2024-25 Weekly Press Report - Week 9
'Travellers excel in latest Table Tennis Doubles week’
Week 9 of the Fun88 sponsored IOM Table Tennis Association league took place last week at the NSC, with another round of doubles-only fixtures in Divisions 1 & 2. All matches are played on a single table per fixture, and are contested over 3 games, as against the usual 5. Highlights of the action is summarised below, with full match results and statistics to be found on our website at www.tabletennis365.com/IOM
Division 1
Travellers A (9) Arbory B (0)
Travellers A extended their lead to 5 points at the top of Division 1 with another ruthless display - this time against a decent Arbory B side. Liam Chan, John Shooter & Malcolm Cummings were unrelenting in their attacking play, and amazingly no match went beyond 2 ends. Arbory’s John Magnall, Amit Lanin and Dan Levine looked to be playing well, but could find no way through, despite some close individual ends.
Ramsey A (8) Tower A (1)
Second placed Ramsey were dominant in this tie, although Tower pushed them hard in some games. Indeed, Dave Parsons & Ken Mitchell pulled off a rare victory against Becky Taylor & Duncan Alexander 12-10, 3-11, 11-9 to snatch a point for Tower. Ramsey were taken to a 3rd game in 2 other matches, with some tight games being seen.
Travellers B (8) Tower B (1)
Travellers B remain in 4th spot, but are now only 1 ahead of Strathallan. Tower B’s pairing of Simon Radcliffe & Steve Curtis was working well, with 2 of their matches going to 3 close ends. Then in their 3rd match, they were delighted to take a point by defeating Malc Lewis & Will Shooter 11-6, 11-6.
Arbory A (6) Strathallan (3)
There was plenty of exciting action and some magnificent rallies to be seen in this fixture. Arbory’s pairing of Jason Quirk & Mike Tamarov was solid as a rock. Combining clever defensive strokes with attacking play, they breezed through their 3 matches without losing an end. Jason & Sonja Shaw were also unbeaten in their 3, and whilst they too didn't lose any games, they had to work a little harder. For Strathy, Wayne Taylor & Neil Quane were in superb form whilst beating Mike & Sonja in 3 ends 9-11, 11-7, 13-11. Wayne & Andy Patterson also managed to eclipse MIke & Sonja in 3 ends, as did Andy & Neil to grab the away teams’ 3rd point. Arbory A remain in 3rd place.
Division 2
Travellers C (9) Ramsey C (0)
This was another strong performance by the Division 2 league leaders which strengthened their lead at the top, 3 points ahead of closest rivals Peel A. Keeran Chan, Paul Mathieson-Nelson and Luke Begley appeared relatively comfortable, albeit Ramsey took 2 matches to a third end. Keeran & Luke had a close one against Darren Shaw & Keith Herrington, but pulled through 12-10, 11-8. Young Luke looked solid and is growing as a player - he is undoubtedly benefiting from playing alongside the experienced Paul & Keeran.
Desmonds Douglas A (7) Arbory D (2)
Third placed Desmonds pulled off a very impressive win in this tie against testing opposition. Arbory’s Malcolm Lambert & Mike Levine put up some strong resistance, and managed to pull off a great victory against Russ Kent & Brandon Montgomerie 9-11, 11-8, 11-6. They did the same against Montgomerie & Neil Ronan, just edging it 11-8 in the third. Lambert & Levine were close to a treble, but were prevented from claiming it by Kent & Ronan, and by the narrowest of margins - 11-7, 12-10, 12-10 in favour of the triumphant Desmonds pairing.
Ramsey B (8) JRTE A (1)
Another strong performance from Wael Kassim, and his Ramsey B teammates, resulted in another hugely valuable 8 points. Wael & Geoff Ball were pushed hard by JRTE’s Darren Smethurst & Anil Paul, but they held their nerve to take the third end 11-6, and the match. Wael and Lisa Lord pulled off an even closer 3 end win against Darren & Gary Skillicorn. JRTE’s only success came in Darren & Anil’s 3 end victory over Geoff Ball & Lisa, which they took 13-11 in the final end.
