Division 1
Lions A came out as winners in the top of the table clash this week and lead title rivals Whistlers A by 2 points.
Garry Dodd retained his unbeaten singles record on the night, but it was not enough to stop the defending champions securing the points courtesy of a 7-3 win. Dodd himself came through 3 tightly contested sets against the ever improving junior Dan Collenette and was also on hand to end Paul Hainsworth's unbeaten run over the course of 4 ends. His final win came against Ben Foss in one of the best matches contested at the GTTA centre so far this season. There were numerous high quality rallies throughout the encounter and it was Foss who had the better of the early stages, opening up a 2-1 lead through good controlled play off the backhand wing. Dodd stormed through the 4th end and was always ahead in the decider until the score of 9-9 was reached. A clever serve at this point deceived Foss and earned Dodd a match point, which he duly converted at the first time of asking. Foss brushed himself off from the narrow defeat impressively as straight set singles wins came against Mark Pipet and Martin Sarre as well as a doubles win alongside Hainsworth over Dodd and Sarre in 5 sets. Hainsworth and Collenette also came through against Pipet and Sarre in singles competition to clinch the points, Collenette fighting hard to overturn 2-1 deficits in both games.
Lions B picked up their first points of the season
and moved into 4th position following a strong 8-2 win over Lions C. Phil Ogier has lost just 1 match this season and he was once more on point during straight set wins over Andy Gill, Jamie Ferbrache and reserve Terry Trustum. Ryan Bichard had a much tougher evening, but still managed to secure a trio of wins, 5 sets being required against both Gill and Trustum on top of a straight set win against Ferbrache. Andre De Carteret picked up the other singles win for the B side against Ferbrache in 4 games. He also combined with Ogier to edge the doubles match over Gill and Ferbrache in 5 sets.
Whistlers D lead the way at the top of the 2nd Division, however they are only 2 points ahead of Lions E, who have played a game less.
The Whistlers side earned an impressive 8-2 win over a Lions D side that held a 100% record prior to the match. Kay Chivers bounced back well from her 2 defeats last week to record a hat-trick of straight game wins over Tim Le Page, Steve Ozanne and Steve Potter. Ellis Tomlin has continued where he left off from Division 3 last season and looks a force to be reckoned with the 2nd Division this year. He joined Chivers with an unbeaten evening and this included a 5 set win over Le Page from 2-0 down. Keith Opie had a tough evening but managed to come back from 2-1 down to edge out Potter 13-11 in the 5th end of their encounter. He also teamed with Chivers to win the doubles over Le Page and Ozanne in 4 sets.
Lions E are the only other unbeaten side in the Division and they came through 7-3 against another previously unbeaten side, St Pauls A. Jez Powell and Corey Brouard each recorded singles wins over Maurice James, Trevor Bourgaize and reserve Craig Dunning, however Brouard needed the full 5 sets in each instance. This included the need to over-turn 2-0 deficits against both James and Dunning. Caden Brouard was unlucky not to contribute to the tally in his singles matches, falling to Dunning 11-9 in the decider, however he did combine well with Powell in the doubles match which they won comfortably in straight sets over Bourgaize and Dunning.
Division 3
St Pauls B and Whistlers G are tied at the top of the table, as each has won all 3 of their fixtures so far this season.
The St Pauls side were in no mood for upsets this week as they powered towards their first 10-0 whitewash of the season, Lions I the side to face the brush. Derek Carter, John Wills and Dunning all came through against Amy Stone, Jonah Ingrouille and reserve Rose Powell. Powell was very unfortunate not to prevent the whitewash as she lost in 5 sets to both Dunning and Carter. Carter and Dunning took the doubles over Stone and Ingrouille in straight sets.
Whistlers G had an entirely opposite evening as they needed to be at their best to squeeze past Lions H 6-4. Junior Ben Sharp was the star performer of the night, coming away with wins over Lynn Finn, Jenny Powell and Mike Brehaut. Callum Gilson added wins over Brehaut and Finn, however he was defeated by Powell in 5 sets. Sharp and Gilson won the important doubles clash over Finn and Powell in 4 sets. All of the Lions players overcame reserve Robert Naftel on the evening.
Division 4
Lions K and Lions L lead the way at the top of the 4th Division.
Lions K officially head the way on games ratio and they were 7-3 winners over Whistlers K this week in a fixture where Val Guilbert and Diane Le Page were unbeaten against Leah Moore, Max Burrows and Shelby Timms. James Le Tissier added the 7th win over Timms in 4 sets.
