'Rhys and Sydnie combine well to take superb win for Travellers F in Division 3’
Singles play resumed for Divisions 1 & 2 in round 16 of the Fun 88 sponsored Isle of Man Table Tennis Association league. 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
Arbory B (0) Travellers A (9)
Another whitewash for table toppers Travellers A, however the result masks some very close matches and excellent play from their opponents Arbory B. John Magnall pushed Malcolm Cummings close but the Travellers player was able to squeeze through 11-9 in the final end to his great relief. Amit Lanin also pushed Cummings hard but was also eclipsed 7-11 in the 5th. Liam Chan was also pushed hard by Magnall, but Chan’s attacking style was just too much for the more defensively minded Magnall, taking the match 11-7 in the 4th. Amit started brightly against Chan taking the first game, but faded to lose the next 2 and ultimately the match. Scott Lewis maintained his 100% record this season, but Dan Levine did well to take a game off him, as did Amit. Lewis clearly has different gears however, which to his great credit he switches to when required. This result stretches Travellers lead to 16 points ahead of second placed Ramsey A.
Tower A (2) Ramsey A (7)
Tower A, sponsored by Tower Insurance, needed something from this tie to keep their remote hopes of escaping relegation alive. Dave Parsons duly stepped up and produced 2 fantastic wins. Firstly he beat Becky Taylor by coming back from 1-2 down to take the final 2 ends and the match. He also edged an enthralling match against Chris Holmes, 11-9 in the final end. Elsewhere, Tower’s Mike Bayley and Simon Radclife played well for Tower taking games off Chris Holmes, but ultimately Ramsey were well in control. For Tower, they are now 8 points adrift of 6th placed Arbory B.
Strathallan (2) Arbory A (7)
Result of the night in this tie was Sonja Shaw’s superb 4 end victory over Julian Briercliffe, Wayne Taylor and Andy Patterson avenged that defeat by both taking points against Sonja. Other than that, the tie went in favour of Arbory, with Mike Tamarov and Jason Quirk being largely untouchable winning all their games in straight ends, albeit Taylor took a game off Quirk. This result leaves Arbory A in 3rd place just ahead of Travellers B, with Strathallan comfortably sitting in 5th place.
Tower B (0) Travellers B (9)
Another uncomfortable tie for Tower B, this time at the hands of 4th placed Travellers B, who are now pushing for 3rd. Sam Sen did well to take a game off Will Shooter, as did Steve Curtis against Malc Lewis, but other than that it was plain sailing for Travellers. This result now mathematically condemns Tower B to relegation with 5 matches to go.
Division 2
JRTE Marketing A (4) Ramsey B (5)
Brian Crellin stepped in for JRTE and once again made a huge impact, taking his 3 wins without losing a game. That said, Wael Kassim pushed him hard before losing out in a close match 9-11, 9-11, 9-11. Paul Mitchinson added a further point for the home side with an impressive victory over Geoff Ball in 4 ends. Ramsey’s Adrian Slater took wins over Mitchinson and Steven Carridge in 4 ends. Wael also pitched in nicely with 2 good wins over Mitchinson and Carridge.
Ramsey C (4) Travellers C (5)
Keith Herrington had a very impressive win for the home side against Dave Buck which concluded 11-9 in 5th end. He then disposed of a battling Eban Moore (who was playing up for the first time), in 4 ends. Keeran Chan was a step too far however, with the Travellers C player pulling off 3 victories, to be ‘Player of the Match’. Buck added 2 further points to keep Travellers on course for promotion.
Arbory C (3) Peel A (6)
Peel remained on course for promotion after this result, tucked in behind Travellers C by a single point. That said, Arbory didn’t make life easy for the Westerners. Dave Bufton was the thorn in the side for Peel, pulling off a tremendous victory over Jon Taylor Burt in 3 ends, and Ken Hegarty in the 4th. Kevin Drewry added to Ken’s woes by also defeating him in 3. Other than that, Taylor Burt and Stu Perry churned out the required points to take victory overall.
Arbory D (0) Desmonds Douglas A (9)
Desmond's whitewash of Arbory D, achieved without dropping a set, was a hugely impressive feat and underlined that they have not given up on their promotion hopes. Brandon Montgomery, Russ Kent and Neil Ronan proved too much for their quality opponents Liav Lanin, JP Banaag, and Bob Borland. This notable result now leaves them just 7 points behind Peel with 5 fixtures remaining. All bets are off!
Division 3
Ramsey E (0) Travellers D (5)
Margaret Forsyth of Travellers D had to draw on her vast experience to see off young Teddy Clayton after falling behind after 4 extremely close games. She then gritted her teeth and took the final end 11-5 for victory. Teddy was beaten in 3 by Maurice Campbell but clearly he is an improving young player. Adam Clayton could not make any further inroads for Ramsey, which meant that Travellers sealed another 5-0 win. Division 2 play is now certain for them next season.
Ramsey D (0) Travellers E (5)
Henry Weaver was in excellent form once again for Travellers E, taking his 3 wins with little trouble against Pat Halliwell and Tony Sewell. Tom Taylor Burt also took 2 wins, and with no games lost, He then combined well with Henry to take the doubles in 4 ends. They remain comfortably in second spot in Division 3, behind Travellers D.
JRTE Marketing B (2) Travellers F (3)
A superb doubles win by Rhys Bufton and Sydnie Weaver sealed a 3-2 win for Travellers F over JRTE B. They fought back from 1-2 down against Steven Carridge and Gary Skillicorn to take the next 2 ends 12-10, 11-9 for a hard earned and highly pleasing victory. Carridge narrowly beat Sydnie 11-7 in the 5th end, and did the same against Rhys 11-5 in the final end. However Rhys and Sydnie were both able to defeat Gary in 4 ends.
Please support our practice sessions which continue each Friday 7pm-9pm. League players and newcomers are all very welcome - £5 per adult or £3 per junior.
Also, a shout out for Douglas Table Tennis Club run by Wayne Taylor at Ballakermeen School each Monday evening in term time - all juniors welcome from 6pm to 8pm. All equipment is made available for a fee of £3 per junior per session.
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Picture 1: Sydnie Weaver (left) and Rhys Bufton combined well last week in the doubles for Travellers F (photo courtesy of Malcolm Lambert).
Picture 2: Dave Parsons of Tower A had a superb couple of wins last week (photo courtesy of Malcolm Lambert).
Ken Mitchell
