Press Reports 2023/24
Press 23 - 24th March 2024
With the top three positions previously decided in division 1, champions Kingfisher A cemented their top position with a 9-1 victory over Tidmarsh A. Young Rishaan Sawant earnt himself his first player of the match award and Ross Saxby also remained unbeaten. Antony Baker scored a cracking victory over Darren Jones to avoid the whitewash. A similar situation ensued as second-placed Sonning Common & Peppard A brushed aside their B team who are still attempting to rise above the second relegation spot by a 9-1 scoreline. It was Tom Astle who shocked Gary Morgan to earn a valuable point.
Two of the other teams battling for survival faced each other in a tight 5-5 result as Kingfisher D's Georgi Ivanov and Mike Douglas won two each, but neither could stop Sonning Common& Peppard C’s Danny Dockree to his maximum. Kingfisher C made their bid for fourth place clear as they pushed aside the now-confirmed bottom side Sonning Common & Peppard D 10-0. It was plain sailing for Alan Cummings, Matt Isherwood and Phil Mead. Keith Winter ensured his Tilehurst RBL A squad stayed ahead of Sonning Sports A as they ran out 7-3 winners and confirm Sonning Sports final place in seventh.
The top two teams in division 2 played each other with Reading FC beating Kingfisher F 8-2, a result which confirms Reading FC as champions. The two points gained by Kingfisher F means they are guaranteed to finish runners up. The set of the night saw Simon Rowland recover from two games down to beat Clive Gold 11-6 in the fifth. In the Tidmarsh derby the C team beat the B team 6-4 despite a great three straight maximum for the B’s Francis Durand.
Our Lady of Peace A look to have secured third place following their 7-3 win at Tilehurst RBL B. Kate Maksimenko secured a fine maximum for Tilehurst including beating Darek Kaminski 11-9 in the fifth. Springfield A and Pangbourne WMC drew 5-5 with Matt Hickman getting a maximum for Springfield, while Pangbourne also played a rearranged match against the bottom team Kingfisher H running out 8-2 winners. Kingfisher’s Steve Woolnough had two good wins in five in this match.
In Division 3 it was a dramatic end. Both title contenders faced tough opponents. Despite losing the OLOP derby 6-4, Our Lady of Peace C got 4 points, which were enough to guarantee the title as second placed Kingfisher I drew at Tidmarsh D. It was a close battle which could go either way. Eyup Odemis from the away team was the POM with a treble, but the highlight of the match was Ray Webb beating Huzeyfe Borazan 3-2, coming from 2-1 down to win 5-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9, 11-3. Our Lady of Peace B won against their C team 6-4. As anticipated, Jacek Piechocki had another treble and completed the season with his perfect run. He did not even drop a set against the champions, which was impressive.
Tilehurst Methodists C lost 9-1 to Sonning Common & Peppard E, their only point came from Lewis Oke. Ian Davenport and Jeremy Willis had trebles for the away team. Sonning Sports B beat Kingfisher J 8-2. Peter Wilson from away team got their teams 2 points whereas home team’s star was James Miller, where he played up again for his team and had another treble. In the last match of the week Tilehurst Methodists B beat Our Lady of Peace D 6-4. Nigel Rowland from away team had the treble and helped his team win the away game.
Sonning Common & Peppard F clinched the runners up spot in division 4 by beating Springfield B 6-4, despite a hat trick from Marcello Caramma for Springfield. A maximum from Atinc Ergulven was not enough to save Kingfisher L from losing 6-4 to Sonning Common & Peppard G, while in the OLOP derby Gopi Ponnapalli won all three for the F team in a 7-3 win over the E team.
Paul Treadgold hit a fine treble for a two player Tilehurst RBL C side but the Tilehurst team lost 6-4 to Kingfisher K.
Press 22 - 17th March 2024
With the top places in division 1 decided, it's still very interesting at the other end. Although almost certainly relegated, Sonning Common & Peppard D left it late in the season to record their first win, a 7-3 against their C team, who are not yet safe from the two relegation places. Simon Berry, Nigel Maltby and Brian Meheux each won two each, the latter with a fine victory over Danny Dockree who also won two. Kingfisher C may well end up fourth, helped by a 7-3 win over Sonning Sports A. Nigel Keedy and Phil Mead starred with maximums and they also took the extra point for the doubles 11-9 in the fifth. Tidmarsh A who currently occupy fourth lost out 3-7 as they hosted runners-up Sonning Common & Peppard A. Ed Lush and Ian Cole remained unbeaten for the visitors although it could have easily been a draw as both Antony Baker and Duncan Groves pushed Ian to a deciding fifth leg. Elsewhere third placed Kingfisher B swept through Tilehurst RBL A 9-1, the consolation point coming from Keith Winter over Julian Telford 11-9 13-11 8-11 3-11 11-9.
Division 2 leaders Reading FC were surprisingly held to a draw by Kingfisher G despite Mike Childs usual maximum. Reading FC’s Simon Rowland suffered two rare defeats in this match, including losing three straight to Parvin Baishkyar. Second placed Kingfisher F won 7-3 at Springfield A, a result which just about guarantees them the runners up spot, in a match which featured many close sets.
Kingfisher E beat a weekended Tilehurst RBL B 8-2 with ‘reserve’ Akeel Mir getting a maximum which included a win over star player Kate Maksimenko. Our Lady of Peace A beat Pangbourne WMC 9-1 which condemns Pangbourne to Division 3 table tennis next season, Chris West recorded a three straight maximum for OLOP. Tidmarsh B won 9-1 at bottom team Kingfisher H, the sole win for the Kingfisher team came from youngster Vivaan Karalkar with a three straight victory over Mike Alstrop.
Game Week 27 was the penultimate week for Division 3. In the first match, Sonning Common & Peppard E drew with Our Lady of Peace D. The away team’s captain, Louise Forster, was the star of the match with her treble. It was a very close match which could go either side but the highlight of the match was Jim Warren vs James Smith match which ended in fifth and James won in the deuce: 8-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-6, 10-12. The same night, Tilehurst Methodists B hosted Sonning Sports B and the away team won 6-4. James Miller, who played up for the away team was the Player of the Match with his treble, and this helped his team to win the match.
The next day, division leaders Our Lady of Peace C saw Tidmarsh D and won this important match 9-1. In the first half, Tidmarsh D gave them a hard time, and they drew at home. However, this time, it was a one-sided game, and Dave Edwards scored the only point for the away team. With this win, OLOP C extended their lead and gained a massive advantage. The last match of the week was Tilehurst Methodist's derby in which A team beat their C team 10-0. It was a one-sided match as it was a bad day at the office for the C team.
Sonning Sports D needed a draw against Sonning Common & Peppard F to win the Division 4 championship and thanks mainly to James Miller they did so with his maximum. Doubles from Mike Casserely and Oliver Bonser and a single from Gerry Bacon gave the Commoners a draw that leaves them needing a draw or better in their final match against Springfield B to pip Springfield C to the runners up spot.
Roland Marslin hit a treble to help Our Lady of Peace F beat Kingfisher L 7-3 while Springfield C beat Sonning Sports C 7-3 with Marcello Caramma winning all three. Fitzroy Licorish and Pat Daniels both recorded trebles to help in form Our Lady of Peace E beat Springfield B 8-2.
Press 21 - 10th March 2024
Kingfisher A successfully retained their division 1 championship in the Reading League’s centenary season with a match to spare after a 9-1 home victory over their B side - despite a number of encounters going the five set distance. Only Prayrit Ahluwalia, with a win over Ross Saxby, could trouble the scorers - Hari Gehlot and Martin Adams held their nerve to emerge victorious.
At the other end of the table Sonning Common & Peppard B boosted their chances of survival with a 7-3 victory over their D team. Nigel Maltby salvaged a fine double with wins over Matt Stone and Tim Raby but Tom Astle maintained his fine recent form to record another maximum to condemn the D team to almost certain relegation. With matches in hand Kingfisher D fought hard for a 5-5 draw to fourth place Tidmarsh A. They owe their success to Georgi Ivanov who remained unbeaten on the night. Danny Dockree also secured his maximum in Sonning Common & Peppard C’s visit to Sonning Sports A but their position remains precarious as Nick Sears, Paul Savage and Graham Diplock all scored braces to run out 7-3 victors.
The leaders of division 2, Reading FC, had a hard fought 6-4 win at third placed Tidmarsh B. This match saw the number one players in the Division Mike Childs lose for the third time this season, beaten by Tidmarsh’s Rob McMillan in four 11-6 7-11 11-8 11-7. Simon Rowland managed a treble for Reading FC that included a 9-11 8-11 11-8 11-4 11-4 opening victory against Rob. Second placed Kingfisher F beat Kingfisher G 7-3 to all but confirm their promotion in a match which saw Qing Wu gain a very good maximum for the G team.
Our Lady of Peace A and Springfield A drew 5-5 with Dave Godfrey getting a fine maximum for OLOP. Pangbourne WMC lost 7-3 to Kingfisher E, a result which just about confirms their relegation with Akeel Mir getting a maximum for Kingfisher. The set of the night was a marathon between the two captains with Andrew Adair pipping Leroy Wilson in the fifth 9-11 18-16 11-5 10-12 12-10.
In Division 3 Kingfisher I had an opportunity to close the 11-point gap on leaders Our Lady of Peace C who had a bye week and they duly did so by winning 8-2 at Tilehurst Methodists C to close the gap to just 3 points. All 2 points for home team came from Steve Christelow but the highlight of the match was the doubles game where the away team won in a trilling fifth set with the second set going to deuce many times: 8-11, 18-16, 12-10, 7-11, 8-11. Chris Webb was the player of the match for Tidmarsh D with his treble as they beat Kingfisher J 7-3. Our Lady of Peace B beat Tilehurst Methodists B 9-1, and the away team's only point came from Nigel Rowland. Nigel managed to win his team’s only point from coming 1-2 down to beat Mark Carless. Jacek Piechocki continued his perfect run for OLOP and extended his unbeaten streak to 21 matches. Sonning Sports B won 7-3 against Our Lady of Peace D. Grant Baartman was on form and helped his team to win the game by having another treble.
Tilehurst Methodists A hosted Sonning Common and Peppard E with only 2 players. They lost by 6-4, but they gave a good fight which can be seen on the scorecard. Especially the doubles game was very entertaining because the home team managed to win from 1-2 down: 5-11, 12-10, 10-12, 11-2, 11-5. Jim Warren enjoyed a fine victory over Eric Van Looy for Sonning Common.
In division 4 Sonning Sports D gained 6 vital points by beating Our Lady of Peace E 6-4 thanks mainly to a three straight hat trick from James Miller. And Sonning went onto clinch promotion after winning their re-arranged match against Sonning Common & Peppard G 10-0. Sonning Common & Peppard F dropped points after they shared the spoils with Sonning Sports C as the teams battled out a 5-5 draw, Stephen Reader won all three for the Sports team. Springfield C kept themselves in the promotion race but only just, after they won 6-4 at Kingfisher K, Ludo Coulliard gained another maximum for Springfield.
Geoff Johnson was in good form by gaining a maximum to help Tilehurst RBL C beat Our Lady of Peace F 6-4, while Springfield B won 9-1 at Kingfisher L with trebles gained by Rob Atack and Benson Shiu.
Press 20 - 3rd March 2024
In division 1 there was further evidence of the changing of the guard as a young and inspired Prayrit Ahluwalia became the first to claim victory over Daniel Moses this season. His maximum helped Kingfisher B to four points against second place Sonning Common & Peppard A. Graham Mendick managed to add another as he took out Gary Morgan. Ed Lush helped to sneak the commoners past the winning line 6-4. Kingfisher A moved closer to the championship with a convincing 9-1 win away to Tilehurst RBL A. The hosts went one up as Keith Winter took out Dmitry Khakhamov in the opening encounter but that was as good as it got for them as Ross Saxby and Hari Gehlot completed the victory.
Kingfisher C appear to be gaining momentum as they aim for fourth. They swept aside Sonning Common & Peppard C, who remain dangerously close to one of the two relegation places. Theo Kniep and Matt Isherwood remained unbeaten to cement the 9-1 victory. A Tidmarsh A trio of Dale Ballard, Antony Baker and Lee Calcutt whitewashed a doomed Sonning Common & Peppard D 10-0 and despite having played more matches than rivals Kingfisher D, Sonning Common & Peppard B moved above the relegation zone for the first time by fighting hard in a 7-3 loss to Sonning Sports A. Their best player this season, Tom Astle, showed how much he has improved in only just losing out to the more experienced county player Dave Croucher 10-12, 11-8, 12-10, 10-12, 7-11.
The second placed team in division 2, Kingfisher F lost ground on the leaders following an 8-2 defeat against Tidmarsh B with Barry Carter getting an excellent maximum for Tidmarsh. Tidmarsh C beat Pangbourne WMC 6-4 despite Clive Taylors maximum, this result almost certainly relegates Pangbourne to Division 3. Our Lady of Peace A kept up their good run of results with a 6-4 win at Kingfisher E with the highlight being OLOP’s Dave Godfrey recovering from two down to beat Andrew Adair in five.
Tilehurst RBL B beat a two-man Kingfisher H 8-2 although there were spirited performances from both the Kingfisher players Steve Woolnough and Vivaan Karalkar. Springfield A and Kingfisher G drew 5-5 with Matt Hickman recording a maximum for Springfield.
In Division 3 there were two matches crucial for the title race. Our Lady of Peace C hosted Tilehurst Methodists C and won the match 10-0. With their perfect score, they gained a massive advantage at the top of the table. Kingfisher I drew 5-5 with Tilehurst Methodists A and thus dropped important points. Eyup Odemis from the home team had another treble and helped his team not lose against a tough team. Our Lady of Peace D hosted their club mates Our Lady of Peace B and it was the B team that won the match 8-2 getting their 6th consecutive victory. Gopi Ponnapalli played up from Division 4 and he was unlucky to lose Mark Carless in the fifth from 2-1 up: 4-11, 11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 5-11. After Jacek Piechocki joined OLOP B they have yet to lose a match and have added 47 points to their tally in 6 matches, which makes you wonder where they would be if Jacek had joined at the beginning of the season.
Sonning Common & Peppard E faced Sonning Sports B and won the match 6-4. Anthony Reeve was the player of the match with his treble.
In a top of the table battle in division 4 Springfield C beat Sonning Common & Peppard F 7-3 thanks mainly to a Ludo Couillard hat trick. Just 1 point now separates the top three teams as the season nears its conclusion. Walter Aldridge and Emrah Bulut of Kingfisher K were in good form by winning all three in their sides 7-3 win at Sonning Common & Peppard G. Tilehurst RBL C moved into 4th place by winning 8-2 at Springfield B where Paul Treadgold was the star by obtaining a maximum. Earlier Tilehurst went to Our Lady of Peace E for whom Pat Daniels won all three in a drawn match.
Gopi Ponnapalli was the hat trick man to help Our Lady of Peace F gain a 5-5 draw at Springfield B. Sonning Sports D beat a two player Kingfisher L team 9-1 with doubles gained by James Miller and Cris Reynolds. Sonning Sports C drew 5-5 with Our Lady of Peace E with Pat Daniels winning all three for OLOP.
Press 19 - 25th February 2024
In division 1 Kingfisher A all but sealed their successful defence in the leagues centenary season with a 6-4 away win against second place Sonning Common & Peppard A. Despite Daniel Moses expectedly winning his three and Gary Morgan taking out Hari Gehlot, the other visitors Martin Adams and Ross Saxby won two each to seal the win. Tilehust RBL A maintained their bid for fourth with a convincing 9-1 win over Sonning Common & Peppard C. The commoners sole victory saw Danny Dockree outwit Keith Winter in the opening encounter but that was as good as their evening got as regulars Jon Willis and Marc Brent did the rest of the damage.
Sonning Sports A were not at full strength as they hosted Tidmarsh A and could only muster a single point as Paul Savage defeated Dale Ballard. Duncan Groves and Lee Calcutt completed maximums for the visitors as it ended 1-9. Elsewhere Sonning Common & Peppard B scored four useful points to improve their chances of avoiding relegation as their hitman, Tom Astle, scored a maximum and doubles. Phil Mead, Alan Cummings and Matt Isherwood all won two to ensure that Kingfisher C secured the 6-4 win.
Division 2 league leaders Reading FC Community Trust had a hard fought 6-4 win at Tilehurst RBL B. This match featured a clash between the top two players in the division with Tilehurst’s Kate Maksimenko getting her revenge for losing to Mike Childs in the first half of the season by beating him three straight. Tidmarsh B kept up their recent good form with a 9-1 win against Kingfisher G with maximums for Rob McMillan and Francois Durand.
Springfield A had a useful 6-4 win at Kingfisher E in a match that saw five games go to a decider. The pick of these saw Jason King recover from two down to beat Andrew Adair 13-11 in the fifth. OLOP A and Tidmarsh C drew 5-5 in a match which saw the welcome return of Tidmarsh’s best player Simon Craig. Simon recorded a maximum including recovering from two down to beat Chris West 11-8 in the fifth. In the battle of the bottom two Pangbourne WMC beat Kingfisher H 9-1 to just about keep their mathematical hopes of avoiding relegation alive.
After weeks break division 3 continued with a full schedule of 5 matches. Kingfisher J won 7-3 at Tilehurst Methodists C in the battle of the bottom two to finally get some reward of their perseverance. On the other hand, Tilehurst Methodists C continued their unlucky streak. Kingfisher I won a crucial match against Sonning Common & Peppard E 6-4. Jez Willis was the star of the match with his treble for the Commoners while all home team’s players won their other matches which was enough for the win. However, the highlight of the match was the doubles game with the away team coming from 1-2 down to win the match by a narrow margin: 11-2, 9-11, 11-9, 10-12, 9-11. Tidmarsh D drew with OLOP D 5-5. Gopi Ponnapalli who played up for OLOP D coming from Div 4 was the player of the match. Again the doubles was the difference between losing and draw for Tidmarsh D and they stuck with the game and won in the fifth: 9-11, 11-4, 10-12, 11-9, 11-8.
The second half of the seasons best performing team OLOP B won against Sonning Sports B 7-3. Jacek Piechicki won this fifth consecutive treble and is still unbeaten in the league. Mark Carless also joined Jacek with his treble and helped his team to win the match. Tilehurst Methodists A faced OLOP C and OLOP won 9-1. Last week in a rescheduled match Tilehurst beat OLOP 6-4 but this game was completely different. With this high margin of victory OLOP C regained top spot and gained a great advantage in the title race as the season nears its close.
In division 4 a two man Tilehurst RBL C side were held to a 5-5 draw by Sonning Common & Peppard G, Paul Treadgold won all three for the Tilehurst team. Sonning Sports C won 8-2 at Kingfisher L thanks mainly to a Mike Gautrey hat trick, while Walter Aldridge was in good form for Kingfisher K by winning all three to help them draw 5-5 with OLOP F.
Tilehurst RBL C beat Sonning Sports D 7-3 with Linda King in good form by winning all three. Marcello Caramma hit a treble to help Springfield C beat Sonning Common & Peppard G 8-2 while OLOP E drew 5-5 with a two man Sonning Common & Peppard F side thanks to a good double from Pat Daniels.
Press 18 - 11th February 2024
At the top of division 1, Sonning Common & Peppard A dropped two points as they visited Tilehurst RBL A. Encouraged by his win over Jason Roberts, Keith Winter teamed up with Jon Willis to take the doubles for a 2-8 result as Ed Lush and Gary Morgan completed maximums for the visitors. Kingfisher A capitalised with a 10-0 drubbing of their D team as Martin Adams, Hari Gehlot and Ross Saxby remained unbeaten with only the doubles going unexpectedly close. Third placed Kingfisher B only dropped 3 ends as they hosted Sonning Common and Peppard D but unfortunately for them they were all in the same encounter as Julian Telford lost out to Simon Berry in five sets 3-11 11-8 11-8 6-11 10-12. The rest was plain sailing for Graham Mendick and Prayrit Ahluwalia to complete the 9-1 victory.
In their mid-table clash Tidmarsh hosted Kingfisher C and unsurprisingly it ended in a 5-5 draw. It was Nigel Keedy who shone for the visitors taking out Dale Ballard, Antony Baker and debutant Rob McMillan. However Rob made an excellent start to division 1 beating the more experienced Alan Cummings and Matt Isherwood. Sonning Common & Peppard C eased their relegation worries with an 8-2 win over their B team, who stay in the bottom two. Danny Dockree and Jon Abbott inflicted most of the damage.
Division 2 league leaders Reading FC beat relegation threatened Pangbourne WMC 10-0 with Simon Rowland recording his fourth maximum in a row. Second placed Kingfisher F had a hard fought 6-4 win against Tilehurst RBL B with Kate Maksimenko getting a maximum for Tilehurst. In their second match of the week Pangbourne WMC lost 6-4 at Kingfisher G with Parvin Baishkyar getting a maximum for Kingfisher, the set of the night saw Ajay Yesi recover from two games down to beat John Simmonds 11-8 in the fifth.
Kingfisher E won 6-4 at Tidmarsh C in a match which saw a number of long close sets, the pick of these saw Tidmarsh’s Ian Wu beat Neil Dellar 14-12 in the fifth after losing the first two games. Tidmarsh B won 6-4 at Springfield A in a match which saw every player win at least once, while bottom team Kingfisher H lost yet another match 10-0 which allowed the winners Our Lady of Peace A to move up to third in the table.
Division 3 title contenders Our Lady of Peace C hosted Kingfisher I which was crucial for the title race. OLOP won the match 6-4 and closed the 3 point gap to just 1 point leaving Kingfisher looking nervously over their shoulders as they have been leaders for a long time. 4 games including the doubles went to the fifth set and the home team won 3 of them. The Binit Bhaskar versus Eyup Odemis match was thrilling as Binit did a good job coming from 0-2 down to level at 2-2 but in the fifth Eyup won the match 11-9 11-8 6-11 5-11 12-10. Sonning Common and Peppard E lost to last weeks good performing team Our Lady of Peace B 4-6. Jacek Piechocki had another treble and to continue his perfect run. Jacek’s impeccable performance and winning doubles were the main factors of the win for the away team.
In the Tilehurst derby Tilehurst Methodists B beat Tilehurst Methodists C 7-3. Patrick O’Sullivan’s and Rohit Sengupta’s trebles joined with a Martin Wetherell single to give the home team a 7-3 lead. Sonning Sports B drew 5-5 with Tidmarsh D with both sides battling for the win. The highlight of the match was Grant Baartman’s win against Ray Webb, Grant coming back from 1-2 down to win in the fifth set 11-7 7-11 6-11 11-8 11-3.
Kingfisher K had a nice 8-2 win at Springfield B in division 4 where Houran Tsun was the star by winning all three. Springfield C beat Our Lady of Peace E 8-2 with Ludo Couillard hitting a hat trick, while Sonning Common and Peppard F went top after beating Kingfisher L 8-2 thanks mainly to Mike Casserley and Graeme Streets who both gained maximums.
Gopi Ponnapalli hit a treble to help Our Lady of Peace F draw 5-5 with Sonning Common & Peppard G, Derek Wavell and David Riddle winning twice for the Commoners, while Linda King and Geoff Johnson both obtained trebles to help Tilehurst Royal British Legion C beat Sonning Sports C 9-1, Paul Treadgold winning twice in support.
Press 17 - 4th February 2024
Both of the Division 1 title contenders, Sonning Common & Peppard A and Kingfisher A, did not drop any points this week after both had 10-0 victories. Sonning Common whitewashed Kingfisher D with Gary Morgan, Daniel Moses and Ian Cole taking their maximums. Kingfisher A visited Sonning Common & Peppard D but despite Nigel Maltby taking young Rishaan Sawant to five closely contested ends, the same result ensued with Martin Adams and Dmitry Khakhamov also remaining unbeaten.
