Table Tennis Report by Malcolm Wenn
Division 1
Liam Chan produced his best form for Arbory A to inflict heavy defeats on all three Ramsey A players but his team mates could not add to their team’s points tally. David Lovelady came close in losing 13/15 in the fourth to Darren Smethurst while Jason Quirk troubled Mason McLarney but was beaten 5/11 in the fifth game.
Malcolm Cummings consolidated his place in the top ten of the averages with a treble for Travellers A against Tower A. There were close encounters all the way in a 6-4 win for Tower. Gary Shilling lost 14/16 in the 4th to Dave Parsons, then 9/11 in the fourth game to John Callow and finally in five fluctuating games with Tim Baker. The highlight of the match saw Cummings come back from two games down to overcome Baker 12/10 in the decisive fifth game.
Marc Townsend impressed for Foxdale A in their match with Copy Shop A. He gave Ronan McDonnell a fright before losing 15/17 in the fourth and went on to record a good win by 3 games to 1 against Brian Crellin before coming back from 2 games to 1 down to take the honours against Jane Coulthurst. This result means Copy Shop maintain their three point lead ahead of Ramsey A at the top of the table.
Strathallan A took advantage of the absence of Paul Corran to defeat Breakaway A 8-2. Sam Callister wasn’t overawed by his elevation to the top league but it was left to Steve O’Hare to earn two points for Breakaway. He very nearly made it three out of three but despite winning the first two games he was pipped at the post by Julian Briercliffe 11/7 13/11 7/11 8/11 12/14.
Division 2
Paul Callow continued his winning ways but it wasn’t enough to enable Tower C to thwart Peel A despite a good win for Mike Chapman over Maggie Mulhern 11/8 10/12 4/11 11/8 12/10. Another close contest saw Margaret Forsyth just miss out against Mulhern 10/12 3/11 12/10 9/11.
Copy shop B increased their lead at the top of this division courtesy of an emphatic win against Tower C. Ewan Watterson won his usual three as his team went 7-0 up but Tower took the next two points as Dave Stevenson beat Danny Hamill in five while Graham McFarlane overcame Adam Davies three straight. In an absorbing final doubles Hamill and Davies defeated McFarlane and Steve Curtis 13/15 11/8 16/14 11/13 11/7.
Mike Bayley was instrumental in Foxdale B’s success over Salmon River Spinners. His treble plus two each from Neil Quane and Andy McLarney saw his team home despite two singles wins plus a doubles (with Tommy Cowin) for Nigel Beattie. This has been a good season so far for Beattie who is now ranked at number 9 in the Division 2 averages.
It was a great pity that the derby match between the Travellers teams was affected by illness. This meant that the C team were without three of their squad including Kathy Yamazaki and could only field two players. Despite this setback Jackie Gill turned back the years with an impressive win over Steve Ellis-Pearson while Malcolm Wenn had two victories by much narrower margins. He just got the better of Ellis-Pearson 11/8 11/9 11/13 7/11 14/12 and Stu Mason 15/13 in the 4th game. Colin Brown was untroubled as the B team won 7-3.
Division 3
Peel B and C teams are still vying for top spot following their match which the C team won 7-3. Chris Holmes was unbeaten and was ably supported by Ashley Reid with two wins and Sean Cassidy with one. Matty Evans secured two wins while Andreas Gutzold and Cassidy kept the umpire busy in a long game which resulted in a win for the B team player 12/10 11/9 8/11 5/11 11/9.
Ramsey B are still chasing the Peel teams and maximums from Marion Forrest and the unbeaten Chas Grills did the trick against Peel E. Dom Galante did manage to take a game off Forrest and he, Vishal Patel and Fraser Dorling all managed to prevent Christin Maschmann adding to Ramsey’s tally.
In what must be the longest match of the season in this Division Breakaway B defeated Fortress 6-4. Mahmoud Hassan proved he has staying power – outlasting Ben Christian 11/5 12/10 9/11 13/15 11/9 and then Aaron Faragher 10/12 7/11 11/9 11/8 11/8. Faragher also went to five games with the other Fortress players. He beat Karen Hassan 13/11 in the decider but lost 7/11 in the last with Pat Halliwell. Sam Callister won all three including another nail biter with Halliwell 11/13 11/8 11/13 11/7 12/10.
Oliver Cain must be dreading getting to deuce! His defeats to Daniel and Eann Mulhern included three scores of 10/12 and one of 11/13. Chris Aspden knows how to do it – he beat Eann Mulhern 14/12 16/14 11/9. Aspden and Kevin Drewry won both of their games. Although Peel won the doubles the lack of a third player meant that Copy Shop C ran out 7-3 winners.
Division 1
Ramsey A 7 (M. McLarney 2, D. Smethurst 2, A. Teare 2, Dbls), Arbory A 3 (L. Chan 3, D. Lovelady, J. Quirk); Foxdale A 3 (M. Townsend 2, W. Bayley 1, N. Quane), Copy Shop A 7 (R. McDonnell 3, B. Crellin 2, J. Coulthurst 1, Dbls); Strathallan 8 (J. Briercliffe 3, A. Horne 2, A. Patterson 2, Dbls), Breakaway A 2 (S. O’Hare 2, S. Callister, C. Kewley); Tower A 6 (T. Baker 2, J. Callow 2, D. Parsons 2), Travellers A 4 (M. Cummings 3, G. Shilling, P. Nelson, Dbls).
Division 2
Peel A 6 (M Lewis 2, L Wilson 2, M Mulhern 1, Dbls), Tower C 4 (P. Callow 3, M. Chapman 1, M. Forsyth); Salmon River Spinners 3 (N. Beattie 2, C. Barron, T Cowin, Dbls), Foxdale B 7 (M. Bayley 3, A. McLarney 2, N. Quane 2); Tower B 2 (G. McFarlane 1, D. Stevenson 1, S. Curtis), Copy Shop B 8 (E. Watterson 3, A. Davies 2, D. Hamill 2, Dbls}; Travellers C 3 (M. Wenn 2, J. Gill 1), Travellers B 7 (C. Brown 2, S. Mason 1, S. Ellis-Pearson, Dbls, walkovers 3).
Division 3
Breakaway B 6 (S. Callister 3, B. Christian 2, A Faragher 1), Fortress 4 (M. Hassan 2, P. Halliwell 1, K. Hassan, Dbls}; Peel D 3 (D. Mulhern 1, E. Mulhern 1, Dbls), Copy Shop C 7 (K. Drewry 2, C. Aspden 2, O. Cain, walkovers 3); Ramsey B 7 (C. Grills 3, M. Forrest 3, C. Maschmann, Dbls), Peel E 3 (F. Dorling 1, D. Galante 1, V. Patel 1); Peel C 7 (C. Holmes 3, A. Reid 2, S. Cassidy 1, Dbls) Peel B 3 (M. Evans 2, A. Gutzold 1, E. Mulhern).
