Headline: 'Peel A maintain narrow lead over Tower B in Division 2 Table Tennis'

Week 10 of the Fun88 sponsored Isle of Man Table Tennis League took place last week.

Division 1

Travellers B (2) Travellers A (7)

Travellers B: John Shooter (2); Malc Lewis (0); William Shooter (0)

Travellers A: Scott Lewis (3); Liam Chan (2); Malcolm Cummings (2) 

John Shooter and Scott Lewis had a 5 set tussle that ended in victory for top ranked Lewis 9-11, 11-6, 11-2, 9-11, 11-5. However, the in-form Shooter then went on to pip Liam Chan 12-10, 11-9 in the 4th and 5th games, to take a dramatic victory and inflict only the second defeat on Chan this season. Malc Lewis managed to take a game off son Scott, before Scott took the match in 4 games. Malcolm Cummings added 2 points for the A team by beating the battling Lewis in 4 games, and William Shooter in 3. The win extends the A team's lead at the top.

Desmonds Douglas A (0) Ramsey A (9)

Desmonds Douglas: Jim Travers (0); Russell Kent (0); Tommy Cowin (0)

Ramsey A: Chris Holland (3); Chris Holmes (3); Adam Teare (3)

Desmonds had another tough week, this time facing second placed Ramsey A. Jim Travers rose to the occasion however and put up a tremendous fight against Chris Holland, only losing 7-11 in the fifth game. It was the same story in the match between Travers and Chris Holmes, with 5 game specialist Holmes pulling through 11-5 in the fifth - but a great effort from Travers again. Elsewhere for Ramsey, it was good to see Adam Teare back in action - and he appeared to be playing extremely well, beating each of his opponents in convincing style. Tommy Cowin had a nerve-jangler of a match against Chris Holmes, with the latter holding his nerve to win in 4 games 10-12, 11-4; 13-11; 12-10

Tower A (1) Arbory (8)

Tower A: Dave Parsons (1); Ken Mitchell (0); Jakk Limungkoon (0)

Arbory: Khayee Vinas (2); Jason Quirk (3); Mike Tamarov (3)

Dave Parsons did well to extract a point for Tower A, by beating Ladies Number 1 Khayee Vinas in 4 close games. As usual with Parsons, there were some tremendous back of the court rallies to be seen! Ken Mitchell was 2 games up against VInas, but crumbled as she adjusted her tactics and took charge to take the next 3, and victory. Jakk Limungkoon stood in for the injured Mike Bayley and acquitted himself well for Tower in his matches, but was unable to repel the excellent Quirk, Tamarov and Vinas. Tamarov beat Mitchell and Parsons in 4 games, and Quirk pulled through in 4 games against Parsons. The win keeps Arbory firmly in 3rd place.

Ramsey C (4) Copy Shop A (4)

Ramsey C: William Dalugdugan (2); Adrian Slater (2)

Copy Shop A: Sean Drewry (3); Sasha Thomas (1)

Ramsey C were without a third player, as were Copy Shop, but William and Adrian did well to take a point each off Sasha Thomas, and were awarded a point apiece for the forfeited matches. Slater's match against Thomas was especially close and it went to 5 games, with the Ramsey man winning 12-10; 10-12, 11-4, 6-11, 11-9. Sean Drewry had no problems in his 2 matches and won both without losing a game. Ramsey had young Ryan Holland playing as a guest which was further Division 1 experience for the 10 year old rising star. He played extremely well against Drewry and Slater, and will be eager to play further matches at the top level. 

Ramsey B (3) Strathallan (6)

Ramsey B: Tim Baker (3); Wael Kassim (0); Glenn Callow (0)

Strathallan: Andrew Horne (2); Wayne Taylor (2); Julian Briercliffe(2) 

It was great to see another experienced player returning to action last week, with Andrew Horne making a rare appearance for Strathallan. Tim Baker was the only player able to deny him 3 wins, with Baker taking the match in 3 games. Horne's tactical mastery was too much however for young Kassim and Callow, beating both convincingly in 3 games. Tim Baker was the rock for Ramsey with a 100% record on the night, and added to his win over Horne with tremendous victories over Wayne Taylor in 4 games, and Julian Briercliffe in 5 very close games - the last game going to Baker 17-15! For Strathallan, Taylor had an impressive win over Kassim, taking the match 11-7 in the 5th. He also had a 5 game thriller with Glenn Callow, and pulled through in that one 11-8 in the 5th. Briercliffe also beat Kassim and Callow but did so with much less drama, in 3 straight games. Strathallan are well placed in 4th place. 

Division 2 

Tower C (1) Peel A (9)

Tower C: Mike Chapman (0); Margaret Forsyth (0); Steve Curtis (1)

Peel A: Stuart Mason (3); Ken Hegarty (3); Nathan Evans (2)

Stu Mason, Ken Hegarty, and Nathan Evans continued their impressive progress in Division 2 with an emphatic win over the hapless Tower C team. Only Steve Curtis was able to bring some joy for Tower with his victory over Evans in 3 straight games. Doubles went to Mason and Hegarty, and this takes Peel A to 76 points - just one ahead of Tower B. 