Elsewhere Tom Astle scored an impressive maximum as Sonning Common & Peppard B hosted the Tilehurst RBL A trio of Keith Winter, Marc Brent and Jon Willis, but that was all they could muster as the visitors emerged 3-7 victors. An equally impressive maximum emerged from Jon Abbott as his Sonning Common & Peppard C squad hosted a strong Tidmarsh A side of Duncan Groves, Lee Calcutt and Antony Baker. Danny Dockree was able to add one more against Antony as the evening ended 4-6 in favour of Tidmarsh.
Despite being without star player Mike Childs league leaders Reading FC still beat Our Lady of Peace A 7-3. The improving Simon Rowland was the player of the match with an impressive three straight maximum and Darek Kaminski had two good wins for OLOP. Second placed Kingfisher F kept up the pressure on the leaders with an excellent 10-0 win at Pangbourne WMC. The set of the night saw Clive Gold recover from two games down to beat Clive Taylor 12-10 in the fifth.
Tidmarsh C and Springfield A drew 5-5 in a match which saw Springfield’s Peter Gurney recover from two games down to beat Sayali Bendkhale in five. Kingfisher G won 6-4 against a Tilehurst RBL B team missing star player Kate Maksimenko. In Kate’s absence skipper John Willcocks put on a fine performance to record a maximum including recovering from two games down to beat Parvin Baishkiyar in five. In the Kingfisher derby the E team beat the H team 10-0 although the match was a bit closer than the score suggest with the majority of games going to four or five.
In division 3 Our Lady of Peace D won 7-3 at Tilehurst Methodists C, James Smith back with a treble and his teammate Alona Slobodskoy joined him with 2 wins and this was the deciding factor in the win. The doubles match was a thriller that ended with the away team winning in the fifth 11-4, 8-11, 11-6, 8-11, 9-11. Tidmarsh D hosted Our Lady of Peace B and lost 3-7. OLOP B’s new player Jacek Piechocki continued his perfect run with his third consecutive treble and helped his team to get a comfortable margin in 3rd place at the table. Kingfisher I met their clubmates Kingfisher J and won 8-2. Eyup Odemis had another treble joined with 2 wins each from his teammates. Eapen John had 2 points for his team but he was alone in the scorecard. The highlight of the match was Muharrem Aydin vs. Eapen John game. Eapen won the match in the fifth in the deuce coming from 0-2 down 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 4-11, 11-13.
Title contenders Our Lady of Peace C beat Sonning Common and Peppard E 7-3. Shawnik Thakur was the POM with his treble whereas Jim Warren from away team was unlucky to lose 2 games in the fifth set. Tilehurst Methodists A beat their clubmates from the B team 8-2. Eric van Looy had another treble for the A team and continued his perfect run. The most interesting game was the opening set with Phil Jones and Patrick O’Sullivan. Patrick lost the game in the fifth where he could have won 3-0 before going down 9-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-6
Sonning Sports D maintained their lead at the top of division 4 by winning 6-4 at Kingfisher K with James Miller and Cris Reynolds both gaining trebles. Second place Sonning Common & Peppard F won 7-3 at Tilehurst RBL C, Gerry Bacon and Oliver Bonser were the hat trick men. Gina Ponnapalli hit a maximum to help Our Lady of Peace F beat Springfield C 7-3, while Springfield B won 7-3 at Sonning Common & Peppard G with Rob Atack winning all three.
Pat Daniels and Fitzroy Licorish both helped themselves to trebles to give Our Lady of Peace E a 6-4 win at Kingfisher L.
Press 16 - 28th January 2024
Both top teams in division 1 continued their dominance with 10-0 victories. Sonning Common & Peppard A swept aside their D team with Ian Cole, Jason Roberts and Ed Lush inflicting the damage, despite Simon Berry making Ian and Jason work for their maximums in close encounters. It was plain sailing as well for Martin Adams, Hari Gehlot and Ross Saxby of Kingfisher A to whitewash Sonning Sports A.
Kingfisher B's Prayrit Ahluwalia won the battle of the young emerging talent against Kingfisher C's Theo Kniep, who went on to beat Graham Mendick. 6-4 was the final result. Jumping up to fourth place, Tilehurst RBL A's regular trio of Keith Winter, Jon Willis and Marc Brent won two each against visitors Kingfisher D. Marc and Jon lost to Mike Douglas and Ajai Kamath performed well to stop Keith. Elsewhere Tidmarsh A enjoyed an 8-2 home victory over Sonning Common & Peppard B despite losing both of the fifth setters. Matt Stone did well to edge Antony Baker while Dale Ballard was pipped by Daniel Artene 7-11 10-12 11-8 11-7 12-14.
Second placed Kingfisher F just edged out Our Lady of Peace A 6-4 in division 2 with Akeel Mir getting a good maximum for Kingfisher including beating Darek Kaminski 14-12 7-11 11-6 5-11 11-9 in the fifth. Tidmarsh B drew 5-5 with Tilehurst RBL B. Kate Maksimenko got a maximum for Tilehurst but she was pushed very hard by Mike Alstrop before she beat him in five 8-11 11-5 9-11 11-8 11-2.
Tidmarsh C won 9-1 at bottom team Kingfisher H, Kingfisher’s Rupesh Ahluwalia had a good win in four against Sayali Bendkhale11-9 7-11 11-9 11-7. Ian Wu and Toby Usher both got maximums for Tidmarsh.
Division 3 leaders Kingfisher I went to Tilehurst Methodists B and in a tough match Kingfisher I maintained their position at the top despite Nigel Rowland’s solid performance and Rohit Sengupta’s improving performance earning 3 points for the home team despite their 7-3 loss. Sonning Common and Peppard E hosted Tidmarsh D and Ray Webb’s impressive treble was not enough for the team as his teammates failed to join him with some wins as the Sonning Common team strengthened their position to finish on the upper side of the table after winning 7-3.
Sonning Sports B defeated Tilehurst Methodists C 6-4. Despite the treble from Lewis Oke, he could not save his Tilehurst team from defeat. There were 6 five-setter games however, the highlight of the match was the thrilling doubles, where away team came back from 0-2 down to win 6-11 11-13 11-8 11-6 11-7. Our Lady of Peace D beat Tilehurst Methodists A 7-3 with the OLOP team’s substitute Gopi Ponnapalli gaining 2 impressive wins to add to Louise Forster’s treble. Kingfisher J and Our Lady of Peace C. Kingfisher J have improved their performance in the second half of the season so they are giving hard time for every team regardless of their position in the table. Peter Wilson’s 2 wins against a top team was impressive and his match against Pradeep Desh was a thriller where he won 4-11 11-5 11-9 18-20 11-3. OLOP however ran out 6-4 winners.
In division 4 three of the five matches were postponed this week. Springfield C moved into third place by beating bottom side Kingfisher L 9-1 with trebles from Benson Shiu and Richard Sabberton-Coe. Tom Berryman weighed in with a double. Sonning Sports C were held to a 5-5 draw by Kingfisher K despite a treble from the Sports Stephen Reader.
Press 15 - 21st January 2024
In another great week of action in Division 1, Sonning Common & Peppard A kept up the pressure on Kingfisher A with a convincing 9-1 victory over Sonning Sports A. Daniel Moses expectedly won his three but not without a great fight by Dave Croucher who forced a fifth end, but could not avoid losing his 100% average, made worse when Gary Morgan inflicted his second defeat of the evening. Kingfisher A won 8-2 but young Theo Kniep impressed for Kingfisher C in taking the scalp of Martin Adams as well as pipping Dmitry Khakhamov while Hari Gehlot remained unbeaten. Almost as impressive was Danny Dockree's double as Sonning Common & Peppard C succumbed at home to Kingfisher B 2-8. He won over both Julian Telford and Graham Mendick but Rajan Waterman proved one match too far to gain his maximum.
The midtable clash between hosts Tidmarsh A and Tilehurst RBL A ended in a 5-5 draw. Lee Calcutt performed excellently for the home side taking his three and teaming up for the doubles with Antony Baker who added the additional point. Kate Maksimenko played up for the visitors as both she and Jon Willis won two each beating Antony, in doing so outscoring colleague Keith Winter. In the relegation battle Mike Douglas performed well for Kingfisher D at Sonning Common & Peppard D taking all three of his singles, ably backed up by Ajai Kamath with two, losing out to Simon Berry. It also ended 5-5.
Division 2 league leaders Reading FC beat Tidmarsh C 8-2 in a match which saw FC’s Mike Childs lose his 100% record when he lost 11-7 in the fifth to Tidmarsh’s new player Sayali Arun Bendkhale. Second placed Kingfisher F also won by beating Kingfisher G 7-3 with Clive Gold getting a maximum for the F team.
Pangbourne WMC lost 6-4 at home to Tidmarsh B with Barry Carer and Toby Usher both getting maximums for Tidmarsh. Bottom club Kingfisher H were beaten 10-0 by Springfield A with their cause not being helped by fielding an ineligible player.
Division 3 started off where we left off after the Christmas break. The first match of the new year saw Tilehurst Methodists B whitewash Kingfisher J 10-0. Rohit Sengupta made his first treble and got his well-deserved Player of the Match status. The highlight of the match was the doubles match where the home team came from 2-1 down to win in the fifth: 11-7 12-14 8-11 11-9 11-7. Tilehurst Methodists C beat Tidmarsh D 6-4 in an away game. Home team captain Dave Edwards’ treble was not enough to save his team from defeat as all away team players won 2 matches each and contributed to the win equally. The enhanced OLOP B team beat Tilehurst Methodist A 9-1. This win made their team a stronger contender for the promotion race. New addition Jacek Piechocki proved to be the best mid-season transfer so far as his treble continued his 100% record. Hidden title contenders OLOP C beat their club mates OLOP D 8-2. Pradeep’s treble made him POM on the other hand Alona and Louise managed to sneak in 1 win each for their team.
Tilehurst Methodists C lost 10-0 at home to OLOP B. It was a bad day at the office for the Tilehurst team as the match was almost one-sided. OLOP C won 7-3 against Tilehurst Methodists B. Away team Tilehurst put in a great effort to win 3 valuable points from a formidable team. Captain Binit Bhaskar was the POM for OLOP with this treble. Current leaders Kingfisher I team won 8-2 at home game against OLOP D. Despite the margin it was a close match as 4 games ended in fifth. Kingfisher J lost 10-0 against Sonning Common & Peppard E. It was another unlucky day for the home team, and it’s proven that they struggle when their key player Eapen John is not playing. Tilehurst Methodists A beat Sonning Sports B 7-3 with Eric Van Looy making his second consecutive treble.
Sonning Sports D continued their march on at the top of the division 4 table by winning 8-2 at Our Lady of Peace F with James Miller gaining a three straight maximum. Sonning Common & Peppard F stayed with them by winning 7-3 at Kingfisher K, Graeme Streets and Oliver Bonser both gained trebles.
Sonning Common & Peppard G won their first match of the season by beating Sonning Sports C 6-4. David Riddle won all three and Derek Wavell hit a double. The Springfield derby was won by the C team 7-3, Benson Shiu and Ludo Coulliard both hitting trebles.
Press 14 - 14th January 2024
Things kicked off after the Christmas break in Division 1 with 9-1 home victories for all the leading squads. Sonning Common and Peppard A overcame Kingfisher C, the visitors' only joy coming as young Theo Kniep won over Jason Roberts. Ed Lush and Daniel Moses completed the victory in fine style. Kingfisher A have a game in hand and pushed aside Sonning Common and Peppard C despite Danny Dockree performing well to beat Rishaan Sawant 3-0 and winning an end over both Martin Adams and Hari Gehlot.
Kingfisher B remain in touch as they defeated struggling Sonning Common and Peppard B who once again could only muster two players. Their sole point came when Tom Astle beat Cath Venning but neither he nor Tim Raby could challenge Julian Telford and Graham Mendick as Kingfisher ran out 9-1 winners. Sonning Sports A climb to fourth as they pipped Kingfisher D 6-4. Expectedly, Dave Croucher powered through to achieve his maximum, but Kingfisher's Mike Douglas fought hard to gain a double over Nick Sears and Paul Savage to limit the damage. Tilehurst RBL A won a close match against Sonning Common & Peppard D 6-4.
Division 2 leaders Reading FC had a very straightforward 10-0 win over bottom club Kingfisher H with all ten sets being won three straight. Second placed Kingfisher F struggled to beat a two man Tidmarsh C 6-4 with Simon Craig getting a fine maximum for Tidmarsh. Tidmarsh B edged past Our Lady of Peace A 6-4 with Rob McMillan getting a maximum for Tidmarsh, the set of the night saw Tidmarsh’s Barry Carter recover from two games down to beat Darek Kaminski in five.
Kingfisher E beat Kingfisher G 7-3 with Andrew Adair and Satej Jaywant recording maximums for the E team. Springfield A had a good 7-3 win at Tilehurst RBL B despite Tilehurst’s Kate Maksimenko’s maximum. Springfield’s Captain Jason King played well on the night recovering from two games down to beat Nick Lean and then almost beating Kate before losing in five.
Sonning Sports D maintained their top place in division 4 by beating Springfield B 8-2 with hat trick from James Miller and doubles from John Churchouse and Cris Reynolds. Sonning Common & Peppard F remain in second place by beating their G team club mates 9-1, Gerry Bacon, Graeme Streets and Mike Casserley all hitting trebles with the G team successful in the doubles set.
Kingfisher K had a nice 8-2 win at Our Lady of Peace E, Mick Mitcham winning all three while Tilehurst RBL C beat Springfield C mainly thanks to a great maximum from Linda King which helped to a 6-4 win. Roland Marslin obtained a good treble to help Our Lady of Peace F share the spoils at Sonning Sports C as the two teams battled out a 5-5 draw.
Press 13 - 17th December 2023
Sonning Common & Peppard A hit the top of division 1 as they beat their C team away 9-1. Only Danny Dockree contributed for the hosts as he edged out Jason Roberts 6-11 13-11 11-6 9-11 11-8 while Ed Lush and Gary Morgan remained untroubled for the A team. Kingfisher A, who lie second with a game in hand, also played at Sonning Common & Peppard this week as they ran out 8-2 winners over their B team. The home side could only muster up two players but both Tom Astle and Tim Raby won over Kingfisher's reserve Adrian Cretu to save face while Hari Gehlot and Martin Adams did the rest of the damage for Kingfisher A.
Sonning Sports A climbed the table as they convincingly won over Sonning Common & Peppard D 9-1. Graham Diplock achieved his first maximum as Paul Savage also succeeded in winning all three having edged out Nigel Maltby 11-6 7-11 11-3 9-11 12-10. In another close encounter Malcom Gregory avoided the whitewash for SCP with a fine victory over Nick Sears.
Reading FC Community Trust extended their lead at the top of division 2 with an 8-2 win at Springfield A with both Mike Childs and Anthony Alleyne getting maximums. Tidmarsh C had a good 6-4 win over Kingfisher G helped by Simon Craig’s second maximum of the season and two wins from Ian Wu, while Pangbourne WMC had a hard fought 5-5 draw with Tilehurst RBL B, Kate Maksimenko recording a maximum for Tilehurst. Pete Bradley was making his first appearance of the season for the Tilehurst team and was unlucky to lose two very close sets.
Kingfisher F beat bottom side Kingfisher H 10-0 although the match was much closer than the score suggests with the H team’s skipper Rupesh Ahluwalia just missing out in two sets that went to five.
In Division 3 there were 5 games played, just before the mid-season break. Sonning Common and Peppard E beat Tilehurst Methodists B 7-3. Jim Warren and Jeremy Willis had their trebles which were important for the comfortable win. Our Lady of Peace C hosted Sonning Sports B and won 9-1. With this win, and with 2 games in hand, they are second in the table and closing the gap with leaders very fast. Despite the high winning margin, the match was not one-sided, especially in the doubles where the home team won in the fifth in deuce.
Leaders Kingfisher I drew 5-5 with Our Lady of Peace B again. This was Kingfisher’s second draw of the season and both have been against OLOP B. Eyup Odemis was the star of the match with his comfortable treble which was crucial in this close battle. Kingfisher J got their very first win (6-4) against Our Lady of Peace D. Eapen John had another treble which eventually paid off and helped get his team’s first win. Fresh player Peter Wilson joined him with 2 wins. Tilehurst Methodists A won 6-4 against Tidmarsh D. Captain Eric Van Looy was back with a treble after the hip injury. Jacek Krzyzanowski joined him with 2 wins. The highlight of the match was the doubles game where the home team won in the fifth coming from 0-2 down to win 10-12 7-11 11-7 11-8 11-3.
A Mick Mitcham hat trick helped Kingfisher K beat Kingfisher L 6-4 in their division 4 derby encounter. Our Lady of Peace F lost 7-3 to Sonning Common & Peppard F, despite a maximum from Gopi Ponnapalli that included inflicting a first defeat upon Sonning Common’s Gerry Bacon 8-11 11-7 11-8 11-9 as well as defeating Graeme Streets 11-8 12-10 14-12.
Springfield C had a brilliant 6 4 win over leaders Sonning Sports D, thanks mainly to a treble from Ludo Coulliard which included beating 100% man James Miller 11-6 4-11 13-11 5-11 15-13. Despite a Stephen Reader treble, Sonning Sports C lost 7-3 at Springfield B.
Press 12 - 10th December 2023
In the match featuring the top two sides division 2, title favourites Reading FC beat Kingfisher F 8-2 with Michael Childs recording his eighth maximum of the season and recent signing Tom Lewis also having a maximum. Our Lady of Peace A moved up to third place with a 6-4 win over Tilehurst RBL B with Darek Kaminski getting an impressive maximum for the OLOP team.
In the Tidmarsh local derby the B team overcame the C team 8-2 with maximums for Barry Carter and recent signing Rob McMillan. Springfield A had a good 7-3 win at Pangbourne WMC with Captain Jason King getting a maximum. The set between Pangbourne’s Clive Taylor and Matt Hickmann included a remarkable game which Clive won 21-19 as he went on to win the contest 21-19 7-11 11-8 12-10.
In division 1 Kingfisher C proved too strong for Sonning Common & Peppard D with Alan Cummings, Matt Isherwood and Nigel Keedy all getting maximums in a 10-0 win. Six points now separates the bottom four teams as the season approaches its halfway point, while at the top Kingfisher A have a 1 point advantage over Kingfisher B with a match in hand, and Sonning Common & Peppard A a further 7 points adrift but still in the hunt.
After the cup break it was another busy week in division3. Tilehurst Methodists B drew with OLOP D 5-5. Despite James Smith’s treble, OLOP D could not win the match. Losing the doubles made all the difference between winning and the draw. Sonning Common & Peppard E beat Tilehurst Methodists C 7-3. Player of the Match was Jim Warren after his treble helped his team to a comfortable win. Kingfisher I had another good win against a tough team Tidmarsh D. Huzeyfe Borazan and Eyup Odemis both got hat-tricks which helped their Kingfisher team win 8-2. The highlight of the match was Eyup Odemis winning his last game in the fifth set and deuce against Ray Webb. In an OLOP club derby OLOP C beat their OLOP B comrades 7-3. With this win OLOP C closed the gap a little at the top and showed they are strong contenders for the promotion. Pradeep Desh was the star of the match with his treble, but the highlight of the match was the nail-biting doubles game where OLOP C won the game in the fifth set 15-13.
OLOP D won their re-scheduled match against Sonning Common & Peppard E by a convincing 9-1 margin. All the OLOP D players got maximums and their only loss came from the doubles game. Sonning Sports B won their match against Kingfisher J 6-4 by winning the very last game of the night. This match was the closest Kingfisher team have come to gaining a win or a draw. The Star of the match was again Eapen John who got another treble for Kingfisher.
Division 4 leaders Sonning Sports D beat their C team clubmates 6-4 to remain clear at the top, James Miller with another maximum. Second placed Sonning Common & Peppard F were also 6-4 winners as they beat Springfield B, mainly thanks to another maximum from Graeme Streets.
Kingfisher K beat one time leaders Tilehurst RBL C 6-4. In a very tight and evenly fought match there were 44 games played with no one gaining a treble. Kingfisher L had a nice 7-3 win at Sonning Common & Peppard G, Mehmet Bilgin did well to gain a hat trick for the birds, while the OLOP derby between OLOP E and OLOP F ended in a 5-5 draw, Pat Daniels for the E team won all of his three.
Press 11 - 3rd December 2023
Key matches in division 1 at the top and the bottom. At the top the top two clashed and it was Kingfisher A who emerged narrow 6-4 winners over their B team clubmates. Martin Adams starred for the A team with a hattrick while Darren Jones and Ross Saxby both gained vital wins over Graham Mendick, Ross beating Graham in three tight games 11-9 12-10 12-10.
At the bottom Kingfisher D significantly boosted their chances of avoiding the drop with an 8-2 win at relegation rivals Sonning Common & Peppard C, George Ivanov with a maximum that saw him beat Mark Jones 7-11 8-11 11-8 11-8 11-9 and finally Danny Dockree 7-11 11-9 11-6 12-14 12-10. Team mates Mike Douglas and Ajai Kamath both won twice.
In division 2 Kingfisher F remain at the top with OLOP A, Reading FC and Kingfisher E in hot pursuit. Pangbourne WMC have a number of matches to rearrange but both they and Kingfisher H are adrift of the rest at the bottom.
Kingfisher I have a healthy lead at the top of division 3, although OLOP C can close the gap by winning their matches in hand. OLOP B and Tilehurst Methodists A are also in the hunt for promotion. At the bottom Tilehurst Methodists C and Kingfisher J have most to do to avoid the drop.
Sonning Sports D opened up a sizeable gap at the top of division 4 after beating nearest rivals Sonning Common & Peppard F 8-2 recently. Springfield C, OLOP F and Tilehurst RBL C remain in the hunt. Sonning Common & Peppard G, Sonning Sports C and Kingfisher L are doing battle to avoid bottom spot.
Press 10 - 26th November 2023
Ahead of their rearranged fixture with Kingfisher A next week, Kingfisher B maintained their challenge in division 1 with a 10-0 thrashing of Tilehurst RBL A with Prayrit Ahluwalia, Rajan Waterman and Graham Mendick remaining untroubled. Third place Sonning Common & Peppard A overcame mid-table Tidmarsh A 8-2 with the old OLOP partnership of Dan Moses and Ian Cole taking their maximums. Tidmarsh's points came from Anthony Baker and Duncan Groves to Jason Roberts' demise, Duncan edging it 6-11 11-9 11-1 5-11 15-13.
At the other end of the table Simon Berry excelled in the Sonning Common & Peppard derby between the D and C squads, taking his three. Brian Meheux and Nigel also contributed for the D team with wins over Angus Jones but despite some close encounters neither could stop Danny Dockree and Jon Abbott winning their other two and the doubles to end 5-5. The other bottom four clash saw Kingfisher D lose out 3-7 to an inspired Sonning Common & Peppard B who have now moved above the relegation zone. Tom Astle scored another maximum for the commoners, Matt Stone added two more and Tim another plus the doubles. Georgi Ivanov won two for the hosts edging out Matt 11-6 10-12 9-11 13-11 11-9 in the process as both he and Mike Douglas defeated Tim.
In division 2 promotion favourites Reading FC were surprisingly held to a 5-5 draw by Kingfisher G despite Mike Childs getting yet another maximum, Parvin Baishkiyar and Qing Wu had two good wins for the Kingfisher team. Tidmarsh B had a 10-0 win over relegation threatened Kingfisher H who were only able to field two players.
Kingfisher E won a closely contested match at Tilehurst RBL B 6-4 with Kingfisher Captain Andre Adair getting a fine maximum including inflicting a rare loss on Kate Maksimenko. Despite fielding a reserve Our Lady of Peace A moved up to third place in the table with an 8-2 win at Pangbourne WMC with captain Alistair Richardson having his best performance of the season to record a maximum.
