2024-25 Weekly Press Report - Week 4
Week 4 IOMTTA 2024/25 report
Headline: 'Lovelady back with a bang for Travellers C’
Week 4 of the Fun88 sponsored IOM Table Tennis Association league saw a return to singles play in Divisions 1 & 2 after the doubles week last week. Highlights of each fixture is summarised below, with full match details and statistics to be found at www.tabletennis365.com/IOM
Division 1
Strathallan (4) Travellers A (5)
On balance Strathallan will be pleased to have picked up 4 points from this tough tie. Wayne Taylor was again on form and swept aside Paul Mathieson-Nelson in straight games, but could not make inroads against either Malcolm Cummings or Scott Lewis. Neil Quane claimed a tremendous victory against Paul - edgy looking pushing rallies ended when Quane broke into attacking loops in the final 2 points to claim the 4th game and victory. Julian Briercliffe meanwhile claimed 2 wins for the home side. He was pushed hard by Paul but finally emerged victorious in the 4th end 11-8, and it was a similar story against Cummings. Scott Lewis continued his 100% record with some ruthless play, only allowing his opponents an average of 4.2 points per game.
Travellers B (2) Ramsey A (7)
It was slim pickings for the home side, but one notable match was Will Shooter’s battling victory over Becky Taylor, whom he pipped 12-10 in the final end, with some astute positional play. Becky had been on top of the world earlier in the evening when she claimed her first ever victory over John Shooter. After losing the first game 4-11, she had a tactical rethink and started to block John’s attacking shots more, and it started to pay dividends for her, as she took the match in the 4th game 11-6. Adam Teare too was able to beat John in the 4th end, but John was too strong for Duncan Alexander. This win brings Ramsey to within one point of leaders Travellers A.
Arbory A (8) Tower B (1)
Tower B had a tough time of it in this tie. Sonja Shaw was delighted to claim her first points of the season for Arbory, with straight end wins over Mark Webster-Smith, and Steve Curtis. She could not handle Simon Racdcliffe however, who blasted his way to victory in 3 ends. Arbory’s Mike Tamarov and Jason Quirk were untroubled, and neither dropped a game.
Tower A (2) Arbory B (7)
John Magnall and Amit Lanin claimed maximum points for Arbory by defeating Mike Bayley, Jakk Limungkoon and Ken Mitchell. Dan Levine did well to beat Bayley in 4 close ends, but came unstuck against Mitchell, losing in 3 ends, and against Jakk, losing in 4.
Division 2
Arbory C (4) Ramsey B (5)
Arbory’s Rob Wright found himself 2 games up against Adrian Slater, with some excellent play, but was pegged back by the Ramsey player, who took the next 3 games 11-9, 11-3, 11-3. The other match that went all the way was between Arbory’s Dave Bufton and Geoff Ball. Again, the Arbory player was 2-0 up, but was pegged back by a determined Ball who smashed his way to victory. Bufton did however claim 2 wins with victories over Lisa Lord and Adrian, both in 4 games. Player of the night was Geoff Ball who claimed 3 splendid wins, with Kevin Drewry and Rob Wright falling in the 4th end, albeit after some very close games.
Desmonds Douglas A (2) Travellers C (7)
Travellers C remain joint top of Division 2 with this solid win. Another player making a welcome return to table tennis for Travellers after a knee injury, was Dave Lovelady. He did amazingly well to take 3 wins without losing a single game. Paul Mathieson-Nelson, who has also recovered after knee surgery, was his usual efficient self, gleaning 3 wins to add to Desmond’s pain. Neil pushed him to a 5th end and his match with Kent involved 3 very close games. Russ and Neil salvaged 2 points for the home side with 5 end wins over Dave Buck.
Peel A (8) Arbory D (1)
Jon Taylor Burt and Stu Perry were once again unbeaten, with superb wins over Malcolm Lambert, Liav Lanin and Bob Borland, which brought Peel level at the top of Div2. Ken Hegarty added 2 further points in a 5 setter against Bob, and a win over Liav. 11 year old Liav continues to improve each week and had some really close games in his matches .