Peel A (7) Arbory C (2)
Peel kept up the pressure at the top of the table with another 7 points. Jon Taylor Burt and Ken Hegarty were backed up by Maggie Mulhern, however Kevin Drewry & Dave Bufton seized the initiative and nicked the third end against Ken & Maggie 14-12 to take one of their 2 points. Another point was claimed by Dave & Liav Lanin, who swept past Ken & Maggie in 3.
Division 3
Travellers E (5) Ramsey D (0)
The Travellers E pair of Henry Weaver and Eban Moore demonstrated once again just how much they have improved this season, with an impressive 5-0 win over the experienced Ramsey D duo of Pat Halliwell and Tony Sewell. Pat pushed Henry hard though in their match with the youngster just pulling through 6-11, 11-7, 11-9, 13-11. Eban was pulled back to 2-2 by an in-form Pat, but he then got back on track to take the last 11-2 for the win. Henry & Eban then combined well to take the doubles in 4 ends, and claim the 5 points.
Travellers F (5) JRTE B (0)
Unfortunately, JRTE B were once again unable to field any players for this tie, so had to forfeit the match, and all 5 points to the grateful Travellers F duo of Sydnie Weaver and Rhys Bufton.
Travellers D (5) Ramsey E (0)
Traveller’s Margaret Forsyth took 5 ends to see off rising star Saul Tumblety, before taking a second point against Teddy Clayton in 3. Maurice Campbell needed 3 ends to defeat Teddy, and eclipsed Saul 11-8 in the 4th. Maurice & Margaret are an experienced pairing and were too strong for the youngsters at doubles, taking the match 11-3, 11-6, 11-2.
Please note there are no further practice sessions until 10th January. Follow local table tennis via our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TableTennisIOM or at www.tabletennis365.com/IOM
Picture: Arbory A’s Mike Tamarov (left) and Jason Quirk (right) showing the focus and attacking flare that rewarded them with 3 wins last week in the latest Division 1 doubles week (photo courtesy of Malcolm Lambert)
Ken Mitchell
Week 9 of the Fun88 sponsored IOM Table Tennis Association league took place last week at the NSC, with another round of doubles-only fixtures in Divisions 1 & 2. All matches are played on a single table per fixture, and are contested over 3 games, as against the usual 5. Highlights of the action is summarised below, with full match results and statistics to be found on our website at www.tabletennis365.com/IOM
Division 1
Travellers A (9) Arbory B (0)
Travellers A extended their lead to 5 points at the top of Division 1 with another ruthless display - this time against a decent Arbory B side. Liam Chan, John Shooter & Malcolm Cummings were unrelenting in their attacking play, and amazingly no match went beyond 2 ends. Arbory’s John Magnall, Amit Lanin and Dan Levine looked to be playing well, but could find no way through, despite some close individual ends.
Ramsey A (8) Tower A (1)
Second placed Ramsey were dominant in this tie, although Tower pushed them hard in some games. Indeed, Dave Parsons & Ken Mitchell pulled off a rare victory against Becky Taylor & Duncan Alexander 12-10, 3-11, 11-9 to snatch a point for Tower. Ramsey were taken to a 3rd game in 2 other matches, with some tight games being seen.
Travellers B (8) Tower B (1)
Travellers B remain in 4th spot, but are now only 1 ahead of Strathallan. Tower B’s pairing of Simon Radcliffe & Steve Curtis was working well, with 2 of their matches going to 3 close ends. Then in their 3rd match, they were delighted to take a point by defeating Malc Lewis & Will Shooter 11-6, 11-6.
Arbory A (6) Strathallan (3)
There was plenty of exciting action and some magnificent rallies to be seen in this fixture. Arbory’s pairing of Jason Quirk & Mike Tamarov was solid as a rock. Combining clever defensive strokes with attacking play, they breezed through their 3 matches without losing an end. Jason & Sonja Shaw were also unbeaten in their 3, and whilst they too didn't lose any games, they had to work a little harder. For Strathy, Wayne Taylor & Neil Quane were in superb form whilst beating Mike & Sonja in 3 ends 9-11, 11-7, 13-11. Wayne & Andy Patterson also managed to eclipse MIke & Sonja in 3 ends, as did Andy & Neil to grab the away teams’ 3rd point. Arbory A remain in 3rd place.