In division 3 Tilehurst Methodists A beat their C team club mates 7-3. Jes Eassom was the player of the match with his treble. His team mates joined him 2 wins each. For the C team Steve Christelow won his match against Jacek Krzyzanowski but lost the other 2 in the fifth set. Sonning Sports B drew 5-5 with their arch-rivals Tilehurst Methodists B. Patrick O’ Sullivan was the star of the match with his treble. OLOP B hosted Kingfisher J, and they won 7-3. All players from OLOP side had 2 wins each where Eapen John from Kingfisher J tried to stick with his treble as usual, but Graham Stark won against him. The player of the match was Mark Carless despite losing against Eapen John in the fifth, which was very exciting and went to deuce in the decider: 6-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9, 10-12.
The last match of the week was at Tidmarsh, where 2 strong teams clashed. Tidmarsh D and OLOP C share 5 games each in a 5-5 draw which seemed a fair result. The player of the match was Binit Bhashkar with a hard-fought treble where he beat both Chris and Ray Web in the fifth set.
In a top of the table clash in division 4 hat tricks from James Miller and Cris Reynolds helped Sonning Sports D win 7-3 at Sonning Common & Peppard F. Tilehurst RBL C just got home 6-4 against Sonning Common & Peppard G despite a maximum from David Riddle, while Our Lady of Peace F beat bottom side Kingfisher L 6-4 with Roland Marslin and Anish Shukul both unbeaten on the night.
Springfield B won 8-2 at Our Lady of Peace E, Steve O'Connor and Rob Atack both hit trebles, while clubmates Springfield C were also winners as they won 9-1 at Sonning Sports C, Richard Sabberton-Coe and Ludo Courillard both obtaining maximums.
Press 09 - 19th November 2023
With the top three out of action in division 1, Tilehurst RBL A are now tied in fourth as they caught up this week's opponents Kingfisher C. Keith Winter, Jon Willis and reserve Kate Maksimenko all played well with two each to edge it 6-4. Keith's epic encounter against Alan Cummings ended 14-12 7-11 17-15 9-11 11-9. But none of them could overcome Theo Kniep who took his maximum, teaming up with Alan for the doubles. Kingfisher D scored an excellent 5-5 draw away to Tidmarsh A, despite Dale Ballard winning his three for the home side. Antony Baker added two more, but Mike Douglas (2), Georgi Ivanov (1) and Ajai Kamath (1) all contributed including taking the doubles to force the draw.
Dave Croucher was untroubled as he took his maximum for Sonning Sports at Sonning Common & Peppard C but Danny Dockree and Jon Abbott scored two each and Mark Jones added his first win of the season as this match also ended 5-5. And in another epic encounter Sonning Common & Peppard B drew 5-5 with Sonning Common & Peppard D, Brian Meheux and Malcolm Gregory starring for the D team with excellent doubles while for the B team Tom Astle managed a fine maximum.
Division 2 title favourites Reading FC had a 9-1 win over Tidmarsh B with new signing Tom Lewis getting a maximum along with Michael Childs. Tidmarsh C and Tilehurst RBL B had a hard fought 5-5 draw with Kate Maksimenko getting yet another maximum for Tilehurst. Set of the night saw John Willcocks recover from two games down to beat Simon Craig 12-10 in the fifth.
Kingfisher F beat Kingfisher G 8-2 with Adrian Cretu getting a very good maximum for the F team. Club mates Kingfisher E drew with a two man Pangbourne WMC with Leroy Wilson and John Simmonds both getting two good wins for Pangbourne. Our Lady of Peace A’s recent good form continued with an impressive 8-2 win at Springfield A with the in-form Chris West getting another maximum.
Division 3 had a busy schedule as all matches were played as scheduled. The week started with on form Our Lady of Peace B being held toa 5-5 draw by Tilehurst Methodists B. Nigel Rowland was the star of the night for Tilehurst with his second consecutive treble. On the same night, Sonning Common & Peppard E hosted the Tilehurst Methodists A team and it ended in another 5-5 draw. Jacek Krzyzanowski had this 4th treble of the season and this helped his team to draw with a well-performing Sonning Common team.
Kingfisher I beat Tilehurst Methodists C 9-1 for their 8th consecutive win of the season. Muharrem Aydin joined with a solid 2 wins to Eyup Odemis and Huzeyfe Borazan’s treble. The highlight of the match was the away team’s only win where Steve Cristeslow won against Muhareem Aydin from 1-2 down to win the last 2 games 12-10 where he saved 2 match points: 11-3 5-11 11-9 10-12 10-12. Kingfisher J lost at home against Tidmarsh D 7-3 where the only points for the home team came from player of the match Eapen John. The away team’s players won 2 games each and returned home with a solid result. Our Lady of Peace D beat Sonning Sports B 6-4. James Smith continued his good performance with another solid treble.
Fading Tilehurst RBL C lost 8-2 at Our Lady of Peace F in division 4, OLOP’s Gopi Ponnaplli hit a three straight hat trick. Sonning Sports D stormed to the top of the table by beating a weakened Our Lady of Peace E 10-0, John Churchouse, James Miller and Cris Reynolds were the treble men. Earlier OLOP E beat Sonning Common & Peppard G 6-4 thanks mainly to a three straight maximum from Pat Daniels.
Sonning Common & Peppard F went to Sonning Sports C and won 9-1, Gerry Bacon and Mike Casserley were both undefeated. Springfield C beat Kingfisher K 9-1 with Benson Shiu and Marcello Caramma winning three each, while Rob Atack and Shas Veeramani were in good form against Kingfisher L, both winning all three in a 7-3 win for Springfield B.
Press 08 - 12th November 2023
Kingfisher A extended their lead at the top of division 1 with a 9-1 victory over Tilehurst RBL A despite some resistance from Jon Willis, who beat young Rishaan Sawant and was up by two games over Dmitry Khakhamov before fading. Darren Jones also gained his maximum three wins for Kingfisher. Second met third as Sonning Common & Peppard A gained ground on Kingfisher B with a useful 7-3 win. As expected Daniel Moses comfortably saw off Graham Mendick, Cath Venning and Prayrit Ahluwalia, the latter easing to victory over Ed Lush and Gary Morgan. Gary also played excellently to see off Graham 3-1.
Only Danny Dockree could trouble the scorers with a win over Alan Cummings as Sonning Common & Peppard C slumped to a 9-1 defeat at Kingfisher C. Matt Isherwood and Nigel Keedy completed excellent maximums for the home side. Tom Astle excelled to score two useful singles points over Paul Savage and Graham Diplock as Sonning Common & Peppard B fell 7-3 at Sonning Sports A. But Dave Croucher proved far too strong for the visitors. SC&P B’s other point was provided by captain Matt Stone after his win over Graham. Trebles from Lee Calcutt and Tony Baker helped Tidmarsh A to a 9-1 win at Sonning Common & Peppard D, Simon Berry beating Dale Ballard 12-10 11-9 11-9 for the Commoners.
Tidmarsh B and Kingfisher F had a hard fought 5-5 draw in division 2 with Adrian Cretu getting an excellent maximum for the Kingfisher team. Springfield A’s good recent form continued when they won 6-4 at Kingfisher G with Matt Hickman recording a maximum for Springfield including recovering from two games down to beat penholder Qing Wu 11-9 in the fifth.
Tilehurst RBL B had a 10-0 win over relegation threatened Kingfisher H with the highlight set being Nick Lean’s win in five against promising youngster Vivaan Karalkar. Our Lady of Peace A had a good 6-4 win over Kingfisher E with Chris West and Darek Kaminski recording maximums for OLOP.
In Division 3 Our Lady of Peace C won a one-sided match against Tilehurst Methodists C 10-0, the closest match was Lewis Oke v Shawnik Thakur as all sets were won with only 2 point margin: 14-12 10-12 9-1110-12. Sonning Sports B and Sonning Common & Peppard E drew 5-5 in a very long and close contest where 7 out of 10 games went to the fifth set. Anthony Reeves was the unluckiest player as he lost all his games in the fifth set. Jez Willis again managed a treble to help his team to get a draw.
Our Lady of Peace B beat Our Lady of Peace D 6-4 in an OLOP derby, and this was the B teams fifth win in a row. Despite Louise Forster’s efforts and treble, it was another close loss for the OLOP D team. The most exciting game was between Graham Stark and Louise Forster which was a true roller coaster. The third set was 19-17 which was one of the longest games this season: 7-11 11-9 17-19 11-8 6-11. Despite a good start from Tilehurst Methodist A, Kingfisher I managed to win the last 4 games and won their match 7-3. Eyup Odemis was the star of the night as he won his treble where all his matches went to fifth. But the highlight of the match was the doubles game. The away team managed to save 3 match points in the 4th set and won the fifth which it was the turning point of the match.
Sonning Common & Peppard F carried on their good form in division 4 by beating Springfield C 7-3 with Graeme Streets doing very well by gaining a three straight treble. Walter Aldridge and Emrah Bulut both hit maximums to help Kingfisher K beat Sonning Common & Peppard G 7-3 while Tilehurst RBL C got back to winning ways by beating Springfield B 7-3 with Linda King and Paul Treadgold both gaining hat tricks.
Despite Pat Daniels winning three Our Lady of Peace E were held to a draw by Sonning Sports C in a match where for the first time for over 20 years all players from OLOP were from the same family. Sonning Sports D hammered Kingfisher L 10-0 with all three players namely James Miller, Cris Reynolds ad John Churchouse all winning in three sets.
Press 07 - 5th November 2023
Top player Daniel Moses made a welcome return to Reading's Division 1 as his new club, Sonning Common & Peppard A lost out 4-6 to leaders Kingfisher A. All four points came from Daniel who managed to go the evening without dropping a set in both singles and doubles, where he teamed up with Gary Morgan, and all three singles (vs Martin Adams, Hari Gehlot and Ross Saxby - all previously unbeaten). Tilehurst RBL A consolidated their fourth place with a 7-3 victory over Sonning Common & Peppard C with Jon Willis gaining an excellent maximum, outscoring his colleagues Keith Winter and Marc Brent. Only Danny Dockree scored for the visitors, narrowly pipped in the closest of fashions by Jon 5-11 9-11 11-8 11-6 16-18. Sonning Sports A put in a strong team performance to defeat Sonning Common & Peppard D 9-1, David Croucher and Paul Savage in particularly good form with maximums. For the Commoners Nigel Maltby lost entertaining opening tussle to Nick Sears while Simon Berry managed a win over Nick.
Meanwhile at Tidmarsh A the honours were shared with Sonning Sports A. In-form Paul Savage starred for the visitors taking his three singles in fine style and ably backed up by Nick Sears with a double. As well as taking the doubles, all three home players, Antony Baker (2), Duncan Groves (1) and Lee Calcutt (1) contributed, the latter's only victory saw him scraping past Bob Woodmansee 11-6 12-14 7-11 11-6 11-9. Denise Weller and Tom Astle each had fantastic wins over Phil Mead as Sonning Common & Peppard B hosted Kingfisher C but, despite several other close encounters, could not avoid a 2-8 defeat as Matt Isherwood and Nigel Keedy remained unbeaten for Kingfisher.
Our Lady of Peace A won a hard-fought match at Tidmarsh C 6-4 in division 2 in a contest that saw six sets go to a fifth game decider. The highlight performance was Tidmarsh’s Richard Hudson beating Darek Kaminski in four. Tidmarsh B, who have had a slow start to the season, had an excellent 8-2 win at Kingfisher G with new signing Robert McMillan recording an impressive maximum. The set of the night saw Robert recover from two games down to beat Kingfisher Captain Parvin Baishkiyar 11-9 in the fifth.
Springfield A’s good form continued as they beat Kingfisher E 6-4 in another match that featured a lot of long close sets. Best win of the night was Springfield’s Rob Wilkie’s victory over Satej Jaywant 13-11 in the fifth.
After a cup-week break, we are back with the excitement we left in Divison 3. The week started at Sonning Common, where SC&P E hosted Kingfisher I. Despite losing 8-2, SC&P E put in a really good effort against the divisional leaders. There were close games where half of them went to 5-set games. Huzeyfe Borazan and Eyup Odemis were on form with their trebles. Ian Davenport was very unlucky as he lost all his games in the fifth and on a couple of occasions he failed to convert match points. The next evening Sonning Sports B hosted OLOP B. Despite their hard efforts, they could not win the match and lost 6-4. Once again, Mark Carless was the Player of the Match with a treble. Captain Cris played up for doubles, and he made a difference by helping his team to get a precious point.
Kingfisher J were beaten by Tilehurst Methodists C 7-3. Steve Christelow shined with his treble and made a huge contribution to the win. The highlight of the match was when he won against Eapen John in the fifth set: 8-11 11-6 11-8 9-11 7-11. The last match of the week was at OLOP where OLOP D won 8-2 against a good Tidmarsh D team. In the absence of their captain, Patrick McIntosh took the lead and with his treble, he had a big impact in the game. His teammates Alona and James joined him with 2 wins, but the highlight of the match was the doubles game, which was very close in the fifth set: 10-12 15-13 8-11 11-8 11-9.
In division 4 Sonning Common & Peppard F took Tilehurst RBL 'C's 100% record with a 6-4 win, however it was the Tilehurst team who went top of the division after winning their 4 sets. For Sonning Common Gerry Bacon hit a three straight maximum by beating Jim Brent 11-9 11-4 11-4, Paul Treadgold 11-8 11-6 11-5 and Geoff Johnson 11-6 11-7 11-7. Sonning Sports D hammered Tilehurst Royal British Legion C 8-2 to go top of the table, James Miller and Cris Reynolds both gained hat tricks for the Sports team, for James they were all three straight.
Our Lady of Peace F beat Kingfisher K 6-4 with Gopi Ponnapalli winning all three. Sonning Sports C shared the spoils with Kingfisher L, Stephen Reader was the star by gaining a maximum for the Sports as the teams battled out a 5-5 draw. Ludo Coulliard hit a treble to help Springfield C beat Sonning Common & Peppard G 6-4, while Sonning Common & Peppard F beat Our Lady of Peace E 7-3, Oliver Bonser did the business by gaining a three straight treble.
Press 06 - 22nd October 2023
Leaders Kingfisher A overcame their club colleagues Kingfisher D 9-1 in division 1, but not before top player Hari Gehlot had a scare and needed to fight back from 0-2 behind as he overtook Mike Douglas 7-11 5-11 11-9 11-4 11-4. The D team's sole point originated from the bat of Georgi Ivanov who played well to beat young Rishaan Sawant. Meanwhile Malcom Gregory squandered four match points against Cath Venning as his Sonning Common & Peppard D squad lost 2-8 to Kingfisher B. Their two points were gained by his colleagues, Nigel Maltby and Brian Meheux, both against Cath. Julian Telford and Graham Mendick gained the maximum three wins each plus doubles.
Sonning Common & Peppard A had a reasonably comfortable evening at home to Tilehurst RBL A although Jason Roberts could not get the better of Keith Winter over five tight games. In-form Ed Lush and Ian Cole completed the 9-1 victory. Danny Dockree starred with a triple as Sonning Common & Peppard C overtook their B team with a 6-4. He was ably supported by Jon Abbott with a double despite Matt Stone spoiling his party. The mid-table clash between Kingfisher C and Tidmarsh A had a 5-5 draw written all over it. All team members contributed while none remained unbeaten. Several sets went to the deciding fifth game including the doubles where Kingfisher's Alan Cummings and Phil Mead edged out Antony Baker and Lee Calcutt 6-11 11-9 11-6 10-12 14-12.
Division 2 leaders Kingfisher F had a hard fought 6-4 win at Tilehurst RBL B. Kate Maksimenko recorded a great maximum for Tilehurst which included a very close win in five against the much improved Akeel Mir. Second place Reading FC had a comfortable 9-1 win over the bottom team Pangbourne WMC with Clive Taylor’s win over Jazz Dillon being Pangbourne’s only success.
Springfield A had a good 7-3 win at Tidmarsh B helped by a very good three straight maximum from new signing Matt Hickman. Kingfisher E maintained their good start to the season by beating Tidmarsh C 7-3 in a match where all the individual sets went to four or five, while Our Lady of Peace A beat relegation threatened Kingfisher H 9-1 despite the Kingfisher team fielding two new signings. One of the new signings, Vivaan Karalkar recorded Kingfisher sole win by beating Dave Godfrey.
Division 3 continued with 4 games in Week 6 and 1 game postponed for a later date. The week's first game was the Tilehurst derby, where Tilehurst Methodists C hosted their B team. Nigel Rowland and Martin Wetherell trebles were significant as the B team won 7-3, however the action was in the doubles match where the C team won the last 2 games of the five-setter thriller: 11-7 10-12 8-11 14-12 11-7. The next evening, there was an important game for the title race where 2 good teams were clashed with Kingfisher I beating previously unbeaten Our Lady of Peace C 8-2. This win gives the Kingfisher team a comfortable lead at the top of the table. Ruben Hernandez and Huzeyfe Borazan’s put in good performances with trebles and a comfortable win in doubles.
Our Lady of Peace B beat Sonning Common & Peppard E 6-4. Superb substitute player Lousie Forster’s treble really helped OLOP to this win, whereas, on the other hand, Jez Willis’s 2 good wins for SC&P were not quite enough for a draw. Tidmarsh D were 6-4 winners against Sonning Sports B, Dave Edwards joined with 2 wins to Terry Hardie’s treble, to help their team clinch the win.
In Division 4 Our Lady of Peace E gained a 5-5 draw with Springfield C thanks to a great treble from Pat Daniels while their F team clubmates were 7-3 winners at Sonning Common & Peppard G thanks to Alice Walker and Gopi Ponnapalli who both hit maximums. Rob Atack was in top form by gaining a hat trick to help Springfield B win 6-4 at Kingfisher K.
Sonning Common & Peppard F moved up the table by winning 8-2 at bottom side Kingfisher L, Gerry Bacon and Oly Bonser were the hat trick men, while Tilehurst RBL C beat Sonning Sports C 10-0 with Linda King, Geoff Johnson and Paul Treadgold all unbeaten. In a match brought forward from next March Sonning Sports D beat their C team 8-2. Cris Reynolds and John Churchouse hit maximums for the D team.
Press 05 - 15th October 2023
Kingfisher A marched on at the top of division 1 with a comfortable victory over Sonning Common & Peppard D with Hari Gehlot, Martin Adams and young Rishaan Sawant completing a 10-0 whitewash. Sonning Common & Peppard A matched this at home to Kingfisher D, their only challenge coming when Jason Roberts was pushed to 11-7 in the decider by Gorgi Ivanov. Ed Lush and Gary Morgan completed the rout. The third whitewash of the week was witnessed at Tilehurst RBL A with their regular trio of Keith Winter, Marc Brent and Jon Willis taking out Sonning Common & Peppard B with relative ease.
Kingfisher B could not quite match their league rivals as Julian Telford lost his 100% record to Sonning Sports' Paul Savage in five sets. The final result was 9-1 as Graham Mendick and Prayrit Ahluwalia were untroubled. Finally, the Tidmarsh A trio of Lee Calcutt, Anthony Baker and Dale Ballard won two each on the night to carry off a 7-3 home victory over Sonning Common & Peppard C, who picked up their first points of the season. Lee certainly got his money's worth with all his games going to the deciding fifth end. He was 2-0 up before Jon Abbott turned their encounter around, and Danny Dockree performed admirably with two points for the visitors.
Kingfisher F extended their lead at the top of the division 2 table with a 9-1 win against Pangbourne WMC helped by a three straight maximum from Shashwat Somani and a maximum from Adrian Cretu which included recovering from two games down to beat Leroy Wilson in five. Second placed Reading FC beat Our Lady of Peace A 8-2 with the usual maximum from Michael Childs and two wins each for Jazz Dhillon and Tony Alleyne. Kingfisher G just edged out Tilehurst RBL B 6-4 despite a good maximum from Tilehurst’s Kate Maksimenko. The set of the night saw Kingfisher’s Gennadi Armashula recovered from two games down to beat John Willcocks 11-8 in the fifth.
In the Kingfisher local derby the E team had a comfortable 9-1 win over a two man H team despite a good performance from Rupesh Ahluwalla for the F side, while Springfield A and Tidmarsh C fought out a closely contested 5-5 draw. Ian Wu had two good wins for Tidmarsh including beating Jason King 11-6 in the fifth having lost the first two games.
Two local derbies followed in division 3. Tilehurst Methodists B played their A team and lost 7-3. Jacek Krzyzanowski was the Player of the Match for the A side with another treble. The match's highlight was that the doubles game ended in the fifth set: 11-7 13-15 11-8 7-11 10-12. Sonning Common & Peppard E hosted OLOP C and lost 8-2. OLOP C showed that they are a strong contender for the title with Binit Bhaskar’s treble giving them a comfortable win. OLOP B beat Tidmarsh D by an emphatic 9-1 margin. Despite the gap in the score line, the match lasted over 3 hours, and Chris Webb gave a great fight but unfortunately lost 2 matches in the fifth set. In another derby, Kingfisher I won 10-0 against Kingfisher J. Kingfisher I became a more consistent team and extended their lead with this win. In the last game of the week, OLOP D beat Tilehurst Methodists C 6-4, where James Smith was on top form and deserved his player of the match with his treble.
In division 4 Springfield C beat a two player Our Lady of Peace F team 8-2, Alice Walker playing well for OLOP by winning two. Sonning Sports D beat Kingfisher K 6-4, James Miller was the star for the Sports team by gaining a three straight treble in a match where every contest ended up three straight.
Rob Atack was in good form by winning all three in Springfield B’s 8-2 win over Sonning Common & Peppard G, while the two bottom sides met at Our Lady of Peace E and it was Kingfisher L that came out top 6-4 despite a maximum from Fitzroy Licorish for OLOP.
Press 04 - 8th October 2023
Kingfisher A put some daylight between them and the chasers in division 1 with an expected and convincing 10-0 win away to Sonning Sports A while Kingfisher B scored a 7-3 win over club rivals Kingfisher C with excellent maximums for Julian Telford and Rajan Waterman. Sonning Common & Peppard A make up the likely top three come the end of the season with a 10-0 drubbing of their D team, the trio of Ed Lush, Ian Cole and Gary Morgan inflicting the damage.
Elsewhere a close encounter between Kingfisher D at home to Tilehurst RBL A ended 4-6 in favour of the visitors. No player remained unbeaten on the night as Georgi Ivanov came from behind to beat Keith Winter in five sets, a feat expertly matched by Mike Douglas over Marc Brent. Some more tight games were witnessed at Sonning Common and Peppard as their B team fell 3-7 to Tidmarsh A. Dale Ballard willed the visitors to a 13-11 11-9 8-11 9-11 13-11 win over Daniel Artene as Tom Astle inspired the home team to a 7-11 12-10 11-9 7-11 13-11 victory over Lee Calcutt. Less trouble for Duncan Groves though as he remained unbeaten.
Division 2 promotion favourites Reading FC suffered a surprise 6-4 defeat against Kingfisher E despite Michael Childs getting his usual maximum. Abhay Gore played well for the Kingfisher team including a close 11-9 win in the fifth against Jazz Dhillon. After two defeats Tidmarsh C got a welcome 8-2 victory over Kingfisher H with Simon Craig recording a comprehensive three straight maximum, while despite having to field a reserve Tilehurst RBL B managed to beat Tidmarsh B 6-4. Skipper John Willcocks had a good maximum for the Tilehurst team while Tidmarsh player Steven Arrowsmith inflicted a rare defeat on to Tilehurst’s star player Kate Maksimenko.
Pangbourne WMC played their first match of the season and recorded a draw against Kingfisher G in a match that featured a number of long sets. The highlight set was Kingfisher’s Parvin Baishkiyar recovering from two games down to beat John Simmonds 11-9 in the fifth. In another match that had many long sets OLOP A drew with Kingfisher F. Darek Kaminski had a fine maximum for OLOP and Kingfisher’s Eyup Odemis had a great comeback to beat Alistair Richardson in five after losing the first two games.