Ramsey C (2) JRTE Marketing A (7)
Darren Shaw, playing for the home side had a right old battle with Steven Carridge of JRTE. 11-13, 11-13, 11-5, 12-10, 11-2 says it all - a tremendous come back for Shaw, and a glorious win in the 5th end. Keith Herrington nabbed another point against the unfortunate Carridge, closing out the game in the 4th end - again after 3 very close games. Darren Smethurst was unbeaten on the night for JRTE.
Division 3
Ramsey D (0) Travellers D (5)
Jackie Gill and Maurice Campbell were untroubled on the night by Tony Sewell and Pat Helliwell, with all 5 matches being settled in 3 ends.
Travellers E (4) JRTE Marketing B (1)
Young Eben Moore did well to battle back from 0-2 down against Cameron Millar, only to lose the final end 11-4. He went on to defeat Gary Skillicorn in 3 ends, as did teammate Henry Weaver. Henry did well to take the win over Cameron 11-8, 11-7, 11-9.
Travellers G (1) Ramsey E (4)
Tom Taylor Burt had an excellent win over Teddy Clayton in a close 4 ends, sealing the win 12-10 in the 4th game. Teddy, and Saul Tumblety then rallied themselves to take the doubles for Ramsey 8-11, 11-9, 5-11, 3-11.
Follow local table tennis via our Facebook page at ttp://www.facebook.com/TableTennisIOM or via our Instagram page at http://www.instagram.com/IOMTTA. IOMTTA practice sessions are on Friday evenings 7pm-9pm - £5 for adults and £3 for juniors.
In addition, Douglas Table Tennis Club continues to run practice / drop in sessions for juniors on Monday evenings 6pm-8pm at Ballakermeen School Gymnasium. Players of any ability are all welcome - bats & balls available - £3 per session. Further details on Facebook.
Photo : Darren Smethurst has made a welcome return to table tennis this season, playing for JRTE Marketing A (photo by Malcolm Lambert)
Ken Mitchell
Headline: 'Lovelady back with a bang for Travellers C’
Week 4 of the Fun88 sponsored IOM Table Tennis Association league saw a return to singles play in Divisions 1 & 2 after the doubles week last week. Highlights of each fixture is summarised below, with full match details and statistics to be found at www.tabletennis365.com/IOM
Division 1
Strathallan (4) Travellers A (5)
On balance Strathallan will be pleased to have picked up 4 points from this tough tie. Wayne Taylor was again on form and swept aside Paul Mathieson-Nelson in straight games, but could not make inroads against either Malcolm Cummings or Scott Lewis. Neil Quane claimed a tremendous victory against Paul - edgy looking pushing rallies ended when Quane broke into attacking loops in the final 2 points to claim the 4th game and victory. Julian Briercliffe meanwhile claimed 2 wins for the home side. He was pushed hard by Paul but finally emerged victorious in the 4th end 11-8, and it was a similar story against Cummings. Scott Lewis continued his 100% record with some ruthless play, only allowing his opponents an average of 4.2 points per game.
Travellers B (2) Ramsey A (7)
It was slim pickings for the home side, but one notable match was Will Shooter’s battling victory over Becky Taylor, whom he pipped 12-10 in the final end, with some astute positional play. Becky had been on top of the world earlier in the evening when she claimed her first ever victory over John Shooter. After losing the first game 4-11, she had a tactical rethink and started to block John’s attacking shots more, and it started to pay dividends for her, as she took the match in the 4th game 11-6. Adam Teare too was able to beat John in the 4th end, but John was too strong for Duncan Alexander. This win brings Ramsey to within one point of leaders Travellers A.
Arbory A (8) Tower B (1)
Tower B had a tough time of it in this tie. Sonja Shaw was delighted to claim her first points of the season for Arbory, with straight end wins over Mark Webster-Smith, and Steve Curtis. She could not handle Simon Racdcliffe however, who blasted his way to victory in 3 ends. Arbory’s Mike Tamarov and Jason Quirk were untroubled, and neither dropped a game.