Desmonds Douglas B (1) Tower B (9)

Desmonds Douglas B: Peter Russell (0); Neil Ronan (0); Richard Hill (1)

Tower B: Graham McFarlane (3); Dario Mazzotta (3); Simon Radcliffe (2)

Match of the night in this tie appears to have been between Neil Ronan and Graham McFarlane, with Graham needing all his wily experience to edge to victory, winning 12-10, 12-10, 9-11, 16-14. Neil must have had a sleepless night after that one! Elsewhere, Richard Hill had a very good win for Desmonds over Simon Radcliffe in 5 close games. Dario Mazzotta was untroubled by his 3 opponents and pulled out another 3 valuable points for Tower who are still very much in touch with leaders Peel A. 

Travellers D (0) Peel B (10)

Travellers D: Maurice Campbell (0); Jackie Gill (0)

Peel B: Nathan Evans (3); Matty Evans (3); Maggie Mulhern (3)

No luck here for Travellers D who were missing one player, and didn't have a Junior Development Player free to stand in unfortunately. Campbell and Gill played well, but the Peel trio of Maggie Mulhern and the Evans brothers simply played better, with no matches going beyond 4 games.  

Ramsey D (7) Travellers C (3)

Ramsey D: Charlie Callow (1); Geoff Ball (3); Nathan Walker (2)

Travellers C: Adrian Tinkler (1); David Buck (2); Jackie Gill (0)

Nathan Walker had 2 convincing wins in this tie against Tinkler and Gill, but David Buck was able to repel him 14-12, 11-6, 8-11, 11-6. Buck also had a good win against Charlie Callow in 4 close games. Star of the evening however was Geoff Ball for Ramsey, who took all 3 points. His toughest match appeared to have been a close 4 gamer against David Buck but he pulled through in the end. Ball and Callow took the doubles, pipping Tinkler and Buck 11-6, 11-8, 7-11, 12-10.

Copy Shop C (6) Copy Shop B (4)

Copy Shop C: Sasha Thomas (1); Rob Wright (2); Grant Paterson (2)

Copy Shop B: Sonja Shaw (1); Ege Niyazi (1); Malcolm Lambert (2)

Copy Shop C showed their mettle with a gritty 6-4 victory against their B team. For the home side Sasha Thomas managed to beat Sonja Shaw in 4 games, but came unstuck against the impressive Ege Niyazi, losing in 5 close games. Thomas then had another 5 setter with the tough to beat Malcolm Lambert, just pulling through after a close battle. Rob Wright had 2 excellent wins against Shaw, in 3 games, and Ege in 5. Grant Paterson backed up his teammates really well with 2 impressive victories against Sonja in 5 games (13-11 in the last), and most notably against Ege in 3. The match hinged on the doubles, and this went in the end to Thomas and Wright for the C team against the battling combo of Shaw and Lambert in 4 games. 

Division 3

Peel D (0) Ramsey E (10)

Peel D: James Devereau (0); Ali Ramirez (0) 

Ramsey E: Francesca Lord (3); Wilma Dalugdugan (3); Lisa Lord (3)

James and Ali forfeited 2 points unfortunately for the Peel D team which contributed to a 10-0 drubbing. Devereau had a tremendous battle with Lisa Lord but Lisa did well to pull through 11-8 in the fifth game. Ali put up a good fight but lost in 4 to Francesca and Lisa, and  in 3 against Wilma Dalugdugan. Wilma and Francesca took the doubles in 3 games. 

Peel C (10) Copy Shop D (0)

Peel C: Amit Lannin (3); Bob Borland (3); Dave Stevenson (3)

Copy Shop D: Darren Shaw (0); Pat Halliwell (0)

Peel C ran riot in this tie and took advantage of the fact that Copy Shop only had 2 players. Darren Shaw put up a tremendous fight against the experienced Dave Stevenson, but lost out in the 5th game 11-8. Bob Borland edged past Shaw in 4 close games, as Amit Lannin did. Amit continues to show impressive form this season with another valuable 3 points alongside solid performances from his Peel C teammates. Peel C are now third in the division. albeit somewhat astray from second place. 

Ramsey F (8) Ramsey G (2)

Ramsey F: Matthew Bell (2); Tom Tsitsos (2); Ryan Holland (3)

Ramsey G: Megan Lord (0); Martyn Howard (2); Henry de Silva (0)

Ryan Holland had an amazing turnaround in his match with the experienced Martyn Howard. He was outplayed in the first 2 games by the flat hitting Howard, losing 3-11, 5-11. A change in tactics however, and renewed determination, enabled him to turn things around, winning the next 3 games 11-8, 11-5, 11-6. Mathew Bell had no such comeback, with Howard blasting him off the table in 3 games. Howard made it 2 wins on the night by beating Tom Tsitsos in 4 games. Ryan and Matthew then took the doubles in 4 games against Howard and Lord 12-10, 11-13, 11-4, 11-6. This win keeps Ramsey F in second place, just one behind Copy Shop E, albeit they've played one more fixture than the leaders.