Another busy week in Divison 3 with 5 matches played. On Monday night, Tilehurst Methodists C hosted Sonning Sports B and won the match 6-4. Steve Christelow’s treble was the decider of the winner. Sonning player Grant Baartman’s 2 wins were not enough for a draw. The Tuesday night was packed with action as Tidmarsh D won the Sonning Common And Peppard E match 6-4. Jez Willis from the away team had a treble, but it was not enough for a draw. This is mainly because the away team’s 3 games went to the home team in the fifth set, which was unlucky for them. On another match, Kingfisher I saw Tilehurst Methodists B and had a comfortable 9-1 win. The home team’s all players had the treble, and the doubles match went to the away team in the fifth game 11-9, which was a thrilling match to watch.
In the last game on Tuesday, OLOP C hosted Kingfisher J, and they had another comfortable win 9-1. A new player for OLOP C, Shawnik Thakur, started with a treble and captain Binit Bhaskar joined him with another treble, which was an easy win for the home team. The week ended at Tilehurst, where Tilehurst Methodists A won the OLOP D match 6-4. Jacek Krzyzanowski’s treble and their doubles win was the main factor in deciding the winner. The highlight of the match was Jacek’s win against Patrick McIntosh in the fifth game: 7-11, 14-12, 11-6, 6-11, 11-9
In division 4 Sonning Common & Peppard G shared the spoils with Sonning Sports D as the teams drew 5-5. Tilehurst RBL C moved into second place by beating Our Lady of Peace E 8-2 with Linda King gaining a maximum and John Walker returning after about 5 years out to obtain a double. Walter Aldridge and Emrah Bulut starred for Kingfisher K by winning all three to help them beat Sonning Sports C 9-1.
In the local derby between Springfield C and Springfield B it was the 'C' team who came out on top by winning 9-1, Marcello Caramba and Ludo Couillard both hitting trebles. Our Lady of Peace F had a nice 7-3 win over Springfield B with a hat trick from Gopi Poonawalla helping their cause. Springfield C won 8-2 at Kingfisher L with Richard Saberton-Coe and Benson Shiu both winning all three of their matches.
Press 03 - 1st October 2023
Kingfisher A dropped their first point of the season in division1 as Kingfisher C young talent, Theo Kneip, came back from 0-2 and saved several match points to upset Dmitry Khakhamov 9-11 7-11 11-5 16-14 11-7. Reserve Adrian Cretu also pushed Dmitry close losing out 9-11 in the fifth. Martin Adams and Hari Gehlot completed the 9-1 victory. Kingfisher B kept themselves in touch with a comprehensive 10-0 victory over (still pointless) Sonning Common & Peppard C with maximums for Graham Mendick, Rajan Waterman and Cath Venning. Sonning Common & Peppard A comfortably sealed a home win over Sonning Sports A 9-1, their only defeat coming at the hands of Paul Savage taking out Jason Roberts in a close encounter with Gary Morgan and Ed Lush completing the victory.
The other two matches were much tighter affairs. Kingfisher D, who won all three of the five setters, opened their account with an encouraging 5-5 draw with Sonning Common & Peppard D but neither Kingfisher's Georgi Ivanov nor Mike Douglas, who both won two, could challenge Simon Berry who remained unbeaten on the night. Elsewhere Tilehurst RBL A scraped a 6-4 victory over Tidmarsh A. It really could have gone either way - all players scored points and no player remained unbeaten on the night, with ten ends going beyond the 10-10 mark. This was illustrated in the doubles as Keith Winter and Marc Brent took Duncan Groves and Antony Baker 12-10 13-15 11-7 13-11.
Kingfisher F recorded their third win of the division 2 season beating their E team 9-1, although the match was closer than the score suggests. Shashwat Somani got an impressive maximum but the set of the night saw the E team’s Sajej Jaywant recovering from two games down to beat Akeel Mir 11-3 in the fifth. Kingfisher G beat OLOP A 7-3 with skipper Parvin Baishkiyar and Gennadi Armashula both getting maximums.
After losing their first two matches Springfield A got a welcome win by beating Kingfisher H 7-3 with all of their players winning twice. Reserve Huzeyfe Borazan had two good wins for the Kingfisher team.
In division 3 Tilehurst Methodists B came up against OLOP C. Due to postponements this was OLOP C’s first match of the season, and they proved they are a tough team in their debut match as they beat Tilehurst 8-2. Nigel Rowland’s two good wins were Tilehurst’s only points for the match. Sonning Common and Peppard E hosted Kingfisher J and it was the Sonning Common team who fared better on the night, winning 7-3. Jeremy Willis was the Player of the Match with his treble, but the highlight of the match was the 5-setter doubles game, which went to the hosts.
Sonning Sports B and Tilehurst Methodists A drew 5-5, Harry Brough was the POM with his treble but the highlight of the match was the very first game, where Jacek Krzyzanowski stole a win from Grant Baarman from 0-2 down: 11-6 11-8 2-11 7-11 8-11. OLOP B won 8-2 against Tilehurst Methodists C with Mark Carless continuing his good form with a treble, while OLOP D hosted Kingfisher I and lost 8-2. M. Aydin’s excellent form gave Kingfisher I team a great boost in the very first few weeks. Despite losing 8-2 OLOP D had a very good performance as most of the matches could have gone either way.
In Division 4 Tilehurst British Royal Legion C won 10-0 at Kingfisher L with Geoff Johnson, Paul Treadgold and player of the match Jim Brent all gaining maximums. Sonning Common & Peppard F maintained their top spot by beating Kingfisher K 7-3, Graeme Streets was in good form by gaining a treble, while fellow unbeaten side Our Lady of Peace F went to Sonning Sports D and won 6-4 thanks mainly to a Alice Walker treble.
Sonning Sports C beat Sonning Common & Peppard G 7-3 with Stephen Reader, Harry Edgington and Mo Cole all winning two each as did John Evans for the Commoners.
Press 02 - 24th September 2023
In week 2 of the division 1 season, three of the five encounters ended in comprehensive 10-0 victories. Kingfisher A introduced future star 11-year-old Rishaan Sawant to Reading's top flight and he did not disappoint on his debut gaining his maximum away to Sonning Common & Peppard C including an entertaining 10-12 11-9 7-11 6-11 11-9 victory over Danny Dockree. Club colleagues Kingfisher B continued their winning form with a 10-0 drubbing of Sonning Common & Peppard B although several points were hard fought including Graham Mendick overcoming a 9-11 6-10 deficit to overturn Denise Weller. Julian Telford and Prayrit Ahluwalia sealed the convincing win. The other whitewash was witnessed as Sonning Sports A thrashed Kingfisher D with frontman Dave Croucher ably supported by Nick Sears and Paul Savage.
In a much closer encounter Kingfisher C excelled to clinch a 6-4 win over podium contenders Sonning Common & Peppard A. No player remained unbeaten on the night but Kingfisher's notable wins included both Alan Cummings and Phil Mead over Ian Cole and young Theo Kniep over Ed Lush. Meanwhile, Tilehurst RBL A got their campaign underway with an inspiring 8-2 home win over Sonning Common & Peppard D. No-one could stop Marc Brent's maximum but Simon Berry, upon his long-awaited return to division one, proved a thorn-in-the-side as he notched convincing wins over Jon Willis and Keith Winter for the visitors.
Title favourites Reading FC Community Trust have started the division 2 season well with a 9-1 win against Springfield A and an 8-2 win at Kingfisher H. Set of the night in the Springfield match was FC’s Tony Alleyne recovering from two games down to beat Jason King 11-3 in the fifth. In their 8-2 win at Kingfisher Michael Childs recorded his second maximum of the season and the highlight set was Kingfisher’s Rupesh Ahluwalia’s win in five against Jazz Dhillon. Kingfisher F have also secured two wins beating Kingfisher H 8-2 and then winning 7-3 at Tidmarsh C. In the Kingfisher derby got a maximum and the H teams Rupesh Ahluwalia secured another good win, this time beating Stephen Leggett 11-7 in the fifth. In their win at Tidmarsh C there were a number of very long sets the standout one being Shaswat Somani’s victory over Simon Craig 11-9 in the fifth.
Tidmarsh B have had two close matches beating Kingfisher E 6-4 and then losing by the same score to OLOP A. In the Kingfisher match all of their players won twice and the highlight set was Barry Carter losing out 11-9 in the fifth to Kingfisher skipper Andrew Adair in a marathon. In the match at OLOP A Mike Alstrop had two good wins and OLOP’s Chris West recorded a very good maximum. Tilehurst RBL B have started well with an 8-2 win at Springfield A with maximums for Kate Maksimenko and John Willcocks.
In Division 3 Week 2 started with 3 Tilehurst Methodists C - Tidmarsh D match. Tidmarsh D won 7-3 despite losing the doubles. Strong performances and trebles from Chris Webb and Ray Webb made the difference between the 2 teams. In the second game Kingfisher I saw the improved Sonning Sports B team. Muharrem Aydin continued his good performance with a solid treble and made the difference between winning and the draw. On the other hand, Sonning Sport B is a much more formidable team with their new player Grant Baartman who won 2 games and lost his only game against Muharrem Aydin in the fifth set.
Another Kingfisher team J lost at home against Tilehurst Methodists B by 6-4. Eapen John’s treble was not enough for his team to get at least a draw. Martin Wetherell continued his consistent performance by two wins again and helped his team to get their first win of the season. In the last match of the week Tilehurst Methodists A saw OLOP B. Tilehurst team won 6-4 against the two-man OLOP team. Graham Stark and Simon Brookes win 2 games each and get 4 points for their team.
Our Lady of Peace F beat Sonning Sports C 10-0 in division4 with Jan Polnik, Alice Walker and Gopi Ponnapalli all winning three. For Gopi and Alice they were all three straight. Sonning Common and Peppard F beat club mates Sonning Common G 10-0, The hat trick men for the F team being Gerry Bacon, Olly Bonser and Mike Casserley.
Tilehurst Royal British Legion C started with a 7-3 win at Springfield C, Geoff Johnson was the star by gaining a maximum, while Sonning Sports D went to Springfield B and came away with a good 6-4 win. Doubles were gained by Dave Chard and Cris Reynolds for the Sports and Steve O'Connor and Rob Atack for Springfield.
Press 01 - 17th September 2023
The centenary Reading League season kicked off in division 1 with just three of the five scheduled matches played, but each containing arguably the three strongest teams in the division. Champions Kingfisher A brushed aside Sonning Common & Peppard B 10-0, the trio of Martin Adams, Hari Gehlot and Ross Saxby not dropping a single end. Sonning Common & Peppard A had a similar 10-0 experience at home to their C team, Danny Dockree winning the only end for the visitors against Gary Morgan as Jason Roberts and Ed Lush completed the rout.
Kingfisher B ran out 7-3 winners over Tidmarsh A with Julian Telford and young Prayrit Ahluwalia remaining unbeaten. Duncan Groves, Antony Baker and Dale Ballard, in his debut season in the top flight, each scored their victory over the unfortunate Cath Venning.
Michael Childs and Tony Alleyne both got maximums as Reading FC Community Trust started their division 2 campaign with a 9-1 win over Springfield A. Clive Gold starred as Kingfisher F beat Kingfisher H 8-2, while Kingfisher G were also 8-2 winners as they beat Tidmarsh C, Qing Wu and Parvin Baishkiyar both earning trebles.
Tidmarsh B managed a 6-4 win over Kingfisher E thanks to a good team performance with Barry Carter, Bill Stamatiou and Mike Aistrop all winning twice.
The first match of the season in Division 3 was between Tilehurst Methodist B and Sonning Common & Peppard E. There were very close games which shows the level of competition in the match. The Tilehurst team managed to get a draw by winning the all-important doubles match in this close game. In the second match, two of the experienced and well-matched Division 3 teams, OLOP B and Kingfisher I, played at OLOP. Despite the new team names, both teams have the same lineup three years in a row. The Kingfisher team was stunned in the first 6 games, and they were 5-1 down before the doubles game. Somehow, they managed to get a draw by getting all the remaining four games in a row. Muharrem Aydin was the POM with 2 wins, and he got the most sets against the other two game-winners, Mark Carless and Simon Brookes.
The first win of the season came from Tilehurst Methodists A with a 6-4 away win at Tidmarsh Village Hall. Last season’s successful Division 3 team, Tidmarsh D, struggled against the new and robust Tilehurst team. Jacek Krzyzanowski was the POM with the treble. There were very close games and heavy scoring, but the Tilehurst team proved their strength in the very first match. In the last match of the week, OLOP D beat Kingfisher J's team 7-3 and went straight to the top of the table. Unfortunately, Kingfisher J team was one player short, so they had to forfeit three games. Eapen John tried his best, and 3 points for his team came from his treble.
In division 4 Kingfisher K beat club mates Kingfisher L 9-1with all three players namely Walter Aldridge, Houron Tsun, Emrah Bulut all gaining trebles. Sonning Common & Peppard F shared the spoils with Our Lady of Peace F thanks to a great hat trick from Gerry Bacon for Sonning Common, while for OLOP Alice Walker and Gopi Ponnapalli both obtained doubles. Springfield B started well by winning 7-3 at Sonning Sports C, Steve O'Connor did well to win all three, while Sonning Sports D beat Springfield C 7-3 with debut man James Miller winning three.
Press 27 - 9th April 2023
Sonning Common & Peppard C played in the final two matches of the division 2 season knowing they needed 12 points to secure the second promotion spot. In their first match they secured half the points they needed with a 6-4 win over mid table Tilehurst RBL B. The set of the night was between SC&P’s Malcolm Gregory and Kate Maksimenko with Malcolm recovering from 2 games down to level the set at 2 all only for Kate to ease away in the fifth. Kate went on to record a maximum while doubles from Nigel Maltby and Malcolm Gregory and a Brian Meheux single, plus the doubles saw the Sonning Common outfit win 6-4, knowing another victory in their final match against Tilehurst Methodists A would see them finish runners-up.
Three days later Sonning Common & Peppard C hosted Tilehurst Methodists A with the SC&P side not only needing 6 points for promotion but the Tilehurst team needing 2 points to avoid relegation. Brian Meheux sensationally beat Eric Van Looy 6-11 11-9 11-8 16-14 on his 5th match point to give Sonning Common & Peppard C an early boost in the bid for promotion. Eric recovered to beat Malcolm Gregory 10-12 11-5 11-7 12-10, a win that meant his Tilehurst Methodists A team avoided relegation. Bill Stamation then beat Nigel Maltby 11-7 11-8 6-11 11-3 with some blistering attacking play to put Tilehurst 3-1 up. Brian reduced the deficeit by beating Tilehurst’s Phil Jones in nail biting fashion 10-12 11-9 9-11 11-3 11-8 and Malcolm then levelled the match with a 4-11 14-12 11-7 11-9 win over Bill.
With the match score at 4-4 Sonning Common knew they had to win both the final contests if they were to seal promotion. Malcolm struggled to beat Phil Jones after being 4-8 down in the 5th, but he fought back to win 12-10 11-7 4-11 7-11 11-9. Nigel and Malcolm then took on Phil and Bill in the doubles a despite trailing 8-10 in the 1st they managed to win 13-11 11-5 11-5 to secure Sonning Common & Peppard C promotion to the top flite alongside divisional winners Sonning Common & Peppard D courtesy of having won more matches than OLOP B after both teams finished level on 100 points.
In division 3 Our Lady of Peace E were 6-4 winners at Kingfisher H, Harry Bullock and Parvin Baishkiyar both winning twice for OLOP alongside a single from Louise Forster while Eyup Odemis picked two of Kingfisher’s four victories.
Press 26 - 2nd April 2023
In Division 1 a hat trick from Ed Lush saw Sonning Common & Peppard B draw 5-5 with Tilehurst RBL A, Ed manging an excellent 11-3 11-2 12-10 win over Marc Brent. Matt Isherwood managed a good 13-11 9-11 9-11 11-8 11-8 win over Keith Winter and Matt Stone also picked up a win after he beat Marc Brent 11-9 11-7 11-9. Tilehurst’s draw saw them climb up to 6th in the final table.
Tilehurst Methodists A gave their hopes of avoiding relegation from division 2 a boost with a 7-3 win at relegated Our Lady of Peace C with yet another maximum for Eric Van Looy. The set of the night was between OLOP’s Pradeep Desh and Bill Stamatiou with Pradeep recovering from two games down to win 13-11 in the fifth. Two days later Tilehurst Methodists were in action again at home to Tilehurst RBL B which resulted in a very hard fought 5-5 draw, a result which gives Tilehurst Meths a very good chance of avoiding relegation. All but one set in this match went to four or five with the stand out two being the Methodists Jess Eassom recovering from 2-1 down to edge out John Willcocks 13-11 in the fifth. Then, in the clash between two of the three top players in the division, RBL’s Kate Maksimenko recovered from 2-1 down to beat Eric Van Looy 11-8 in the fifth.
Tidmarsh C narrowly missed out on promotion from division 3 after they could only beat their D team club mates 6-4. As a result Springfield A finish 2nd, courtesy of matches won after both teams finished level on 113 points.
The last match of the season in division 4 saw Sonning Common & Peppard E win 8-2gainst Sonning Common & Peppard F and as a result won the championship by 2 sets ahead of long time leaders Tilehurst Methodists C. Anthony Reeve was the star by gaining a treble including an 11-7 9-11 3-11 11-13 11-5 win over Gerry Bacon while for the F team Graham Streets won twice including an 11-6 8-11 10-12 11-9 11-9 opening success over Jim Warren.
Press 25 - 26th March 2023
Kingfisher A completed an impressive division 1 season with a comfortable 10-0 performance against Kingfisher C while second place Our Lady of Peace A didn’t have it so easy, winning 6-4 against Sonning Sports A, whose star player Dave Croucher picked up a maximum. Kingfisher D secured third place with an impressive 9-1 show against fourth placed Sonning Common & Peppard A. Graham Mendick and Ryan Chung remaining unbeaten. Julian Telford could have joined them as he scored a nice comeback win over Gary Morgan 9-11 3-11 11-6 14-12 11-9, but Jamie Barlow proved too strong for him.
Tidmarsh A signed off strongly 8-2 over Sonning Common & Peppard B with Duncan Groves and Lee Calcutt scoring maximums. There was another defeat for bottom side Reading FC at the hands of Tilehurst RBL A 3-7, with one highlight being Keith Winter's victory over Mike Childs 11-9 7-11 11-9 4-11 11-7. Tilehurst could still finish fifth if they can beat Sonning Common & Peppard B by an 8-2 score line in next week's rearranged fixture.
Congratulations to Sonning Common & Peppard D as their 5-5 draw with Kingfisher F ensured they will finish top of Division 2. This match saw two excellent wins for the Kingfisher team with Ajai Kamath recovering from 1-2 down to beat Jonathan Abbott in five and Roger Pritchard winning an epic battle against the number 2 player in the Division Danny Dockree 12-10 in the fifth. In the battle for runners up spot a surprisingly emphatic 9-1 win for Our Lady of Peace B over Kingfisher G has left the OLOP team with a good chance of going up but the result ended the Kingfisher team’s chances. This match saw very good maximums for Dave Godfrey and Darek Kaminski.
Earlier in the week Kingfisher G had kept their promotion hopes alive with a hard fought 6-4 win over Tidmarsh B in a match which saw a number of long sets which went to five. Satej Jaywant recorded a fine maximum for Kingfisher including beating Dale Ballard 11-9 in the fifth. Relegation threatened Kingfisher E lost 6-4 at Tilehurst RBL B with the four points gained just about keeping their hopes of avoiding relegation alive. Kate Maksimenko got another maximum for the Tilehurst team but the set of the night was Kingfisher Captain Clive Gold’s win in five against John Willcocks with the final game ending 13-11.
In Division 3 table tennis just got wild in Week 28! The last week of the season was a real nail-biter, with teams fighting tooth and nail for every point. And boy, did they bring the drama!
First up, we had the showdown of the season as the unstoppable Pangbourne WMC faced off against Tidmarsh C in a battle for the ages. With Pangbourne WMC already crowned champions, Tidmarsh C had everything to play for the promotion. They threw everything they had at Pangbourne WMC, but in the end, Pangbourne's unbeaten record remained intact. Ian Wu was the player of the match for Tidmarsh C, bagging all three wins. What a hero! Over at Tilehurst Methodists B, it was another gruelling match as Kingfisher H tried to take them down a peg. The match was so close, with four players winning two games each. But the real excitement came during the doubles match, which had us all on the edge of our seats. In a thrilling fifth set, Kingfisher H clinched the victory with a nail-biting score of 8-11 11-8 13-11 10-12 7-11. Talk about a heart-stopper!
Meanwhile, Tidmarsh D drew with OLOP D, which unfortunately spelt the end of Tidmarsh D's promotion dreams. It was a tough match, but Simon Brookes and Mark Carless from OLOP D held strong and won two games each. On the other side of the table, Chris and Ray Webb fought hard and also won two games each, resulting in a well-earned draw. And last but not least, we had OLOP E versus Springfield A, in a match that was crucial for not only both teams but also two more Tidmarsh teams. Springfield A came out on top with a 6-4 win, putting OLOP E out of the promotion race and giving Springfield A a glimmer of hope.
But wait, there's more! With a few matches still to play, the promotion race is far from over. Who knows, Tidmarsh C could make a spectacular comeback and win 7-3 to clinch promotion to the second division. Anything is possible in the world of table tennis!
In division 4 Sonning Common & Peppard E won 7-3 at Tilehurst RBL C and as a result are all but promoted and if they win there last match by more than 6-4 will be champions, Jim Warren and Ian Davenport both gained trebles. Tilehurst Methodists C are promoted after they won 8-2 at Kingfisher I, Lewis Oke did well to win all three.
Sonning Common & Peppard F beat bottom side Kingfisher J 10-0 with Gerry Bacon, Oliver Bonser and Mike Casserley all winning three, while Sonning Sports C beat a two player Our Lady of Peace G team 7-3 despite a Pat Daniels treble for OLOP.
Press 24 - 19th March 2023
Kingfisher A proved their champion's credentials as their trio of Martin Adams, Hari Gehlot and Darren Jones pushed aside a strong Kingfisher D 10-0 with little difficulty in division 1. Helped by a maximum by Steve Murgatroyd, second place Our Lady of Peace A narrowly edged Sonning Common and Peppard A 6-4, with all encounters on the night requiring either a fourth or decisive fifth set including Steve's win over Jamie Barlow 8-11 17-15 11-4 10-12 11-8.
Elsewhere, Kingfisher B's quest for fifth place took a positive turn as they overcame rivals Tilehurst RBL A 8-2, the highlights being excellent maximums from Phil Mead and young Theo Kniep, whose temperament was exemplified as he won all his games against Jon Willis, Marc Brent and Keith Winter in the deciding fifth set. Despite another maximum from Mike Childs, bottom side Reading FC could not avoid a 4-6 defeat away to Tidmarsh A. Sonning Common and Peppard B reserve Danny Dockree played up from Division Two and remained undefeated as he superbly upset Sonning Sports A, who are already safe from relegation. He was helped by a double from Matt Isherwood to inflict a 3-7 defeat.
Promotion rivals Tidmarsh B and Sonning Common & Peppard C fought out a 5-5 draw with the SC&P side recovering from 1-4 down. Dale Ballard gotan excellent maximum for Tidmarsh and Francois Durand won twice, beating both Malcolm Gregory and Nigel Maltby. Brian Meheux had a great win over Francois for the Commoners as well as teaming up with Nigel to win the doubles. Our Lady of Peace B moved level on points with Tidmarsh after an 8-2 win over Our Lady of Peace C with Darek Kaminski and Chris West both getting maximums. The highlight sets was the C team’s Binit Bhaskar recovering from two games down to beat Dave Godfrey 11-7 in the fifth.
In their second match of the week Our Lady of Peace C lost 7-3 to Kingfisher G, a result which just about condemns them to relegation and which also keeps Kingfisher G’s promotion hopes alive, Satej Jaywant got an a very good maximum for Kingfisher G. The best set of the night was between OLOP’s Pradeep Desh and the Kingfisher Captain Andrew Adair which Pradeep won 12-10 in the fifth after Andrew recovered from 8-3 down to go 10-9 up but he then missed an easy smash on match point. At the bottom of the table the relegation fight was thrown wide open after Kingfisher F beat Kingfisher E 8-2, a result which drags the E team back into the relegation battle and gives the F team a chance of staying up. Roger Pritchard recorded a three straight maximum for the F team and the in-form Ajai Kamath also won three.