Tower A (2) Arbory B (7)
John Magnall and Amit Lanin claimed maximum points for Arbory by defeating Mike Bayley, Jakk Limungkoon and Ken Mitchell. Dan Levine did well to beat Bayley in 4 close ends, but came unstuck against Mitchell, losing in 3 ends, and against Jakk, losing in 4.
Division 2
Arbory C (4) Ramsey B (5)
Arbory’s Rob Wright found himself 2 games up against Adrian Slater, with some excellent play, but was pegged back by the Ramsey player, who took the next 3 games 11-9, 11-3, 11-3. The other match that went all the way was between Arbory’s Dave Bufton and Geoff Ball. Again, the Arbory player was 2-0 up, but was pegged back by a determined Ball who smashed his way to victory. Bufton did however claim 2 wins with victories over Lisa Lord and Adrian, both in 4 games. Player of the night was Geoff Ball who claimed 3 splendid wins, with Kevin Drewry and Rob Wright falling in the 4th end, albeit after some very close games.
Desmonds Douglas A (2) Travellers C (7)
Travellers C remain joint top of Division 2 with this solid win. Another player making a welcome return to table tennis for Travellers after a knee injury, was Dave Lovelady. He did amazingly well to take 3 wins without losing a single game. Paul Mathieson-Nelson, who has also recovered after knee surgery, was his usual efficient self, gleaning 3 wins to add to Desmond’s pain. Neil pushed him to a 5th end and his match with Kent involved 3 very close games. Russ and Neil salvaged 2 points for the home side with 5 end wins over Dave Buck.
Peel A (8) Arbory D (1)
Jon Taylor Burt and Stu Perry were once again unbeaten, with superb wins over Malcolm Lambert, Liav Lanin and Bob Borland, which brought Peel level at the top of Div2. Ken Hegarty added 2 further points in a 5 setter against Bob, and a win over Liav. 11 year old Liav continues to improve each week and had some really close games in his matches .
Ramsey C (2) JRTE Marketing A (7)
Darren Shaw, playing for the home side had a right old battle with Steven Carridge of JRTE. 11-13, 11-13, 11-5, 12-10, 11-2 says it all - a tremendous come back for Shaw, and a glorious win in the 5th end. Keith Herrington nabbed another point against the unfortunate Carridge, closing out the game in the 4th end - again after 3 very close games. Darren Smethurst was unbeaten on the night for JRTE.
Division 3
Ramsey D (0) Travellers D (5)
Jackie Gill and Maurice Campbell were untroubled on the night by Tony Sewell and Pat Helliwell, with all 5 matches being settled in 3 ends.
Travellers E (4) JRTE Marketing B (1)
Young Eben Moore did well to battle back from 0-2 down against Cameron Millar, only to lose the final end 11-4. He went on to defeat Gary Skillicorn in 3 ends, as did teammate Henry Weaver. Henry did well to take the win over Cameron 11-8, 11-7, 11-9.
Travellers G (1) Ramsey E (4)
Tom Taylor Burt had an excellent win over Teddy Clayton in a close 4 ends, sealing the win 12-10 in the 4th game. Teddy, and Saul Tumblety then rallied themselves to take the doubles for Ramsey 8-11, 11-9, 5-11, 3-11.
Follow local table tennis via our Facebook page at ttp://www.facebook.com/TableTennisIOM or via our Instagram page at http://www.instagram.com/IOMTTA. IOMTTA practice sessions are on Friday evenings 7pm-9pm - £5 for adults and £3 for juniors.
In addition, Douglas Table Tennis Club continues to run practice / drop in sessions for juniors on Monday evenings 6pm-8pm at Ballakermeen School Gymnasium. Players of any ability are all welcome - bats & balls available - £3 per session. Further details on Facebook.
Photo : Darren Smethurst has made a welcome return to table tennis this season, playing for JRTE Marketing A (photo by Malcolm Lambert)
Ken Mitchell
Author: Tim Baker via Isle Of Man Table Tennis Association
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