The three main contenders in the Hastings & District Table Tennis League Division One all had comfortable 10-0 wins going into the Christmas break. Leaders Hollington Academy A welcomed back Andy Furnival after injury alongside Nathan Darby and Bashar Obeyed as they took maximum points at Tackleway B. Tackleway did well to keep the leaders occupied for over three hours and came close to taking the doubles.
Bexhillians A (Rob Warner, Martin Kellaway and David Rayment) stay second after a 10-0 win over Bexhillians D while title-holders Saints A (Dave Butler, James Winchester and Andy Syrett) stayed in touch with a similar scoreline at Tigers A. Sheila King came closest to breaking Tigers’ duck, taking Winchester to a decider in the final set of the match.
Mid-table produced a much closer match-up when Tackleway A’s James Gorridge and Mike Funnel won two each in a 5-5 draw with Bexhillians B. Tackleway looked comfortable at 4-1 up, but Bexhill took the next three sets, all at 11-9 in the fifth game, to level. Gorridge then reversed the scoreline to beat Yotza Krstic, only for Bexhill to take the final set for a draw.
Hollington Academy B won 6-4 at Bexhillians C with two wins each for Sam Collins, Robin Gibbs and Jamie Martin overcoming the maximum from Graham Gillett for Bexhill.
In Division Two, leaders Bexhillians G dropped a point as they beat Tigers B 7-3 with a straight-games maximum from Kevin McEwan and two wins for Ryan Heselden. Chris Woods won twice for Tigers who could have taken a draw, with Bryan Tichband twice losing out at the death in five games.
Tackleway D had a convincing 9-1 scoreline against Bexhillians F with Owen Hatter and Alan Blackman unbeaten and Phil Toze winning two but Bexhill also lost out in three five-game sets.
Neil Stapley returned for Hollington A with a maximum as they beat Saints C 7-3. Steph Sargent won two for Hollington, as did Clive Drew-Clifton for Saints.
Bexhillians H won 9-1 at Willett & Phillips in Division Three with Baz Goodson and Alan Chumbley unbeaten and two wins for Ying Wang.