In exciting news for Divison 3, Week 27 saw all matches played on Wednesday, with both the title race and relegation battle coming to a close. At the OLOP club, there were two matches taking place simultaneously. Our Lady of Peace F took on Tidmarsh C but unfortunately lost the match 8-2 despite a valiant effort by James Evison and James Smith, who managed to steal a win from Dave Martin. Ian Wu and Simon Craig were the stars of the match, with a maximum of three wins for Tidmarsh C. The highlight of the match was a 5 set thriller between Alona Slobodskoy and Dave Martin. Alona managed to make it all square after coming from 2-0 down but lost the last set: 8-11 8-11 11-9 11-8 9-11. Meanwhile, on the other table, Our Lady of Peace D faced Sonning Sports B and won convincingly with a 9-1 score line. Sonning Sports B's hopes of avoiding relegation were dashed, as they only managed to secure one point from Harry Brough.
Springfield A also had a crucial match against Tilehurst Methodists B and managed to win 6-4, bringing them one step closer to promotion. Tilehurst Methodists B, however, secured the important four points needed to avoid relegation. The highlight of the match was a thrilling 5-set battle between Rob Wilkie and Nigel Rowland, with Nigel managing to steal the match from 0-2 down: 8-11 10-12 11-7 11-5 11-9. In the last match of the week, Pangbourne WMC faced off against surprise team Tidmarsh D and Pangbourne emerged victorious with an 8-2 win, securing the title and becoming this year's champions. Despite the seemingly one-sided result, the match was long and tough, with lots of deuces and close battles with quite a few 5-set games, including a tough 5-set battle between Clive Taylor and Ray Webb which ended in the fifth set. Congratulations to Pangbourne WMC for their well-deserved win!
Despite a Rupesh Ahluwalia hat trick Kingfisher J lost 7-3 to Kingfisher I in their division 4 derby encounter. Springfield B ended their season in style by hammering Sonning Common & Peppard F 8-2 with Marcello Caramma winning all three. Prior to that Sonning Common F had beaten Our Lady of Peace G 9-1 with hat tricks from Gerry Bacon and Oliver Bonser.
Tilehurst Meths C beat Tilehurst RBL C 7-3 with Steve Christelow, Rob James and Steve Wood all obtaining doubles, while Sonning Common & Peppard E beat a two player Tilehurst RBL C team 9-1, Jim Warren and Anthony Reeve remained unbeaten on the night.
Press 23 - 12th March 2023
In the top-of-the-table clash, already crowned division 1 champions Kingfisher A scored a 9-1 away victory over second place Our Lady of Peace A but Mo Cook claimed a well-earned victory for the hosts over Kingfisher’s Ross Saxby 8-11 11-7 4-11 15-13 13-11. The points were shared 5-5 as struggling Kingfisher C, thanks to an excellent maximum from young Prayrit Ahluwalia, managed to hold Kingfisher D who are just holding on to third place. Another exciting 5-5 resulted when the two Sonning Common & Peppard teams came together. Ed Lush helped the B team in dropping just a single end on the night while Matt Isherwood impressively edged Jamie Barlow 11-8 11-7 8-11 9-11 11-9 as he and Ed teamed up to take the doubles.
Sonning Sports A assured their place in Division 1 next season with a 7-3 victory over bottom side Reading FC with another unbeaten performance by Dave Croucher, while Tidmarsh A took an important step towards survival with a narrow 6-4 win over Kingfisher B with no individual unbeaten on the night and several encounters requiring fifth-end deciders including an impressive final flourish from Lee Calcutt who overcame Alan Cummings 11-8 9-11 14-12 9-11 11-0.
Division 2 leaders Sonning Common & Peppard D were only able to field two players at Our Lady of Peace B but were still able to draw the match 5-5 which keeps their title bid on track. Their star player Danny Dockree was in great form recording a three straight maximum. Tidmarsh B stayed in second place following a 6-4 win over relegation threatened Tilehurst Methodistss A. Eric Van Looy got his customary maximum for the Tilehurst team with Dale Ballard and Mike Alstrop winning twice for Tidmarsh.
Sonning Common & Peppard C stayed in the promotion hunt with a 6-4 victory over Kingfisher G with Malcolm Gregory getting a maximum including wins in five against Savva Christodoulou and Satej Jaywant. Savva won a close contest with Sonning’s Nigel Maltby 11-7 11-2 8-11 7-11 11-9. Kingfisher F and Tilehurst RBL B fought out a 5-5 draw, a result which keeps the Kingfisher team’s hopes of avoiding relegation alive. Kate Maksimenko got yet another maximum for Tilehurst but she was forced to dig deep to recover from two games down to beat the improving Ajai Kamath in five.
In division 3 Springfield A and Tidmarsh C saw both teams desperate for a win to boost their promotion chances. In the end, the match resulted in a 5-5 draw, with Jason King and Mat Hickman from Springfield A and Dave Martin and Ian Wu from Tidmarsh C each grabbing 2 wins each. Unfortunately, Rob Wilkie from Springfield A couldn't manage a win. The highlight of the match was the doubles, which ended in a thrilling 14-12 fifth-set victory for Springfield A, securing their draw. Our Lady of Peace E faced a club derby against Our Lady of Peace D, but unfortunately for OLOP E, they had to forfeit 3 games due to missing a player. Despite this setback, they managed to snag 4 points and keep their position on the upper side of the table. The highlight of the match was the intense battle between Parvin Baishkiyar and Simon Brookes, which ended in a fifth-set victory of 11-9 for Simon.
Sonning Sports B took on top team Pangbourne WMC. After a devastating 10-0 loss in their first match, Sonning Sports B came back strong and secured 3 solid wins against the division leaders. John Simmonds and Clive Taylor from Pangbourne WMC had a maximum of 3 wins each, but each player from Sonning Sports B managed to snag at least 1 game. It was a gruelling match, with only 1 game finishing in 3 sets and a whopping 5 games going all the way to the fifth set. Harry Brough may have lost 2 games in the fifth set, but he managed to grab a win against Leroy Wilson.
The top of the table clash in division 4 between Tilehurst Methodists C and Sonning Common & Peppard E was won by the away team 6-4 thanks mainly to a treble from the division 4 singles champion Jim Warren. Kingfisher I drew 5-5 with Springfield B with Walter Aldridge winning all three while Sonning Common & Peppard E won a second match of the week after beating Sonning Sports C 8-2 with Derek Wavell winning all three. For the Sports Stephen Reader won two which included beating Jim Warren
Despite a maximum from Rupesh Ahluwalia, Kingfisher J lost 6-4 to Tilehurst Methodists C.
Press 22 - 5th March 2023
The core Kingfisher A quartet of Martin Adams, Ross Saxby, Darren Jones and Hari, Gehlot, who remains undefeated, have retained their title with little difficulty over the season. Their lead became unassailable this week as they breezed past Sonning Common and Peppard B 10-0. Elsewhere second place Our Lady of Peace A defeated struggling Kingfisher C 7-3 despite an excellent triple from young Prayrit Ahluwalia. The points were shared as Sonning Common & Peppard A hosted Kingfisher D in a rearranged fixture. Kingfisher's Graham Mendick remained unbeaten although a crunch match with Gary Morgan could not be completed after Gary suffered an injury. The team doubled up this week to defeat bottom club Reading FC 7-3, all three defeats originating from the bat of Michael Childs. Notably, Sonning reserve Malcolm Gregory contributed a useful double including a tight victory over Tony Alleyne 11-8 11-9 9-11 4-11 11-9.
Tidmarsh A narrowly defeated Tilehurst RBL A 6-4. Lee Calcutt, Simon Barter and Antony Baker all scored excellent wins over Marc Brent who was outscored by double victories by Jon Willis and reserve, Kate Maksimenko. Sonning Sports A continued their good form with a 7-3 home victory to a two-player Kingfisher B. Dave Croucher was the only undefeated player but opponents Alan Cummings and reserve Luca Bianchi both contributed useful consolation points, Luca pushing aside Division one regular Nick Sears 11-5 11-7 11-6.
Division 2 table toppers Sonning Common & Peppard D were held to a 5-5 draw by Tilehurst RBL B in a match which saw an epic encounter between two of the division’s top three players. This ended with Tilehurst’s Kate Maksiminko beating SC P’s Danny Dockree 11-6 10-12 8-11 11-6 11-9 in the fifth in a fluctuating set which featured many high quality rallies. Sonning Common & Peppard C kept their promotion hopes alive with a 7-3 win at relegation threatened Our Lady of Peace C with Nigel Maltby getting a good maximum for the SC&P side.
In a close encounter Kingfisher E edged out Our Lady of Peace B 6-4 with skipper Clive Gold recording an impressive maximum for the Kingfisher team. The set of the night was OLOP’s Chris West against Nilanjan Chakroborty which Chris won 11-7 in the fifth. In the match between relegation threatened Tilehurst Methodists A and Kingfisher F the Tilehurst team won 6-4, a result which does little to improve either teams chances of staying up. Tilehurst Captain Eric Van Looy got his customary maximum his team mate Phil Jones recorded two good wins including recovering from 2-1 down to beat Hamid Mohseni 12-10 in the fifth.
The Division 3 promotion race is heating up faster than a spicy jalapeno pepper! Tidmarsh D are on fire with some fantastic results, like their 10-0 thrashing of Tilehurst Methodists B. Ouch! Michael Williams from Tilehurst almost had a win, but unfortunately lost in a nail-biting fifth set against Ray Webb. Speaking of surprises, Our Lady of Peace E came out swinging with a solid 4 points against almost-champions Pangbourne WMC. John Simmonds had a triple win, while Clive Taylor lost two games in one match for the first time ever! Over on the OLOP E side, Louise and Parvin each had two wins each, with Louise clinching a thrilling fifth-set victory over Leroy Wilson: 11-7 11-13 7-11 11-5 11-5.
Our Lady of Peace D took on Tilehurst Methodists B in a rescheduled game and came out victorious, with Mark Carless leading the charge with three wins. Tilehurst Methodists B managed to salvage a point by winning the doubles in five games, which is important for them in avoiding the dreaded relegation zone: 11-5 9-11 15-13 5-11 11-9. And finally, in a marathon match-up, Springfield A battled it out with Kingfisher H, resulting in a 5-5 draw for the third consecutive time with their opponents. Springfield A is still comfortable for promotion with 5 points, but they had better watch their backs in the coming weeks! Let's see who comes out on top in this wild and crazy Division 3 promotion race!
In division 4 Kingfisher I won 7-3 at Our Lady of Peace G with Mick Mitcham maintaining his good form by winning all three. At the top Tilehurst Royal British Legion C were held to a 5-5 draw by Sonning Sports C for whom Stephen Reader won two as did Jim Brent and Paul Treadgold for the Tilehurst team. Springfield B beat bottom side Kingfisher J 9-1 with Steve O'Connor and Richard Sabberton- Coe both obtaining trebles.
Press 21 - 26th February 2023
There were several closely fought encounters this week in Division 1, although this was not the case for Kingfisher A who now need just a few more points to confirm their title defence, as they breezed past bottom club Reading FC 10-0. Mike Childs came close to upsetting Ross Saxby as he spurned a couple of match points going down 11-6 11-7 8-11 16-18 3-11. Second met third when Our Lady of Peace A hosted Kingfisher D but it was the visitors who came out on top in a fantastic tussle. Both Ryan Chung and Graham Mendick overcame Ian Cole, Justin Mead and Mo Cook to seal the 4-6 result.
Elsewhere Young Theo Kniep helped Kingfisher B to a 6-4 victory over two-player Sonning Common & Peppard A team including a coming-of-age performance over Neil Hurford 11-5 11-5 11-8. Another Prayrit Ahluwalia maximum, including the scalp of Ed Lush, could not stop a 4-6 defeat for struggling Kingfisher C at Sonning Common & Peppard B, while Dave Croucher's triple saw Sonning Sports A through with another 6-4 win, this time over Tilehurst RBL A.
In the SC&P local derby league leaders Sonning Common & Peppard D consolidated their position at the top of the division 2 table with a 7-3 win over Sonning Common & Peppard C with Danny Dockree getting his customary maximum, alongside Jon Abbott. The tightest set of the night was the D team’s Jonathan Abbott just edging out Nigel Maltby in four very close games 6-11 14-12 15-13 12-10. Tidmarsh B moved up to second place in the division with an 8-2 win over relegation threatened Our Lady of Peace C with Dale Ballard getting a very good maximum. The highlight set was OLOP’s Sanket Dave recovering from two games down to beat Francois Durand in five.
Kingfisher G jumped up into third place and into the promotion battle with a comprehensive 9-1 win over a weakened Tilehurst Methodists A team with Satej Jaywant and Savva Chistodoulou getting maximums for the Kingfisher side. Tilehurst’s Bill Stamatiou had a good comeback win in five against Kingfisher captain Andrew Adair. In a mid table clash Tilehurst RBL B beat Our Lady of Peace B 6-4. The highlight set was Tilehurst’s Nick Lean overcoming the difficult to beat Darak Kaminski 11-9 in the fifth after losing the fourth 14-16 from a commanding winning position. OLOP’s Dave Godfrey had a good comeback win against John Willcocks winning 11-8 in the fifth having lost the first two games.
After a cup-week break the action was back in division 3 and better than ever with four matches scheduled. First up, Tilehurst Methodists B hosted Pangbourne WMC and the leaders Pangbourne were feeling confident about their win. Clive Taylor and John Simmonds scored a maximum of three wins each. Michael Williams and Martin Wetherell managed to beat Leroy Wilson, but the highlight of the match was when Wilson snuck a win from Patrick O'Sullivan, coming back from 1-2 down to win 3-2: 11-9 13-15 9-11 11-7 11-5 as Pangbourne ran out 8-2 winners. Our Lady of Peace E took on Tidmarsh C in a crucial promotion match. OLOP ended up winning 7-3, securing their third-place spot and closing the gap between them and second placed Springfield A to just three points. Ian Wu from Tidmarsh C gave it his all with three wins, but it wasn't enough to protect his team from defeat. With 10 games being so close (sets were either 11-9 or deuce) that they could have gone either way, it was a nail-biting match all around.
Springfield A came out on top against Our Lady of Peace F, winning 9-1 with Alona Slobodskoy scoring the only point for the OLOP team. Highlight of the match was when Jason King snuck a win against Alona from 0-2 down. It was a real rollercoaster ride of a match, with Jason King coming back to win 3-2 after a thrilling five sets: 7-11 11-13 11-9 11-8 11-7. Sonning Sports B hosted Tidmarsh D in a match that saw Chris Webb dominate with three wins. The doubles game was a real thriller, with three sets going to deuce and Tidmarsh D coming back from 1-2 down to win 10-12 14-12 6-11 15-13 11-6. It was a tough loss 7-3 for Sonning Sports B, but a fantastic win for Tidmarsh D.
In division 4 a hat trick from Steve Christelow helped Tilehurst Methodists C to a 6-4 win at Springfield B, Rob Attack won two for Springfield. Our Lady of Peace G gained 7 excellent points by beating Kingfisher J 7-3, Pat Daniels and Fitzroy Licorish were the maximum men, while Kingfisher I comprehensively beat Sonning Sports C 9-1 with Mick Mitcham and Walter Aldridge both winning all three. The eagerly awaited local derby between Sonning Common & Peppard F and Sonning Common & Peppard E was postponed.
Press 20 - 19th February 2023
Kingfisher C kept in touch at the bottom of the division 1 table after a 5-5 draw at Tidmarsh A. Prayrit Ahluwalia was the star player for Kingfisher with a hat trick that saw victories against Tony Baker 13-11 14-12 11-4, Duncan Groves 11-6 11-8 20-22 11-7 and Lee Calcutt 11-8 11-7 11-2. For Tidmarsh Duncan and Tony won twice and Lee picked up a handy win against Emma Blachford 11-5 8-11 11-5 9-11 12-10 after earlier losing in 5 games to Mike Douglas.
Kingfisher A remain well clear of Our Lady of Peace A at the top with Kingfisher D and Sonning Common & Peppard A battling it out for 3rd and 4th. At the bottom Reading FC are 11 points from safety with matches running out.
In division 2 Tidmarsh B bounced up into 2nd place in this extremely tight division after a 7-3 win against Tilehurst RBL B. Kate Maksimenko won all three for Tilehurst, however Dale Ballard, Francois Durand and Mike Aistrop recorded two wins apiece to give Tidmarsh their win. Kate had to work hard to beat Mike in her opener 8-11 12-10 11-6 10-12 11-3 while Pete Bradley pushed Dale Ballard close before Dale ran out the winner 6-11 11-9 11-5 13-11.
Sonning Common & Peppard D continue to look good to finish top but face a tricky contest against club rivals Sonning Common & Peppard C this week.
Pangbourne WMC went clear at the top of division 3 after they hammered Our Lady of Peace D 10-0, Leroy Wilson, Clive Taylor and John Simmonds all got hat tricks with Leroy just edging out Simon Brookes 9-11 11-6 11-7 17-15 in the closest match of the night. Springfield A remain just a single point ahead of Our Lady of Peace E in 2nd, while Tidmarsh C are still in the promotion picture in 4th with a match in hand.
At the bottom Sonning Sports B and Our Lady of Peace F look destined for the drop.
In division 4 Kingfisher I went well clear from the bottom by beating Sonning Sports C 9-1,
Mick Mitcham and Walter Aldridge both hit hat tricks. In a top of the table clash Sonning Common & Peppard F thrashed Tilehurst RBL C 8-2 with Gerry Bacon recording a three straight maximum by beating Jim Brent 6-11 8-11 8-11 Linda King 4-11 6-11 8-11 and Geoff Johnson 7-11 6-11 8-11. It’s still any two from four teams at the top to go up with Sonning Common & Peppard E and Tilehurst Methodists C both still very much in the hunt and remaining in pole positions.
Press 19 - 12th February 2023
Kingfisher A all but confirmed the division 1 title with a 10-0 whitewash of their B side, while two of the leading local players, Graham Mendick and Ed Lush, met in the Kingfisher D vs Sonning Common & Peppard B clash. It was Graham who emerged victorious in straight sets as the sides shared a 5-5 draw. Sonning Common & Peppard A and Tilehurst RBL A also shared the points despite a triple from Sonning Common's Jamie Barlow who did not lose a single end.
Sonning Sports A scored a useful 8-2 win over Tidmarsh A, who could only field two players. Dave Croucher was unbeaten on the night. The two bottom sides met as Kingfisher C hosted Reading FC. A promising double from Mike Douglas couldn't stop an 8-2 victory for the Royals with Mike Childs remaining unbeaten. Both sides are still favourites to end in the relegation zone and are still to face Kingfisher A but with five games left there is still an opportunity to climb up the table if they can field their strongest squads.
Sonning Common & Peppard D gave their title hopes a boost in division 2 with a 9-1 victory over Tidmarsh B in a match that was much closer than the score suggests with all but one set going to four or five. SC&P’s star player Danny Dockree avenged an early season loss to Dale Ballard winning 11-8 in the fifth in a marathon set. Our Lady of Peace B moved up to second place in the division following an 8-2 win over relegation threatened Kingfisher F despite Kingfisher’s Hamid Mohseni’s highly impressive three straight win against OLOP’s Chris West.
Sonning Common & Peppard C slipped down to third in the table following a 5-5 draw against Kingfisher E with Nigel Maltby getting a good maximum for SC&P that included a tense last set win over Kingfisher’s Luca Bianchi to clinch the draw 11-9 11-3 8-11 8-11 12-10.
In Division 3 Tidmarsh C emerged victorious against Tilehurst Methodists B with a 9-1 score line. Ian Wu and Richard Hudson were the stars of the show for Tidmarsh C, each scoring a maximum of three wins, while Michael Williams put in a valiant effort for Tilehurst Methodists B, managing to grab a single win against Simon Craig. OLOP E continued their impressive run of form, securing a 7-3 victory over Tidmarsh D. Qing Wu and Harry Bullock joined with 2 wins to Louis’s treble of wins, while Ray Webb's two wins and efforts in doubles were the only points earned by Tidmarsh D. Dave Edwards came up just short and unlucky, losing two close matches in the fifth set, particularly against Harry Bullock. the highly-anticipated postponed match between Pangbourne WMC and Springfield A took place. Pangbourne WMC had another fantastic result, securing an 8-2 victory and reclaiming the top spot with a game in hand. Clive Taylor and John Simmonds both scored trebles. On the other side, Rob Wilkie for Springfield A, unfortunately, lost two matches in the fifth set. The final match of the night was an absolute thriller, with Clive securing a 3-2 victory over Rob in a nail-biting finish: 5-11 13-11 11-4 8-11 11-4
Sonning Sports B secured an 8-2 win over Our Lady of Peace F, closing the gap with Tilehurst Methodists B as they chase their hopes of avoiding relegation. James Evison and James Smith came close to winning to secure a draw, but Harry Borough held his composure in the fifth set of both matches to have a treble of wins. Meanwhile, the match between Kingfisher H and Our Lady of Peace D was a close one, with all three Kingfisher players earning two wins each. The doubles match was a nail-biter, ending in Kingfisher's favour: 10-12 11-13 11-5 9-11.
A hat trick from Jim Warren helped Sonning Common & Peppard E to beat Kingfisher I 6-4 in their division 4 encounter as they moved up to 2nd place. Leaders Tilehurst Methodists C beat Sonning Sports C 6-4 for whom Stephen Reader won all three by beating Arek Ziollkowski 11-3 11-9 11-8, Rob James 11-8 6-11 11-9 11-9 and Steve Wood 11-8 13-11 8-11 10-12 11-6.
Our Lady of Peace G gained a creditable 5-5 drew with Springfield B with Fitzroy Licorish winning all three for the home team.Press 18 - 5th February 2023
Kingfisher A edged closer to confirming the Division One title with a 10-0 win away to Tilehurst RBL A, who put up little resistance. Second Place Our Lady of Peace A stuttered with only two players but still managed to edge out Sonning Common & Peppard B 6-4, Sonning's additional point originating from the bat of Matt Isherwood with an excellent win over Steve Murgatroyd, while for OLOP Ian Cole continued his impressive recent run without dropping an end.
At the bottom end of the table, Reading FC suffered a 2-8 loss at home to Kingfisher D. Julian Telford and young Ethan Zheng picked up two each, both losing out to Mike Childs in closely fought encounters. But Mike could not convert a 2-0 lead over Graham Mendick, who once again earned his maximum. Despite Prayrit Ahluwalia scoring another triple, Kingfisher C remain stuck in the relegation zone after a 4-6 loss against Kingfisher B. Elsewhere, reserve Dale Ballard outscored his Tidmarsh A team mates which included an unexpected 3-0 victory over Sonning Common & Peppard A's Neil Hurford. The end result was 4-6 in Sonning Common's favour with Jamie Barlow remaining unbeaten for them.
Sonning Common & Peppard D’s title ambitions from division 2 took a slight knock when they could only field two players and went down to a 4-6 defeat against Kingfisher G. The two highlight sets were SC&P’s star player Danny Dockree having a very close set against Neil Dellar before winning 11-9 in the fifth, plus the doubles where the SC&P team recovered from two games to one down and 5-10 down in the fourth to win in five.
Tidmarsh B and the improved Kingfisher E had a close match which the Tidmarsh team just edged 6-4 with Tidmarsh’s Dale Ballard getting an impressive three straight maximum.
Our Lady of Peace B beat a Tilehurst Methodists A team, minus their star player Eric Van Looy, 7-3. Bill Stamatiou had two good win for Tilehurst including beating Darek Kaminski and the set of the night was Darek’s win in five against Phil Jones.