Division 2
Travellers C (9) Ramsey C (0)
This was another strong performance by the Division 2 league leaders which strengthened their lead at the top, 3 points ahead of closest rivals Peel A. Keeran Chan, Paul Mathieson-Nelson and Luke Begley appeared relatively comfortable, albeit Ramsey took 2 matches to a third end. Keeran & Luke had a close one against Darren Shaw & Keith Herrington, but pulled through 12-10, 11-8. Young Luke looked solid and is growing as a player - he is undoubtedly benefiting from playing alongside the experienced Paul & Keeran.
Desmonds Douglas A (7) Arbory D (2)
Third placed Desmonds pulled off a very impressive win in this tie against testing opposition. Arbory’s Malcolm Lambert & Mike Levine put up some strong resistance, and managed to pull off a great victory against Russ Kent & Brandon Montgomerie 9-11, 11-8, 11-6. They did the same against Montgomerie & Neil Ronan, just edging it 11-8 in the third. Lambert & Levine were close to a treble, but were prevented from claiming it by Kent & Ronan, and by the narrowest of margins - 11-7, 12-10, 12-10 in favour of the triumphant Desmonds pairing.
Ramsey B (8) JRTE A (1)
Another strong performance from Wael Kassim, and his Ramsey B teammates, resulted in another hugely valuable 8 points. Wael & Geoff Ball were pushed hard by JRTE’s Darren Smethurst & Anil Paul, but they held their nerve to take the third end 11-6, and the match. Wael and Lisa Lord pulled off an even closer 3 end win against Darren & Gary Skillicorn. JRTE’s only success came in Darren & Anil’s 3 end victory over Geoff Ball & Lisa, which they took 13-11 in the final end.
Peel A (7) Arbory C (2)
Peel kept up the pressure at the top of the table with another 7 points. Jon Taylor Burt and Ken Hegarty were backed up by Maggie Mulhern, however Kevin Drewry & Dave Bufton seized the initiative and nicked the third end against Ken & Maggie 14-12 to take one of their 2 points. Another point was claimed by Dave & Liav Lanin, who swept past Ken & Maggie in 3.
Division 3
Travellers E (5) Ramsey D (0)
The Travellers E pair of Henry Weaver and Eban Moore demonstrated once again just how much they have improved this season, with an impressive 5-0 win over the experienced Ramsey D duo of Pat Halliwell and Tony Sewell. Pat pushed Henry hard though in their match with the youngster just pulling through 6-11, 11-7, 11-9, 13-11. Eban was pulled back to 2-2 by an in-form Pat, but he then got back on track to take the last 11-2 for the win. Henry & Eban then combined well to take the doubles in 4 ends, and claim the 5 points.
Travellers F (5) JRTE B (0)
Unfortunately, JRTE B were once again unable to field any players for this tie, so had to forfeit the match, and all 5 points to the grateful Travellers F duo of Sydnie Weaver and Rhys Bufton.
Travellers D (5) Ramsey E (0)
Traveller’s Margaret Forsyth took 5 ends to see off rising star Saul Tumblety, before taking a second point against Teddy Clayton in 3. Maurice Campbell needed 3 ends to defeat Teddy, and eclipsed Saul 11-8 in the 4th. Maurice & Margaret are an experienced pairing and were too strong for the youngsters at doubles, taking the match 11-3, 11-6, 11-2.
Please note there are no further practice sessions until 10th January. Follow local table tennis via our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TableTennisIOM or at www.tabletennis365.com/IOM
Picture: Arbory A’s Mike Tamarov (left) and Jason Quirk (right) showing the focus and attacking flare that rewarded them with 3 wins last week in the latest Division 1 doubles week (photo courtesy of Malcolm Lambert)
Ken Mitchell
Author: Tim Baker via Isle Of Man Table Tennis Association
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