DEFENDING CHAMPION Kevin Farley finished at the top of Group 1 when the preliminary round of the National Islandwide Championship continued at the Table Tennis Centre on Tuesday night.

Farley won all three of his matches "at a canter" to advance to the next round which will be played on Tuesday night.

The talented southpaw took things relatively easy against the inexperienced Nicanor Maughn before winning 11-7, 11-5, 10-12, 11-3.

He then pressed the accelerator against the more formidable Paco Moss, dismissing him in straight games (11-4, 11-8, 11-9); and then relaxed somewhat against Rawle Husbands before winning 11-3, 12-10, 2-11, 11-6.

Kevin's older sibling, Trevor Farley, dominated Group 2 in which he played unbeaten during the night. His wins included a blowout of Third Division player Albert Collymore (11-4, 11-9, 11-3), and a closely fought game against former national Shawn Bellamy (11-6, 11-9, 10-12, 11-9).

Bellamy was the next best player in Group 2 with wins over Collymore and Antonio Pilgrim. He defeated Collymore at 3, 4 and 11, and Pilgrim at 6, 8 and 8.

A surprising result in Group 2 was Pilgrim's defeat of veteran player and national coach David Harris in a hard-fought encounter which went the full five games. Pilgrim won 7-11, 11-3, 9-11, 11-6, 14-12.

In this same group, Collymore surprisingly defeated Pilgrim 11-4, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8, while Harris exacted his revenge on Collymore by stopping him in straight games at 9, 2 and 7.

In Group 4, the only other group to be played on the night, Peter "PJ" Lovell came from two games down to beat Clifton Alleyne 2-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-2, 12-10.

However, Lovell was not so lucky against national player Anderson Carrington, who blew him away at 3, 2 and 5.

Alleyne also won the first game at 9 against Peter "German" Riley, but Riley bounced back to take the next three games 11-8, 11-7, 11-9.

(TE)