The competition in division 3 heated up as three thrilling matches took place, and a new leader emerged at the top of the table. Springfield A has taken the top spot, although with one more game played than 2nd placed Pangbourne WMC. Our Lady of Peace E came out on top with a 9-1 victory against Sonning Sports B. Louise Forster and Parvin Baishkiyar contributed to the win three wins apiece while Harry Bullock chipped in with two wins. Meanwhile, Sonning Sports B's only win came from Keith Machin. Kingfisher H gave division leaders Pangbourne WMC a real run for their money and managed to secure a 5-5 draw. The match was full of five-setter games and close wins, with a Clive Taylor treble and last-game win saving Pangbourne from their first defeat of the season. The standout moment of the match was the intense five-setter doubles match, with Pangbourne once again coming close to their first loss of the season in doubles. Despite Kingfisher H's valiant effort, they were unable to convert a match point and eventually lost 11-6 9-11 11-6 11-13 8-11. Pangbourne’s John Simmonds had a tough day, losing two games in the fifth set.
Springfield A secured a 7-3 victory against Our Lady of Peace D to become the new leaders of the division. Rob Wilkie had a fantastic day with a maximum of three wins, while Graham Stark from OLOP D managed to steal one win from both Jason King and Peter Gurney. The highlight of the match was the thrilling double match, which went down to the wire and ended in a fifth set that was won by OLOP 8-11 13-11 11-9 9-11 11-6.
Despite a Walter Aldridge maximum Kingfisher I still lost 4-6 at home to division 4 promotion challengers Tilehurst Royal British Legion C, for whom Linda King and Jim Brent gained doubles. Sonning Common and Peppard E won 7-3 at Kingfisher J with Anthony Reeve gaining a three straight treble, while Tilehurst Methodists C went to the top by winning 10-0 at Our Lady of Peace G, the hat trick men being Steve Christelow, Andrew Stone and Lewis Oke for the Methodists.
Our Lady of Peace G then bounced back by beating fellow strugglers Sonning Sports C 6-4 with Fitzroy Licorish and Pat Daniels both winning all three.
Press 17 - 29th January 2023
The top two teams pulled further away from the chasing pack in division 1 with convincing 10-0 victories. Leaders Kingfisher A hosted Tidmarsh A and although Ross Saxby found himself at 0-2 in games and 1-5 in points, he was able to overturn a brave Division One debut performance for reserve Dale Ballard. Martin Adams and Darren Jones completed maximums. Despite coming back from behind and going to a deciding fifth game on four occasions, Our Lady of Peace A managed the same score line over a luckless Reading FC with Steve Murgatroyd, Mo Cook and Justin Mead spoiling the evening for Mike Childs, Wayne and Tony Alleyne.
The third and fourth placed teams both lost ground as a maximum from Kingfisher D's Graham Mendick could not stop a 4-6 defeat to their B side with young Theo Kniep and Captain Phil Mead picking up two wins each. Similarly, despite Gary Morgan carrying his squad by winning his three, Sonning Common & Peppard A could only manage a 5-5 with Sonning Sports A, who fielded their strongest squad with all members, Nick Sears, Dave Croucher and Paul Savage, who scored a mention-worthy 3-0 victory over Jamie Barlow, contributing.
Kingfisher C's relegation worries became more prevalent with a 3-7 defeat to Tilehurst RBL A despite a first win for Mike Douglas and a welcome return for Prayrit Ahluwalia, who could not stop an in-form Marc Brent taking a maximum on the night.
League leaders Sonning Common & Peppard D strengthened their position at the top of the division 2 table with a 9-1 win over Our Lady of Peace C with maximums for Danny Dockree and Mark Jones. Sanket Dave recorded the one win for OLOP beating Jonathan Abbott three straight. Second placed Sonning Common & Peppard C lost ground on their club rivals after suffering a shock 8-2 loss against relegation threatened Kingfisher F. Kingfisher skipper Roger Pritchard had an impressive maximum only dropping one game in the process and Ajai Kamath and Hamid Mohsnie both won twice.
In the Kingfisher local derby the improving E team beat their G team 7-3 with all of their players winning twice. The G team’s Sajej Jaywant recorded a maximum including beating E team captain Clive Gold in five. In a mid-table clash Tilehurst RBL B and Tidmarsh B fought out a well contested draw. Kate Maksimenko got a very good maximum for Tilehurst including recovering from two down to beat Tidmarsh’s star player Dale Ballard 11-7 in the fifth. The other highlight set was Dale beating John Willcocks 12-10 in the fifth with a net on match point.
Division 3 this week was packed with drama and excitement as two major games took centre stage. After a tough loss last week, Kingfisher H came back stronger and gave the Tidmarsh C team a run for their money. It was a long and gruelling match, with both teams trading blows in a series of intense rallies. In the end, the match ended in a 5-5 draw, with only three games finished in straight sets. The highlight of the match was Kingfisher H's comeback in doubles, where they were 2-0 down but managed to win the game 3-2 in a nail-biting finish: 11-6, 11-7, 6-11, 9-11, 8-11. In the OLOP derby between Our Lady of Peace F and Our Lady of Peace E Alona Slobodskoy returned for OLOP F and they had their best result yet. Despite losing 6-4, this was their closest match. Every OLOP F player had one win each against different players of OLOP E, making it an interesting match. The best game was the 5-setter doubles, which OLOP F won, making this their best point in the season 11-5 6-11 11-6 9-11 11-8.
The last match of the week was a crucial one for the relegation battle. Arch-rivals Sonning Sports B and Tilehurst Methodists B went head-to-head in a long and tough match that lasted almost 4 hours. 5 out of 10 games went to the fifth game, making it a match that could have gone either way. In the end, Tilehurst Methodists came out victorious with a 6-4 win, which put them 17 points clear of the relegation zone. Harry Brough had an unlucky day, losing 2 of his 5-setter games, and Sonning Sports B also lost the doubles despite being 2-0 up; 11-9 11-6 8-11 7-11 9-11.
The promotion race is really hotting up with 4 teams in the race to go up from division 4. Sonning Common & Peppard F have come storming through lately and this week beat Sonning Sports C 10-0 with Graeme Streets, Gerry Bacon and Mike Casserley all recording trebles. Sonning Common & Peppard E kept in the hunt by beating Springfield B 9-1. Anthony Reeve and Jim Warren were the hat trick men.
Tilehurst Royal British Legion C also won 9-1 by beating Kingfisher J, Paul Treadgold and Geoff Johnson both hit trebles. For Paul it was his first of the season.
Press 16 - 23rd January 2023
Kingfisher A took another step towards the division 1 title by completing a 10-0 thrashing of Sonning Sports A, who put up little resistance against Mengyao Shi and Darren Jones, although Nick Sears did well to take Ross Saxby to a deciding fifth set. Second placed Our Lady of Peace A were equally convincing against Kingfisher B who could only turn out two players. Martin Pugh fought hard to extend Mo Cook and Steve Murgatroyd to deciders as Ian Cole's recent impressive form continued.
A welcome first victory, a double in fact, for Tony Alleyne helped Reading FC to their second win in as many weeks, this time against Sonning Common & Peppard B 6-4. It was a real family affair as Wayne also contributed a point. However, neither they nor Mike Childs could stop Ed Lush's recent unbeaten run. There were some fantastic individual performances by Tilehurst RBL A at home against high-flying Kingfisher D. Jon Willis brushed aside Julian Telford 11-3 11-6 11-6 and Marc Brent scored a great win over Graham Mendick mirrored by Keith Winter over Ethan Zeng. But that was all they could manage as Kingfisher saw out a 7-3 victory.
In division 2 the Sonning Common & Peppard D v Tilehurst Methodists A match featured the clash between the divisions two top players, Sonning Common’s Danny Dockree and Tilehurst’s Eric Van Looy. Danny avenged his defeat earlier in the season with a three straight win which helped his team to a 6-4 win. Tidmarsh B also recorded a 6-4 win in their match against Kingfisher F with all of the Tidmarsh players winning twice. The Kingfisher Captain Roger Pritchard recorded an excellent maximum only dropping one game on the night.
Kingfisher E maintained their recent improved form with an 8-2 win over Our Lady of Peace C with skipper Clive Gold recording a maximum for Kingfisher. The highlight set was Kingfisher’s Akeel Mir recovering from two down to beat Binit Bhaskar 11-9 in the fifth. Kingfisher G improved their chances of finishing in the top four with a 7-3 win over Tilehurst RBL B. All of the Kingfisher team won twice in a match which featured a number of very close long sets the pick of which was Tilehurst’s Nick Lean coming back from two down to beat Abhay Gore 11-9 in the fifth.
It was a thrilling week of action in Division 3 of the table tennis league. Tilehurst Methodists B took on Our Lady of Peace E. Louise Forster powered her team to a strong lead with a treble, but Martin Wetherell also put in a strong performance for Tilehurst Methodists B, winning two games for his team. Despite their efforts the home team couldn't quite secure a draw or a win with OLOP running out 7-3 winners. The highlight of the match was a tense fifth set between Mike Williams and Louise Forster, which Louise ultimately won 11-7 11-9 5-11 9-11 11-9. Our Lady of Peace D secured a commanding 9-1 victory over club mates Our Lady of Peace F in a local OLOP derby. OLOP F are still struggling to win games and their hopes of avoiding relegation are fading fast. The standout performance of the match came from Simon Brookes, who secured his first treble of the season with a 3-2 victory in the fifth set against James Smith 11-1 11-8 9-11 5-11 11-6.
Kingfisher H faced off against Tidmarsh D in a match between two well-matched teams. Despite a valiant effort, Kingfisher H had a tough day on the court, losing 9-1. Many of the matches went down to the wire, with long rallies making for an exciting but exhausting contest. The win moves Tidmarsh D up the table and well in the hunt for the promotion.
Tilehurst Royal British Legion C moved into second place in division 4 by beating Springfield B 7-3. Geoff Johnson had a good night by winning all three while Paul Treadgold and Jim Brent for TRBL and Steve O'Connor for Springfield all obtained doubles. Sonning Common & Peppard E had a good 9-1 away win at Our Lady of Peace G, Ian Davenport and John Evans both gained trebles for Sonning Common with Derek Wavell winning twice.
Press 15 - 16th January 2023
A Michael Childs treble gained Reading FC a much needed win as they beat Sonning Sports A 6-4 to just about keep themselves in touch with the other relegation strugglers in division 1. Sonning Sports 4 points saw them creep ahead of Kingfisher C who replace them in the bottom two. In a match brought forward Kingfisher B managed a 6-4 win at Sonning Common & Peppard B thanks to doubles from Nigel Keedy, Alan Cummings and Theo Knip. Ed Lush managed a good treble for Sonning Common.
Kingfisher A continued their league domination into the new year with a 10-0 win over Sonning Common and Peppard A. Neil Hurford performed well to go 2-0 up on Hari Gehlot who then made amends by winning the remaining ends 11-3 11-3 11-4. Darren Jones and Ross Saxby completed the rout. The second placed trio from Our Lady of Peace A, Justin Mead, Ian Cole and Mo Cook, also won convincingly 9-1, only dropping the doubles against Tilehurst RBL A.
Kingfisher D kept up their challenge for a podium place with a 7-3 victory over Tidmarsh A who could only muster up two players. The pick of the ties was Kingfisher's Ethan Zeng narrowly losing out to Anthony Baker 8-11 11-6 6-11 11-4 9-11. Triples from both Paul Savage and Dave Croucher as well as a welcome maiden victory for Bob Woodmansee enabled Sonning Sports A to a handy 8-2 win against struggling Kingfisher C.
Sonning Common & Peppard D kept their narrow lead at the top of division 2 with a 6-4 win at the improving Kingfisher E. Danny Dockree got his customary maximum for SC&P although he was pushed all the way by Clive Gold before winning 11-8 in the fifth. Second placed Sonning Common & Peppard C had a good 7-3 win at Our Lady of Peace B with Brian Meheux returning to form with a very good maximum which included beating Dave Godfrey 11-8 in the fifth. Tilehurst RBL B and OLOP C had a hard fought 5-5 draw with Kate Maksimenko getting yet another maximum for Tilehurst. Binit Bhaskar and Pradeep Desh both won twice for OLOP and the highlight was Pradeep’s recovery from two down to beat Nick Lean 11-9 in the fifth.
In their second match of the week Our Lady of Peace B had a hard fought draw against Tidmarsh B. Barry Carter was the star for Tidmarsh with a maximum including beating the tricky Darek Kaminski in five. Set of the night was Darek recovering from two games down to beat Dale Ballard in five. In the Kingfisher derby the G team secured a good 8-2 victory over the F team helped by a maximum for Savva Christodoulou in a match that featured many very close sets. This included Savva beating the F teams captain Roger Pritchard 13-11 in the fifth and Roger then defeating Neil Dellar 13-11 in the fifth.
After a long break, the race for the title and to avoid relegation in Division 3 continues where we left off. Last week, the Reading Individual Handicap tournament took place and we want to congratulate Eyup Odemis on winning the tournament.
Tilehurst Methodists B faced off against Our Lady of Peace F and came out on top with a 7-3 victory. This win was crucial for Tilehurst Methodists B as they look to remain in Division 3. The match featured some exciting moments including a nail-biting doubles match that ended 3-2 for the home team and a thrilling fifth set between Martin Wetherell and James Smith that ended 17-15 in Martin's favour. Tidmarsh D hosted Springfield A in a closely contested match which the Springfield team won 6-4. Rob Wilkie from Springfield A had a maximum which proved to be the difference in the game. Peter Gurney, also from Springfield, had a tough night, losing all three of his matches in very close sets.
Kingfisher H beat Sonning Sports B 8-2. Harry Brough from Sonning Sports B managed to win one of his two 5-setters, while Keith Machin helped the team earn two valuable points in their fight against relegation. Our Lady of Peace F played their second match of the week as they re-scheduled their match against Our Lady of Peace D. It was a friendly, yet competitive game between all the club members which ended in a 9-1 victory for the D team. There were some exciting exchanges between Alice Walker and Mark Carless. Graham Stark and Mark Carless had a maximum of 3 wins, and Simon Brookes contributed 2 wins, and these 9 points moved them up in the table. The highlight of the match was the 5-setter match between Mark and James Smith where Mark was 2-1 down and won 2 sets 16-14 and 13-11 in a very close call.
In Division 4 Tilehurst Royal British Legion C were held to a daw by bottom side Our Lady of Peace G which was a blow to their promotion hopes. In the match there were doubles for Paul Treadgold and Geoff Johnson for the home side and Fitzroy Licorish for the away side
Sue Daniels came back from two games down to beat Geoff therefore gaining the double over him.
Sonning Common and Peppard F took away Tilehurst Methodists C’s 100% record by beating them 6-4, Graeme Streets is a class player and won all three with Gerry Bacon gaining a double. Sonning Sports C drew 5-5 with Kingfisher J with Stephen Reader hitting a good hat trick for the Sports team.
Press 14 - 18th December 2022
As the second half of the season kicks off in Division 1, third place Our Lady of Peace A restarted positively with a 9-1 victory over Tidmarsh A, whose sole winner was Duncan Groves, repeating his first half defeat of Steve Murgatroyd, who narrowly edged Simon Barter 13-11 in the decider, while Justin Mead and Ian Cole completed trebles. Sonning Common & Peppard A sitting one place higher at the turn replicated this score line, pushing aside Kingfisher C, young Prayrit Ahluwalia being their sole victor against Jason Roberts while Jamie Barlow and Neil Hurford sealed the comprehensive victory.
Kingfisher D continued their impressive run with an 8-2 score-line against Sonning Sports A, whose star player Dave Croucher had already beaten young talent Ryan Chung, took the two, but was no match for Graham Mendick on this occasion who stormed to a 11-3 11-6 11-6 victory. Despite Ed Lush scoring another treble, Sonning Common & Peppard B could not avoid a 6-4 defeat away to Tilehurst RBL A, who now lead the chasing pack striving for fifth. Just two points back, Kingfisher B pushed aside Reading FC 8-2, with Alan Cummings being awarded player-of-the-match with a fine treble including the scalp of Mike Childs.
In division 2 Our Lady of Peace C and Kingfisher F battled out a 5-5 draw, Hamid Mohseni with a great treble for Kingfisher that included an opening win against Pradeep Desh 9-11 13-15 13-11 11-211-9. Steven Woolnough managed two wins including an 11-8 11-9 6-11 9-1111-8 win over Binit Bhaskar in the final set of the night to clinch their draw. In the clash of the bottom two teams Tilehurst Methodists A and Kingfisher E also had a 5-5 draw. Tilehurst’s Eric Van Looy, the division’s top player, recorded yet another maximum and his team mate Bill Stamatiou was unfortunate to lose two very close sets in five, including a marathon against Luca Bianchi which he lost 11-9 in the fifth.
Despite a Graeme Streets hat trick Sonning Common & Peppard F lost 6-4 at Kingfisher I The main reason they could only field two players with Mike Mitcham and Walter Aldridge both managing wins over Peppard’s Mike Casserely. A good team performance saw Sonning Sports C win 6-4 at Springfield B for whom Rob Attack won all three, For the sports Stephen Reader and Mo Cole both won two each and Mo had a very close win over Richard Sabberton-Coe beating him 14-12 15-11 13-11.
Press 13 - 11th December 2022
Kingfisher A extended their lead in division 1 with a 9-1 victory over Kingfisher C. Young Prayrit Ahluwalia scored an excellent win over previously unbeaten Ross Saxby 11-6 11-9 7-11 3-11 12-10 to avoid the whitewash. An enthralling encounter between Sonning Sports A and runners-up chasers Our Lady of Peace A ended 4-6 in favour of OLOP, with no player unbeaten on the night and three of the match-ups being decided at the death. Two excellent wins for Sonning Sports were as Paul Savage expertly edged Mo Cook 11-9 in the deciding fifth set and Nick Sears overcoming Steve Murgatroyd by the same score-line. Dave Croucher missed out 13-15 in the fifth against Mo after letting a two-leg lead slip.
Elsewhere Reading FC remain bottom after succumbing 10-0 to Tilehurst RBL A, mercilessly inflicted by Marc Brent, Keith Winter and Jon Willis. Meanwhile, Tidmarsh A climbed up to fifth after an 8-2 victory over Sonning Common & Peppard B, who struggled to get a full side together. Jon Abbot performed brilliantly, playing up from Division 2, to get Sonning's 2 points over Duncan Groves and Simon Barter, but neither he nor Matt Stone could avoid Lee Calcutt's unbeaten performance.
In division 2 bottom of the table Kingfisher E had their best result of the season defeating Tilehurst RBL B 7-3. Stephen Leggett’s good recent from continued as he recorded a very good maximum and Luca Bianchi, who is just back playing after injury, also played well to win twice. John Willcocks got two good wins for Tilehurst and the set of the night was Kingfisher skipper Clive Gold just edging out Nick Lean 11-8 in the fifth. Kingfisher G and Our Lady of Peace B fought out a 5-5 draw with Darak Kaminski getting an impressive maximum for OLOP. The set of the night was OLOP’s Chris West recovering from two down to beat Neil Deller in five despite Chris suffering a heavy fall during the set.
Promotion chasing Sonning Common & Peppard D beat a two man Kingfisher F 8-2 with Kingfisher’s two wins coming from captain Roger Pritchard. This match saw a great set between SC&P’s Angus Jones and Steve Woolnough which Angus won 12-10 in the fifth after lots of long games. Sonning Common & Peppard C also maintained their promotion push with a 7-3 win at Tilehurst Methodists A. The divisions top player Eric Van Looy won all of his matches for Tilehurst although he was pushed fairly close by Nigel Maltby. The result leaves SC&P C just a couple of points behind their D team at the top of the table but leaves Tilehurst Meths A level on points with the bottom club.
In Division 3 the penultimate week before Christmas break, Pangbourne WMC vs Tidmarsh C match was postponed while all remaining matches were played. Kingfisher H hosted Tilehurst Methodists B and won the match 7-3. Tilehurst captain Patrick came from 0-2 down and beat Kingfisher H captain Huzeyfe in the first match; however the Kingfisher team won consecutive games to open up the difference. The highlight of the match was Martin Wetherell’s comeback against Huzeyfe from 0-2 down with the third game particularly thrilling as it finished 18-16 after Martin saved several match points. Rueben Hernandez and Eyup Odemis both won trebles for Kingfisher.
Springfield A and Our Lady of Peace E drew 5-5 in a very dramatic fashion. Captain Jason saved his team from a 6-4 loss after winning the last game against last few weeks well performing player Qing Wu. Louise Forster joined Qing Wu with her 2 wins and contributed a well deserved draw against a top team. Tidmarsh D beat Our Lady of Peace D 8-2. Ray Webb had a maximum for Tidmarsh while his team mates Terry and Chris joined in with 2 wins each contributed to their invaluable win against a good team. Graham Stark won the two sets for OLOP.
In division 4 Mick Mitcham starred for Kingfisher I by winning all three which included beating 100% Lewis Oke but the side still lost 6-4 at Tilehurst Methodists C. A hat trick from Graeme Streets helped Sonning Common & Peppard F win 7-3 at Kingfisher J.
Press 12 - 4th December 2022
It was a fascinating week in Division 1 where 100% records tumbled and a strong new player arrived on the scene. Clear leaders Kingfisher A scored a narrow 6-4 victory over third place Kingfisher D. Graham Mendick scored an outstanding 3-1 win over previously unbeaten Martin Adams 12-10 11-8 5-11 11-1, who then returned the compliment in being the first to beat Ryan Chung. In being short of players and needing a couple of reserves, previously unknown Henley Business School student, Mengyao Shi, stood in for the A team to make his first appearance. He recorded a treble with blistering forehand pace to confirm yet another win for the league favourites.
Another match with both teams in the top four took place as Our Lady of Peace A took on second place Sonning Common & Peppard A, who could only field two players. Joined by Ian Cole and Justin Mead, Steve Murgatroyd was the only unbeaten player on the night including taking out Gary Morgan 10-12 11-9 9-11 11-6 11-8 to secure the 7-3 win. Young Theo Kniep scored an excellent maximum as his Kingfisher B side narrowly turned over Tilehurst RBL A by a 6-4 score line. An off-colour Mike Childs could only take a single as Reading FC lost at home to Tidmarsh A 3-7, although no player remained unbeaten with FC's Tom Lewis taking two as did opponents Duncan Groves, Lee Calcutt and Anthony Baker. Reading FC now prop up the table after Sonning Common and Peppard B managed to pick up 12 points in completing a couple of rearranged matches including a 5-5 draw with Kingfisher C and 7-3 victory over Sonning Sports A.
An impressive maximum from skipper Nigel Maltby could not stop division 2 promotion contenders Sonning Common & Peppard C slipping to a 6-4 defeat against Tidmarsh B. The standout sets were Nigel’s great three straight victory over Tidmarsh’s star player Dale Ballard and a great recovery from two down by Tidmarsh’s Barry Carter to beat Malcolm Gregory 11-8 in the fifth. In the Kingfisher derby the F and E team’s fought out a 5-5 draw in a match where there were many very close sets. The F teams skipper Roger Pritchard recorded a very good maximum but was pushed all the way by Luca Bianchi, just beating him 11-10 in the fifth. The F team’s Ajai Kamath had an eventful evening with all of his sets going to five, winning two of them.
There was another 5-5 draw in the match between Tilehurst RBL B and Tilehurst Meths A. Eric Van Looy, the division’s top player, got yet another maximum for the Meths team only dropping one game on the night. Jes Eassom played his first match for Meths since suffering an injury in a match in early October and he played well including beating Nick Lean 11-9 in the fifth. In the OLOP derby the B team beat the C team 7-3 with all of the B team’s payers winning twice. Five sets went to five with the standout one being the C team’s Binit Bhaskar recovering from two down to beat Chris West in five.
After a free week for the cup matches, Division 3 continued where we left off. There were 5 games, including a rescheduled OLOP derby between OLOP D and OLOP E.
