, with the Manx player losing 10-12.
Watterson took a game from her opponent, winning the third game 11-9, but couldn’t repeat that in the fourth, eventually losing 3-1.
In their first group match, the men’s team lost 2-1 to Ukraine. Richard Corlett and Kevin Watterson both managed to take a game off their opponents, with Watterson only narrowly losing the fourth game 11-13.
Winner for the Isle of Man was Dave Norman, who secured a straight sets victory over his opponent.
Again this was a tough start for the Manx team and a very creditable performance against the team that eventually won the competition.
In their second group game, the Island team again lost 2-1, this time to eventual third placed Gibraltar. Corlett came back from 2 games down to take a very close third 12-10 before losing out in the fourth.
Robin Crease took a close second game 11-10 to level his match before losing the next two games. Norman had a tougher encounter this time around but came out on top winning a thrilling encounter 3-2.
In what was effectively the plate competition, the Isle of Man Women beat Ukraine 2-1 to set up a fifth-sixth play off against Latvia.
Smith lost a very closely contested first game 10-12 on her way to a straight sets defeat.
Watterson only narrowly lost her third game 9-11 on her way to a 3-1 win while Hamilton-Turner had a straight sets win to secure fifth place overall for the Isle of Man.