Tidmarsh C beat Our Lady of Peace F with a stunning 10-0 whitewash. For OLOP F, it was a bad day at the office as they struggled to win a game. Ian Wu was the player of the match for Tidmarsh by winning all of his games without dropping a set. Tilehurst Methodists B hosted Springfield A. Despite having a player from the lower division Tilehurst provided stiff opposition for Springfield. Unfortunately for the home team, most of the 5-setter games went for Springfield and it was they who won the match 7-3. However, the match's highlight was Tilehurst Methodists B’s incredible comeback in doubles from 2-0 down to a 3-2 victory.
In the battle between two of the divisions front runners, Pangbourne WMC won 6-4 at Tidmarsh D. It was a close battle as 4 of 6 players won two games. Tidmarsh's captain lost his first game in the 5th set, so this might have changed the game's fate, but the match's highlight was another 5-setter game in doubles. Dave and Ray would almost ruin the 100% record of Clive and Leroy in doubles but not quite. Mark Carless had his second maximum of the season as Our Lady of Peace D beat Sonning Sports B 7-3 Brett Hastings won his remaining 2 games to help his side to 3 valuable points. In a rescheduled fixture Our Lady of Peace E beat Our Lady of Peace D 6-4, Graham Stark was the star for the F team as he won all his games and helped winthe doubles to save his team from a more significant loss.
In division 4 Kingfisher J won 6-4 at Kingfisher I with new signing Chloe Kniep winning all three. Due to an error Sonning Common & Peppard F only had two players so Springfield B won 6-4.. For Sonning Mike Casserley hit a nice hat trick.
In the Tilehurst derby the Tilehurst Methodists C beat Tilehurst RBL C 6-4 with Rob James gaining a maximum.
Press 11 - 27th November 2022
Julian Telford and Ryan Chung both got trebles as Kingfisher D won 6-4 at Tidmarsh A in division 1. Meanwhile Sonning Common & Peppard B played two re-arranged matches in two days to climb of the foot of the table. Ed Lush got a hat-trick at Kingfisher C, supported through singles from Matt Stone and Denise Weller who both beat Daniel McTiernan as the two teams fought out a 5-5 draw. The following evening Matt Stone, Matt Isherwood and Tim Raby all managed two wins apiece as they beat Sonning Sports A 7-3, Matt beating Nick Sears 8-11 11-8 11-9 9-11 11-9.
In division 4 Our Lady of Peace G won their re-arranged fixture against Kingfisher J 6-4. Fitzroy Licorish was the star for OLOP with a good maximum, with Derek Brook winning twice and Susan Daniels winning a key opening match against Kingfisher’s Gillian Bennett 3-11 11-4 11-4 11-9.
Press 10 - 20th November 2022
In division 1 clear favourites Kingfisher A further increased their lead with a 10-0 win over Our Lady of Peace A, Justin Mead, Steve Murgatroyd and Mo Cook having no answer to the Kingfisher trio of Darren Jones, Hari Gehlot and Martin Adams, although Mo and Steve managed to win one game against Hari. Sonning Common & Peppard A climb into second place after the same 10-0 winning score line against their B team, Gary Morgan, Jamie Barlow and Neil Hurford all getting maximums.
The other two matches played this week were much closer affairs. Julian Telford was awarded plyer of the match as Kingfisher D also maintained their challenge for runners up with a 6-4 victory but were made to work hard against two-player Kingfisher C team. The points were shared when Tidmarsh A met Kingfisher B, with all players contributing either one (Lee Calcutt, Martin Pugh and Alan Cummings) or two (Anthony Baker, Simon Barter and Phil Mead) to the 5-5 score line. The tightness of the match was exemplified when Anthony narrowly lost out on his maximum after being edged out by Martin Pugh 10-12 11-6 10-12 11-9 13-15.
Table toppers Sonning Common & Peppard D had a hard fought 5-5 draw against Our Lady of Peace B with Danny Dockree getting yet another maximum for SC&P. OLOP’s Dave Godfrey had a long night with all of his sets closely fought and going to five including just coming up short against Danny Dockree and Mark Jones. He did however get a good victory over Jon Abbott winning 11-8 in the fifth. In another long match second placed Sonning Common & Peppard C had a very late finish against Kingfisher G in a match they edged 6-4 with Malcolm Gregory getting a good maximum including a very good three straight win over Neil Dellar. Andrew Adair had a mixed night for Kingfisher recovering from two games down to beat Brian Meheux 13-11 in the fifth but losing 11-8 in the fifth against Malcolm Gregory having been two games up.
Tilehurst RBL B had a 8-2 win over Kingfisher F in a match that was closer than the final score suggests. Tilehurst skipper John Willcocks recorded his first maximum of the season only dropping one game on the night, Hamid Mohseni won twice for Kingfisher including an excellent win in five against Kate Maksimenko. Tilehurst Methodists A got a good 5-5 draw against Tidmarsh B despite having to play a reserve. Eric Van Looy got another maximum for Tilehurst but was pushed all the way by Barry Carter before winning 11-9 in the fifth. The highlight set was Tilehurst’s Bill Stamatiou against Mike Alstrop which Bill won 16-14 in the fifth.
In division 3 Tidmarsh C beat Tidmarsh D 6-4 in their inter club derby. Ian Wu was the player of the match with three wins on the night. The highlight of the match was the five-setter doubles match which Tidmarsh D won 12-10 in the 5th game, which made the defeat less harmful. Our Lady of Peace F hosted Kingfisher H and it was Kingfisher H who won 9-1 in a long game. Eyup Odemis claimed a well-deserved player of the match title with his first three wins in the season. However, the highlight of the match was the great comeback from Ruben Hernandez in the last game of the match. In the 5th set, Ruben saved 5 match points when he was 10-5 down, and he won the game 12-10. With this comeback, Ruben also won his first maximum of the season. James Smith got OLOP F’s single point.
Pangbourne WMC saw off Sonning Sports B 9-1. Sonning Sports B made a great effort to win some games however Pangbourne were as tough as they always have been. Cris Reynolds played his best table tennis and had game points in two of the three sets against Clive Taylor but failed to convert either. The only point for Sonning's side came from Harry Brough. Harry saw off Leroy in four sets which rescued them from the whitewash.
In division 4 Sonning Common & Pepppard E beat Sonning Sports C 8-2, Anthony Reeve and Derek Brooke-Wavell were the hat trick men. Club mates Sonning Common & Peppard F also won 8-2 after they beat Our Lady of Peace G, Graeme Streets had a good night for the Commoners by winning all three
Despite a very good maximum from Mick Mitcham Kingfisher I lost 6-4 at Springfield C.
Press 09 - 13th November 2022
Division 1 leaders Kingfisher A were victorious away to Sonning Common & Peppard B 9-1 but Ed Lush expertly inflicted Darren Jones' first defeat of the season, with Hari Gehlot and Ross Saxby remaining unbeaten. Potential challengers Our Lady of Peace A made a marginal gain as they swept aside Kingfisher C, who could only field two players, 10-0. Gary Morgan starred for Sonning Common & Peppard A in their tight 6-4 win over Reading FC with the only triple of the evening. Royals Mike Childs and Tom Lewis scored important wins over young local star Jamie Barlow, both requiring five sets.
An equally exciting match took place at Tilehurst RBL as the home side squeezed out a 6-4 win over Tidmarsh A. Keith Winter scored his second hat trick of the season and was capably backed up by Jon Willis, who scored a double including edging out Lee Calcutt 11-8 11-3 10-12 6-11 14-12. Kingfisher B came out 7-3 winners at home to Sonning Sports A, who are still yet to win a doubles match. Phil Mead remained unbeaten as Nigel Keedy contributed for the first time this season taking the scalps of the two Pauls, Savage and Elliott.
A fine treble from Malcolm Gregory helped Sonning Common & Peppard C to a 7-3 win against fellow division 2 high flyers Our Lady of Peace C. Malcolm won a thrilling contest against OLOP’s Binit Bhaskar 11-9 11-9 10-12 9-11 14-12 to seal the win, after Binit had enjoyed a 11-8 11-3 5-11 6-11 14-12 win in the opening match against Nigel Maltby. Kingfisher G recorded a very good 7-3 win at Tidmarsh B in a match which saw Tidmarsh’s star player Dale Ballard suffer two rare defeats, losing in three to both Abhay Gore and Savva Christodoulou.
Another 7-3 win was achieved by Kingfisher F in their match against Tilehurst Methodists A with skipper Roger Pritchard getting a very good maximum for Kingfisher including beating Eric Van Looy in four, which was Eric’s first loss of the season. Our Lady of Peace B beat Kingfisher E 6-4 in a hard fought match which did not finish until 23.15. Darek Kaminski got a maximum for OLOP and Stephen Leggett won twice for Kingfisher including beating Chris West 12-10 in the fifth.
In Division 3 there were quite a few exciting games. Our Lady of Peace D won 6-4 against. Tilehurst Methodists B The match was an enjoyable one, with some great rallies and scintillating shots. Mark Carless was a worthy winner of the player of the match, looking like he had an extra gear throughout. Simon Brookes got better as the match progressed and showed some of last season’s form in the final set, beating Mike Williams 11-9 in the 5th to deny Tilehurst a draw, Simon winning 9-11 11-6 8-11 11-8 11-9. On another note, this was the 3rd 5 setter game, and all 5 setters went into OLOP D’s way, which made the real difference in the end. Tidmarsh D beat Our Lady of Peace F 7-3. This year’s good performing 2 players Terry Hardie and Chris Webb both got maximums, helping their team in this win. On a positive note for OLOP F, Alice Walker, Jan Polnik, and James Smith had their first wins of the season which gave their team valuable 3 points.
Kingfisher H hosted Springfield A. It was a long and exciting match with close battles literally for every single point. One of the top performing players of the season, Jason King, faced too close to losing 2 times in the match however he managed to get 3 wins in this match. He saved 5 match points against Huzeyfe Borazan and won the match coming from 2-0 down 5-11 14-16 15-13 11-9 12-10. The last game was again another 5-setter, between Huzeyfe Borazan and Rob Wilkie, this time, Huzeyfe managed to win from 2-1 down to 3-2 and closed the gap from 7-3 to 6-4. Pangbourne WMC won their top of the table clash with Our Lady of Peace E 6-4. This was another match of firsts as both Clive Taylor and Parvin Baishkiyar lost their 100% records. The Player of the match was John Simmonds with 3 wins, however, Harry Bullock’s 3-0 win against Clive Taylor was the highlight of the match.
Struggling Sonning Sports B beat Tidmarsh C 6-4, and this was a notable win for the Sonning side. Brett Hastings and Himanshu Pasbola both win 2 important games for their team. For Tidmarsh C, Simon Craig had 3 wins which were crucial for his team. Dave Edwards had his only win by beating Harry Brough 3-2 (11-8 3-11 8-11 11-8 11-3), which was another crucial game.
Springfield B had a 9-1 win at Kingfisher J with Steve O'Connor and Marcello Caramma both hitting trebles, Steve beating Pete Bennett 7-11 5-11 12-10 11-5 11-2 in the final match of the night. For Marcello they were all three straight. Despite a Fitzroy Licorish maximum Our Lady of Peace G lost 7-3 at Kingfisher I, Andy Read, Emrah Bulut amd Walter Aldridge all winning twice for the Kingfisher team, while Tilehurst Royal British Legion C won 8-2 at Sonning Sports C with Linda King and Geoff Johnson both winning three each.
Press 08 - 6th November 2022
Two sides bidding for second place met this week in division 1 and it was Kingfisher D who impressively overcame Our Lady of Peace A, who could only field two players, with an 8-2 victory. Ryan Chung and Graham Mendick were unbeaten and only OLOP's Mo Cook could notch up a singles win over Julian Telford, who, along with his team mates, beat Steve Murgatroyd. The other team bidding for runners-up is Sonning Common & Peppard A who kept up their good form with an 8-2 home win over Kingfisher B. Jason Roberts contributed a double. but triples from Jamie Barlow and Neil Hurford, who deserved player of match for not dropping an end, completed the victory.
Kingfisher A once again increased their lead at the top with a comfortable 10-0 victory over Reading FC, although Mike Childs provided some resistance against Martin Adams 4-11 8-11 11-9 11-13. Sixth met Seventh as Sonning Sports A scored a narrow 6-4 victory over Tilehurst RBL A. They now have an equal points tally. Once again Dave Croucher proved to be MVP, winning his three, ably backed up by Nick Sears and Paul Savage, although they are yet to win a doubles match.
In division 2 a close match saw Tilehurst RBL B overcame Our Lady of Peace B 6-4 with Kate Maksimenko getting and impressive maximum for the Tilehurst team. Darek Kaminski played well for OLOP winning twice and giving Kate a good game. Second placed Our Lady of Peace C got a good draw against likely promotion contenders Tidmarsh B despite playing with a reserve. New signing Sachin Mundra won twice for OLOP including beating Francois Durand in five and Francois won another set that went to five against Pradeep Desh.
In Division 3 a match where the score would be important for both teams’ promotion chances saw Tidmarsh C beat Our Lady of Peace E 7-3, but it was a close game. There 5 set matches as well as 15-16 points in a single game which clearly shows that it was a great contest. Tidmarsh’s Richard Hudson gave a good fight against Harry Bullock with a comeback from 2-0 to 2-2 however; Harry won the last set and the game. In another match, Qing Wu from OLOP caught David Sheppard from 2-0 to 2-2, but it wasn't enough to win the same which David winning 3 sets to 2. The highlight of the match was Louise Forster's win against Ian Wu. All the first 4 games were very close but in the end, Louise managed to get an important point for her team: 11-13 11-9 9-11 11-9 11-7.
Tidmarsh D won 9-1 against last week’s good-performing team Sonning Sports B. Despite Brett Hastings’ good opening win against Dave Edwards, Sonning Sports B lost all the remaining 9 games. Brett Hastings had another good fight against Ray Webb, however, he lost the last two sets and the game. The highlight of the match was an exciting doubles match which again ended in 5 sets. Sonning Sports B was 2-1 up however they lost the last 2 games, and the match: 11-5 9-11 11-7 4-11 3-11. The last match of the week was between Our Lady of Peace F and Springfield A, and Springfield A whitewashed a 2 player OLOP F team. James Smith was the player who was the closest to a win. The highlight of the match was James Smith vs Peter Gurney’s 5-setter. James was 2-1 up, however, he lost the last 2 games 13-11, which was a bit unfortunate for him: 10-12 11-6 11-8 11-13 11-13.
In the big local derby in division 4 Sonning Common & Peppard F beat Sonning Common & Peppard E 8-2. For the F team Mike Casserley recorded a good hat trick with Oliver Bonser and Gerry Bacon wining two each, while Anthony Reeve won two for the E team. David Riddle was very unlucky for the E team only losing 11 - 13 in the 5th end against Mike.
Lewis Oke hit a good maximum to help Tilehurst Methodists C beat Springfield B 8-2. His match against Steve O'Connor in set ten was a classic with Lewis winning 9-11 12-10 12-10 7-11 12-10. Steve himself won the two for his team.
Press 07 - 30th October 2022
Sonning Common & Peppard B managed their first win of the season in division 1 after beating Reading FC 7-3 in their re-arranged fixture, Ed Lush. Matt Stone and Matt Isherwood all winning two each while Michael Childs was unbeaten for Reading FC. Matt Isherwood won a tight contest against Jazz Dhillon 5-11 12-14 11-5 15-13 11-8 while Matt ran Michael close before losing 10-12 3-11 14-16.
A Danny Dockree treble helped steer division 2 leaders Sonning Common & Peppard D to a 6-4 victory over Sonning Common & Peppard C, Jon Abbott recovering from an opening loss to Malcolm Gregory to beat Nigel Maltby and Mark Jones, both in 5 games.
In the Team Handicap competition Kingfisher G won a very tight and close match against Sonning Sports A. At half time, Sonning Sports were 4 – 1 up, but Kingfisher managed to pull back to 4 – 4. The deciding match saw Neil Dellar taking on Dave Chard, with Dave having a 12 point advantage. Neil took the first game 22-20, then Dave took the next game comfortably at 21-12. The third game was nip and tuck. The points seemed to go with serve for the most part. In particular, Neil’s serves were bothering Dave. Dave was leading 19-16 but Neil had service. Neil managed to get to 19-19 before playing some brave shots to close out the match and provide Kingfisher with the win
Kingfisher H had a good 5–4 win over OLOP A. This was an interesting match where no-one won all three. Simon Brookes for OLOP beat Eyup Odemis and Muharrem Aydin for Kingfisher, yet lost to Ruben Hernandez, whilst Louise Forster and Graham Stark both beat Ruben but lost to Eyup and Muharrem. Tidmarsh D beat Kingfisher G in another close 5–4 match. Hamid Mohseni won all 3 for Kingfisher but good efforts by Ray and Chris Webb winning two apiece for Tidmarsh, along with a win from Dave Edwards gave them the 5 – 4 win. Reading FC had a comfortable 8-1 win against Sonning Sports C; several sets went to three games so a closer match than the score line suggests, and well done to team captain Stephen Reader for winning the final game for Sonning Sports C. And another Kingfisher team came through to the second round with Kingfisher I beating SC&P E 5–4, with three good wins from Maksym Schipka.
In the Lower Divisions Cup Tilehurst Methodists C beat Sonning Sports C 5–4. Six out of nine of the sets went to three games which shows what a close match this was. SC&P F had a comfortable 7-2 win against Kingfisher I, while Kingfisher H had a strong team as they beat Springfield B 8-1 and will now meet Tidmarsh D in the next round.
Press 06 - 23rd October 2022
Kingfisher A continued their march at the top of division 1 with a 10-0 victory over their B team, Hari Gehlot, Darren Jones and Martin Adams all starring with trebles. At the other end of the table Tidmarsh A managed a 6-4 win against Sonning Sports A, despite a maximum from the Sports Nick Sears. Barry Carter managed two fine wins for Tidmarsh.
Gary Morgan and Jamie Barlow both got maximums as Sonning Common & Peppard A won 8-2 at Tilehurst RBL A, Gary Morgan winning a tight tussle with Keith Winter 11-6 11-5 12-14 11-9. Reading FC drew 5-5 with a two man Kingfisher C team, Michael Childs and Thomas Lewis both managing wins over Daniel McTeirnan for Reading FC while Prayrit Ahulwalia won a fine maximum that included a 12-10 11-8 9-11 11-7 win over Childs. Ryan Chung’s treble helped Kingfisher D to a 7-3 win at Sonning Common & Peppard B, Sonning Common’s Ed Lush winning another tight contest against Kingfisher’s Graham Mendick 8-11 11-8 8-11 15-13 11-6.
Sonning Common & Peppard D maintained their position at the top of the division 2 table with a good 6-4 win following a very hard fought match at Tidmarsh B. Jonathan Abbott recorded an excellent maximum for SC&P including inflicting a rare defeat on Dale Ballard who he beat in five games 11-9 11-9 3-11 6-11 11-8. However, Dale did beat SC&P’s star player Danny Dockree which also went to five 3-11 11-9 4-11 11-5 11-9. Sonning Common & Peppard C kept their unbeaten run going with a 7-3 win over Kingfisher E. Stephen Leggett did very well to win all of Kingfisher’s sets including recovering from two down to beat Nigel Maltby 11-7 in the fifth.
Kingfisher G had an extremely close match with Our Lady of Peace C which they just edged 6-4. This match featured two great comeback wins in five for Neil Dellar against Sachin Mundra and Gbit Bhaskar after he had lost the first two games in both sets. Kingfisher F won 6-4 at Our Lady of Peace B in another very close contest. The highlight sets were OLOP’s Dave Godfrey beating Ajai Kamath 14-12 in the fifth and Kingfisher’s Roger Pritchard just getting past Darek Kaminski 13-11 in the fifth.
In Division 3, Week 6 was the last week before the cup matches break. OLOP E gained the top spot with a game in hand, but with their consistent performance in October and 23 points in the last 3 games and remained unbeaten; they deserve the share the top of the league with another unbeaten team Pangbourne WMC. In the first game of the week, Tilehurst Methodists B hosted Tidmarsh C, which they lost 8-2. Despite losing the last 2 matches 8-2, they still remained on the upper side of the table. Richard Hudson’s three straight maximum and Ian Wu’s treble helped their team in this victory. The highlight of the match was the 5-setter thriller between Patrick O’sullivan and Ian Wu, which ended 8-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, 8-11.
Kingfisher H won against OLOP D 6-4. It was a very tough match, as always. Kingfisher H had a good start. However, OLOP D won the last 3 games and closed the gap in the last match, which was a thriller between Graham Stark and Huzeyfe Borazan. Graham Stark won the game 3-2 after winning the last 11-9 in the 5th set. But the highlight of the match was yet another great comeback from Harry Bullock against Ruben Hernandez. Harry won the match 3-2 from 0-2 down: 12-10, 11-5, 3-11, 9-11, 9-11. OLOP E drew 5-5 with Tidmarsh D. Parvin Baishkiyar’s treble helped his team to get a draw against a tough opponent. The most interesting match of the night was Ray Webb’s comeback against Louise Forster to win 9-11 3-11 11-3 11-8 11-9. Sonning Sports B won their first match in style! They whitewashed OLOP F 10-0. A great result for Sonning Sports B despite their remaining in the same position in the league. This was also OLOP F's failure to win a single game for the first time this season.
A Gerry Bacon hat trick helped Sonning Common & Peppard F draw 5-5 with Tilehurst Royal British Legion C, Mike Casserely beating Jim Brent 11-7 11-13 11-9 10-12 11-2 in the final set of the night to clinch the draw. Anthony Reeve hit a three straight maximum for Sonning Common & Peppard E on their way to a 7-3 win at Kingfisher I, Jim Warren and Ian Davenport giving good support with two wins apiece.
Springfield B shared the spoils with Our Lady of Peace G thanks mainly to a Ludo Couillard treble, OLOP’s Derek Wood beating James McGeough 11-4 9-11 11-8 4-11 12-10 in a thrilling opening set. Tilehurst Methodist C romped to a very easy 9-1 win at Sonning Sports C, Steve Wood and Rob James were the hat trick men
Press 05 - 16th October 2022
Sonning Common & Peppard B finally got their Division 1 campaign under way after a series of unfortunate postponements, but only Ed Lush could provide any real resistance to second placed Our Lady of Peace A with a fine victory over Ian Cole and pushing Steve Murgatroyd all the way before losing 6-11 11-9 11-7 6-11 10-12. OLOP's Mo Cook was again in fine form to secure the 9-1 win for OLOP. Division leaders Kingfisher A went one better with a routine 10-0 victory over Tilehurst RBL A. Kingfisher D's Ryan Chung's 100% record remains intact as they overcame Reading FC 8-2, expertly backed up by Ethan Zeng and Cath Venning. Slightly worrying at this early stage of the season for Reading FC is that all of their points so far have come from the bat of Mike Childs, who again picked up two victories.
It was the same 8-2 score line at Sonning Common & Peppard A vs Tidmarsh A. Player of the match Neil Hurford won all his games comfortably and Jamie Barlow also won all three, his closest match being with Duncan Groves 12-10 11-7 8-11 11-13 11-7. Duncan also contributed to both of Tidmarsh's points by beating Jason Roberts and teaming up with Simon Barter to win the doubles. The points were shared 5-5 when Kingfishers C & B met midweek, but without C-team's Prayit Ahluwalia it would have been a different story as he picked up a maximum plus the doubles alongside Dan McTiernan. Their other victory came from Emma Blachford with an impressive win over B team captain Phil Mead, who along with Alan Cummings and Theo Kniep all contributed to the draw.
In division 2 Sonning Common & Peppard D maintained their position at the top of the table with an 8-2 win over Kingfisher G in a match which featured six sets going to five. There were maximums for both Danny Dockree and Mark Jones and there were many very close sets, the pick of which was Danny Dockree just managing to beat Abhay Gore 12-10 in the fifth. Tidmarsh B won 7-3 at Kingfisher E with Dale Ballard recording a good maximum and Clive Gold having two good wins for Kingfisher. Tidmarsh’s Chris Webb lost the first two sets to Nilanjan Chakraborty but came back well to beat him 12-10 in the fifth.
Tilehurst RBL B and Sonning Common & Peppard C drew 5-5 with Nigel Maltby recording a great maximum for Sonning Common with the highlight being his epic encounter against Kate Maksimenko which he won 5-11 11-6 12-10 7-11 11-9. The match between Tilehurst Methodists A and Our Lady of Peace C produced another draw with skipper Eric Van Looy getting an impressive maximum for Tilehurst. Pradeep Desh was the star player for OLOP winning two very close sets in five against both Phil Jones and Bill Stamatiou.
In Division 3, there were 4 games on the schedule. The first game was at Tidmarsh D vs Tilehurst Methodist B. Tidmarsh was the better team of the evening, and they won 8-2. Chris Webb was the player of the match with his treble. Dave Edwards and Ray Webb joined him with their two wins each, so it was a good result for Tidmarsh D in the end. The second match of the week was at OLOP D against Springfield A. OLOP D won the match with a 7-3 win against a strong opponent that is a great contender for the title. It was the substitutes who made all the difference, as both teams had a player each playing up for the night. Harry Bullock’s great treble not only made him the player of the match, but he also helped his team with 3 important points at night. Springfield A was hampered by having to play a Divison 4 player but the highlight of the match was the battle between Rob Wilkie and Harry Bullock that could have ended with either one of them winning. Harry Bullock won the battle in 5 sets: 14-12, 11-5, 6-11, 9-11, and 11-8.
The same night Pangbourne WMC hosted Kingfisher H. Kingfisher H had their heaviest defeat in 2 years and lost the match 9-1. Clive Taylor continued his 100% record and John Simmonds joined him with another treble which gave them a great lead against the Kingfisher side. Eyup Odemis’s only win rescued them from a whitewash. The highlight of the match was the comeback from Pangbourne WMC in the doubles from 0-2 down to win 8-11 10-12 11-3 11-7 11-3. The last game of the week was between Sonning Sports B and OLOP E where OLOP E won 9-1. Harry Bullock had another treble in the same with another OLOP team. Qing Wu joined Harry Bullock with his treble and Louise’s double saw OLOP E a great win in an away game. However, the score line did not represent the games if you see how close how many of the matches were on the night. The Doubles match was one of the closest games in which Sonning Sports B lost in the fifth game 11-8. In another close match, Dave Chard lost against Louise in the fifth game 11-9.
Tilehurst RBL C moved to the top of the division 4 table by beating Kingfisher I 7-3 with Geoff Johnson hitting a good treble that included a thrilling opening win against Emrah Bulut 7-11 9-11 11-9 12-10 11-9. He was backed up by Jim Brent who won twice, while for Kingfisher each of their players picked up a win, including Mick Mitcham who beat Paul Treadgold 5-11 12-10 10-12 11-9 11-8 in the final set of the night.
Hat tricks from Andy Stone and Lewis Oke helped Tilehurst Methodists C beat Our Lady of Peace G 9-1, Fitzroy Licorish picking up the OLOP teams win with victory over Arek Ziolkowski, while Sonning Common & Peppard E also won 9-1 as they beat Kingfisher J, Anthony Reeve and Jim Warren were the treble men, for Jim they were all three straight.
Press 04 - 9th October 2022
In the top tier, Kingfisher A continued their winning ways, stamping their authority on the league, by breezing past Tidmarsh A 10-0. Kingfisher's Hari Gehlot and Ross Saxby comfortably achieved their maximums. Tidmarsh's captain Duncan Groves came close to causing a major upset as he found himself 2-1 up in sets and 5-2 up in points against Martin Adams, but could not convert his advantage, eventually succumbing 11-9 7-11 11-9 6-11 4-11. Elsewhere, Kingfisher B lost comprehensively 1-9 to Kingfisher D, whose captain Julian Telford suffered a major calf injury during the match. He soldiered on to record 2 wins, narrowly losing out to Phil Mead. Julian's colleagues Graham Mendick and Ryan Cheung scored three wins each and the doubles to complete the win.
Tilehurst RBL A were elevated to a mid-table position as they completed a 9-1 victory over Kingfisher C, despite some closely fought rubbers. Keith Winter's and Marc Brent's maximums, competently backed up by Jon Willis' defensive skills proved too strong on this occasion. Despite Paul Savage winning the opening encounter with Jason Roberts to give the home side, Sonning Sports A, early hope, the battle for Sonning supremacy was won by Sonning Common & Peppard A 9-1. Jamie Barlow and Neil Hurford winning three each plus the doubles.
In division 2 Sonning Common & Peppard C won a hard fought tussle with Kingfisher F 7-3, Nigel Maltby, Malcolm Gregory and Brian Meheux each winning twice with Malcolm just holding off Eapen John to win 13-11 in the fifth and Brian gaining a good 11-7 11-6 11-5 win over Ajai Hamaman. In the Kingfisher derby the G and E teams drew 5-5. Clive Gold got a very good maximum for the E team including recovering form 2-1 down to beat Abhay Gore 11-9 in the fifth. Abhay and Akeel Mir both won twice for the G team. Nigel just held off Roger Pritchard in the final set of the night thanks to two lucky netcords at the end to win 11-7 11-4 8-11 4-11 11-7.
Our Lady of Peace C won a hard fought match against Sonning Common & Peppard D 7-3 with all of their players recording two wins. The highlight of the night was SC&P’s Mark Jones recovering from losing the first two games to beat Sanket Dave 7-11 4-11 13-11 11-4 11-7 on his way to a maximum. Our Lady of Peace B beat Tilehurst Methodists A 7-3 in a match which was mired by an injury to Tilehurst’s Jes Eassom. Eric Van Looy got a maximum for Tilehurst but was pushed hard in his sets against Darek Kaminski and Dave Godfrey, winning both in five.
Division 3 had four interesting games, two finished with a 5-5 draw, whereas the other 2 games were one-sided victories. Despite Tilehurst Methodists B won by a margin of 8-2 against Sonning Sports B, all the 5 set matches were a deciding factor in this match with 7 out of 10 games finished 3-2, and Sonning Sports B winning only 1 of these games. Himanshu Pasbola’s all 3 matches finished 3-2, and he won 1 of them while the other win singles win from Sonning Sports B was from Harry Brough. The highlight of the match was a great comeback from Michael Williams in the final match, and this also won him the Player of the Match award. In the OLOP derby between Our Lady of Peace E and Our Lady of Peace Fit was the E team who triumphed 9-1. Maximums from Parvin Baishkiyar and Louise Forster helped the E team to an easy win. Unfortunately Alice Walker had to concede her last 2 matches for the F team while Alona Slobodskoy once again had their only win as she beat Harry Bullock 11-13 11-4 11-7 11-7. After the match Parvin maintained his 100% record.
After winning at Tidmarsh D last week, Kingfisher H took on Tidmarsh C this time and the Kingfisher team battled to a second 5-5 draw of the season. The highlight of the match was the exciting doubles match where Kingfisher H won the 5th set from 9-5 down 11-9. Another exciting match was between Springfield A and Pangbourne WMC. Both teams are the strongest candidates for the title thus, this match was very important for both teams. Another interesting fact is that 3 players (Jason King, Clive Taylor and John Simmonds) had a 100% average until this game. Unsurprisingly the match ended 5-5. Only Clive Taylor remained at his 100% average after the game and also became the Player of the Match. Jason King lost 1 match, whereas John Simmonds lost his last 2 games 3-2. The highlight of the match was Pangbourne’s comeback in the doubles from 0-2 down to a 3-2 win.
Tilehurst RBL C maintained their winning start in division 4 by getting home at Kingfisher J 7-3 with Linda King, Jim Brent and Paul Treadgold all gaining doubles. Sinning Common & Peppard E won 8-2 at Springfield B with Anthony Reeve and Jim Warren both gaining three straight trebles, while club mates Sonning Common & Peppard F beat Sonning Sports C 6-4 with Gerry Bacon staring with a very good maximum and Graeme Streets winning twice on his return to league table tennis.
Press 03 - 2nd October 2022
Hari Gehlot and Martin Adams both held off the challenge of Sonning Sports David Croucher to get maximums as Kingfisher A beat Sonning Sports A 9-1, Hari beating David narrowly in 3 games 13-11 12-10 14-12. David gained a consolation win against Dmitry Karkhamov 11-5 11-5 12-14 12-14 11-8. Tilehurst RBL A managed a fine 6-4 win at Kingfisher D thanks to doubles from Keith Winter and new recruit Marc Brent and a single from reserve Kate Maksimenko who beat Cath Venning 11-7 11-6 6-11 11-7. Graham Mendick got a maximum for Kingfisher.
Unbeaten Our Lady of Peace A had to battle hard for their 6-4 win over Kingfisher B, Ian Cole, Justin Mead and Mo Cook all winning twice with Justin just beating Phil Mead 5-11 11-3 7-11 11-6 11-9. For Kingfisher Martin Pugh had a good 11-8 11-6 4-11 9-11 11-9 win against Mo Cook on his way to a double. Prayrit Ahiuwalia got a maximum as Kingfisher C edged Tidmarsh A 6-4, Duncan Groves winning a marathaon encounter for Tidmarsh after he beat Daniel McTiernan 11-4 7-11 9-11 12-10 16-14.
With new signing Sachin Mundra in the team Our Lady of Peace C recorded a good 8-2 win at Kingfisher E. Binit Bhasker got an impressive maximum and Sachin Mundra and reserve Parvin Baishkiyar both won twice. The sets of the night were Parvin’s 11-8 win in five against Clive Gold and OLOP coming back from two down to win the doubles in five. Tidmarsh B also played at Kingfisher and came out on top against their F team 7-3 with Barry Carter getting a three straight maximum and Dale Ballard also recording a maximum. Although he was pushed close by Kingfisher’s Ajai Kamath before winning 11-3 in the fifth. Another of Ajai’s sets also went to five and this time he just came out on top defeating Francois Durand 13-11 in the decider.
Tilehurst RBL B lost for the first time, although it was close with Kingfisher G just edging the match 6-4. Andrew Adair was the star player for Kingfisher with a very good maximum including an impressive win in four against Kate Maksimenko and beating Peter Bradley 12-10 in the fifth. Tilehurst Meths A hosted Sonning Common & Peppard D and the Commoners just edged a win 6-4 despite a good maximum from Tilehurst skipper Eric Van Looy which included inflicting the first defeat of the season on Danny Dockree beating him fairly comfortably in four. The closest set of the night was a battle of the Jones’s with Tilehurst’s Phil beating SC&P’s Angus 12-10 in the fifth.
After a rather quiet week last time, week 3 had a busy schedule in division 3 with 5 matches from Monday to Thursday. Tidmarsh C came up against a strong looking Springfield A team and they could not stop Springfield A’s captain Jason King from maintaining his 100% record with another maximum as Jason steered his team towards a good 7-3 victory, also helped by a Peter Gurney treble. Another match at Tidmash was between Tidmarsh D and Kingfisher H. It was a very tough match which could have gone 6-4 either way; however, at the end of the night it was Kingfisher H who grabbed a small 6-4 winning margin. The match took almost 4 hours as there were very long rallies and 5 setter matches. It was a very exciting match as 4 players got 2 wins which clearly shows how close the teams were.
Our Lady of Peace E beat Tilehurst Methodists B 6-4. Parvin Baishkayir managed yet another maximum to help his team. Unfortunately, Nigel Rowland could not play his last 2 matches due to illness for Tilehurst. We hope he is better now and will play safely in the upcoming games. The last match of the week saw Pangbourne WMC win 6-4 against Our Lady of Peace D despite missing a player. The highlight of the match was an excellent comeback from Graham Stark against Leroy Wilson to win 10-12 5-11 11-7 11-7 11-8 .The doubles was even closer, with the final point coming from an edged high lob off a smash to give the Pangbourne pair of Leroy Wilson and Clive Taylor a 4-11 12-10 11-6 15-13 win.
Tilehurst Methodists C had a nice 6-4 win over Sonning Common & Peppard F in their Division 4 match with Steve Wood and Steve Christelow both gaining doubles. For Sonning Common Mike Casserley hit a superb hat trick. Tilehurst Royal British Legion C beat Springfield B 7-3 with Geoff Johnson recording a three straight maximum.
Sonning Common & Peppard E had a good 8-2 win over Our Lady of Peace G with Anthony Reeve winning all three, while Sonning Sports C beat a two player Kingfisher I team 7-3. For Kingfisher Walter Aldridge was in top form by gaining a maximum.
Press 02 - 25th September 2022
Justin Mead, Steve Murgatroyd and Mo Cook saw Our Lady of Peace A continue their good start in Division 1 with a 10-0 win at Tilehurst RBL A, Keith Winter coming closest for Tilehurst before losing the final set of the night to Steve 9-11 12-14 11-8 11-8 9-11. David Croucher managed an impressive maximum as promoted Sonning Sports A drew 5-5 with Kingfisher C, Paul Savage gaining a vital 11-8 4-11 11-13 11-8 11-9 win over Daniel McTiernan to help his Sonning team mateand he also won the last set of the night against Emma Blachford 9-11 13-11 7-11 11-9 12-10.
Darren Jones, Martin Adams and Hari Gehlot saw Kingfisher A off to a flyer as they won 10-0 against a strong Sonning Common & Peppard A trio of Gary MorgN, Neil Hurford and Jason Roberts.
In Division 2 Sonning Common & Peppard C won a hard fought tussle with Our Lady of Peace B 6-4, Nigel Maltby and Brian Meheux both winning twice with Nigel just beating Dave Godfrey in the final match of the night 11-5 10-12 8-11 11-7 13-11 after recovering from 7-10 down in the last. For OLOP Chris West was in awesome form as he clinched a maximum, while Alistair Richardson recovered from two down to beat Malcolm Gregory 11-9 in the fifth. In the Kingfisher derby the G team overcame the F team 6-4 with Savva Christodoulou getting a maximum on his debut for the G team. The F team skipper Roger Pritchard had two very long five games sets losing one and winning the other against Satej Jaywant 11-8 in the fifth after losing the first two games.
Tilehurst RBL B went to the top of the division after winning 8-2 at Our Lady of Peace C. This match was much closer than the scoreline suggest with Tilehurst winning most of the tight sets including the doubles 11-9 in the fifth and John Willcocks beating Pradeep Desh by the same score. Kate Maksimento got a good maximum for Tilehurst. Sonning Common & Peppard D had a very good 9-1 victory over Kingfisher E although gain the match was a bit closer than suggested by the final scoreline. Danny Dockree followed up his week 1 maximum with an impressive three straight one. Jonathan Abbot also recorded a maximum but two of his sets went to five including just beating Stephen Leggett 12-10 in the fifth.
In Division 3, Week 2 was a bit quiet as there were only 2 games due to postponementss and re-arrangements. Our Lady Of Peace D vs Pangbourne WMC match is rearranged to 29th September 2022 while Kingfisher H vs Sonning Sports B match is postponed to a later date to be announced soon.
The first match of the week was Springfield A vs Tidmarsh D. Captain Jason King’s second consecutive maximum was the deciding factor in this close battle that saw Springfield win 6-4. Ray Webb’s 2 wins and solid performance in the doubles with his doubles partner Theresa Watson gave them 4 good points. The highlight of the match was that 5-set thrilling doubles game which Tidmarsh won 4-11 9-11 11-4 11-7 11-9. The second and last game of the week was between Our Lady of Peace F, and Tilehurst Methodists B. Tilehurst Methodists B had a great 9-1 victory in the first match of the season. Patrick O’Sullivan’s and Martin Wetherell both got maximums. For Our Lady of Peace F, it was another loss, and like their previous match, Alona Slobodskoy’s only win gave their team a single point. With this victory, Tilehurst Methodist B moved straight to 3rd place.
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In Division 4 Tilehurst Royal British Legion C won 8-2 at Our Lady of Peace G with Linda King in top form by winning all three. She had to work hard against Fitzroy Licorish coming back from two games down. For OLOP Sue Daniels had a nice 8-11 9-11 11-8 12-10 11-8 win over Geoff Johnson. Sonning Sports C beat Kingfisher J 7-3 thanks mainly to a Stephen Reader treble
Press 01 - 18th September 2022
With several teams making their start to their Division 1 campaign next week, last year's runners up Our Lady of Peace A got off to winning ways with an 8-2 victory, although Tidmarsh's Duncan Groves showed promising early-season form with victories over Steve Murgatroyd and the closest match of the week, possibly the entire season, vs Ian Cole 11-8 9-11 12-10 9-11 13-11.
Elsewhere, former England Top 50 player Michael Childs won his three for Reading FC but could not save his team from a 3-7 defeat against Kingfisher B with Phil Mead, Martin Pugh and Theo Kniep picking up two each. New signing for Sonning Sports A Dave Croucher made Kingfisher D work hard for their narrow 6-4 victory by picking up man of the match including victories over Cath Venning, Julian Telford and Graham Mendick. A strong Sonning Common & Peppard A line-up of Jamie Barlow, Gary Morgan and Joe Barraclough won their opening match 7-3 at Kingfisher C despite Prayrit Ahluwalia fighting hard to win 2 singles and winningthe doubles.
The first four matches of the season in Division 2 all turned out to be very close contests.
Tilehurst Methodists A just edged out Kingfisher E with Eric Van Looy getting a maximum for Tilehurst. The Kingfisher players all picked up at least one set with Stephen Leggett recording two good wins. Kingfisher F beat Our Lady of Peace C 6-4 in a match that featured a number of very close sets, Roger Pritchard and Hamid Mohseni both recorded two wins for Kingfisher. The highlight set was Sanket Dave beating Roger Pritchard 11-8 in the fifth.
Our Lady of Peace B and Tidmarsh B drew 5-5 with Dale Ballard getting a good maximum for Tidmarsh including beating Darek Kaminski 14-12 in the fifth. Darek also lost 14-12 in the fifth to Mike Alstrop. Tilehurst RBL B had a hard fought 6-4 win over Sonning Common & Peppard D. Danny Dockree recorded a very good maximum for SC&P with Tilehurst players Kate Maksimenko, Pete Bradley and John Willcocks all winning twice. The highlight set was John Willcocks just beating Mark Jones 12-10 in the fifth.
The first match of the season in Division 3 was at Tidmarsh Village Hall with the division’s new team Tidmarsh C, relegated from division 2 last season, and last year’s mid-table team Our Lady of Peace D. Even though losing doubles, Ian Wu’s three wins helped the Tidmarsh team to secure a 6-4 win. Last year’s 3rd placed team Pangbourne WMC started with a solid 9-1 win against the division’s new team Our Lady of Peace F. Clive Taylor’s and John Simmond’s impressive three straight maximum led their team to a great start to the season. Alona’s one win rescued the OLOP team from a whitewash.
Kingfisher H visited Our Lady of Peace E and managed to secure 5-5 draw despite Parvin Baishkiyar’s three wins. Highlight of the match was Muharrem Aydin’s solid performance even though failing against Parvin Baishkiyar in a 5 set thriller. In the last match of the week Springfield A won 8-2 at Sonning Sports B. Captain Jason King and Rob Wilkie’s 3 wins contributed to the great win. After the first matches Pangbourne WMC and Springfield A indicated that they are strong contenders for the title with their impressive victories.
In Division 4 Tilehurst Methodists C wen to Sonning Common & Peppard E and came away with an 8-2 win thanks to a fine Lewis Oke maximum. Giving him good support were Steve Christelow and Arek Zolkowski who both gained doubles. Next day Sonning Common & Peppard F were held to a 5-5 draw by Kingfisher I. For the Commoners Gerry Bacon was the man in form by winning all three
New comers Springfield B started with an impressive 9-1win at Sonning Sports C, Rob Atack and Marcella Caramma were the hat trick men.
Press Reports 2021/22
Press 26 - 26th April 2022
Kingfisher A finished the season as division 1 champions, with Our Lady of Peace A runners-up and Sonning Common & Peppard A holding off Kingfisher D for 3rd place. At the bottom Sonning Common & Peppard B lost 9-1 at a strong Kingfisher C to end their season second from bottom with the Sonning Common & Peppard C team staying out of the drop zone following their 6-4 win at already relegated Tilehurst RBL A
In Division 2 Sonning Sports A and Reading FC A are both promoted with the Sonning Sports team pipping Reading FC to the title. At the bottom Kingfisher G and Tidmarsh C finished in the bottom two. Sonning Common & Peppard D were 7-3 winners over Tidmarsh C to grab 3rd place, in what proved to be a titanic contest, with 44 games played throughout the evening. Mark Jones was the Commoners busiest player, losing the 5th game 15-17 to Ian Wu, before defeating David Sheppard over 5 games, then partnering Jon Abbott to a Doubles win, before losing the 5th game 10-12 to Richard Hudson, although team mate Jon only played one fewer game, defeating David over 4 games then taking the 5th game against Richard 11-7, followed by the Doubles, before losing the 5th game 7-11 to Ian. Victory was guaranteed before Danny Dockree beat David to complete his treble and continue his undefeated streak to six matches.
The Kingfisher I team stormed to the division 3 title after taking just a few early weeks of the season to find their feet. Tilehurst RBL B held off Pangbourne A for the runners-up spot. At the bottom Our Lady of Peace E and Sonning Common & Peppard E were rarely out of the bottom two and both are relegated.
Sonning Sports B finished top of division 4 with Our Lady of Peace F also clinching promotion after they finished 3 points ahead of Tilehurst Methodists B.
Press 01 - 10th September 2021 - Season Preview
Kingfisher A and reigning champions Our Lady of Peace A will start out as favourites in Division 1 as the Reading Table Tennis League gets back underway after an 18 month break. Kingfisher look to have a good strong squad with Hari Gehlot, Dmitry Karkhamov, Mark Banks, Ross Saxby and Darren Jones all registered, while Ian Cole will lead the OLOP challenge in their bid to retain their title. Further down Sonning Common & Peppard A and Kingfisher B will be vying for 3rd and 4th and Sonning Common & Peppard C could do well with new recruit Ed Lush in their team, while all the rest might be happy to avoid the bottom 2 places with only 10 teams in the division this time around. Tilehurst RBL A are the ex Curzon Club A team and new recruit Keith Winter teaming up with Jon Willis will make them difficult to beat. Kingfisher D are the ex Kennet Valley A team, led by Julian Telford.
In division 2 Sonning Sports A came 3rd last time around and will likely be battling once again at the top end of the division, Paul Savage and Nick Sears their leading lights Tilehurst Methodists A will be strong with Eric Van Looy in their team and Michael Childs may spearhead a challenge from Reading FC A following their promotion from division 3. Both Our Lady of Peace teams could also figure as might any of the 3 Kingfisher sides and also Tidmarsh B.
Tilehurst Royal British Legion B look like favourites in division 3 with a formidable looking squad of John Willcocks, Nick Lean, Linda King and Kate Maksimenko. However this is a strong looking division and they can expect stiff competition from the likes of relegated Pangbourne WMC, Our Lady of Peace D, Milestone A and possibly Springfield. Leroy Wilson is always a good player at this level for Pangbourne as will be John Simmonds. OLOP D finished bottom of division 2 last time but with a rejigged squad they may challenge, while both Milestone A and Springfield have different squads from last time but can also expect to figure highly.
Reading FC B, Sonning Sports B and Tilehurst RBL C are the stand out sides in division 4, although Kingfisher J and Sonning Common & Peppard F may also challenge. Reading FC were 3rd last time around and only just missed out on promotion. Sonning Sports B were relegated last time but have added experienced Harry Brough to their squad, while Tilehurst RBL C were also relegated, but with Paul Treadgold in their side they should do well.
PRESS REPORTS 2019/20
Press 23 - 15th March 2020
Sonning Common & Peppard C couldn’t prevent Our Lady of Peace Premiers charge for the division 1 title as Sam Ricks, Ian Cole and Steve Murgatroyd all got trebles in a 10-0 win for the OLOP team. Kingfisher A are now 8 points behind the leaders despite winning 8-2 in their derby match against Kingfisher C, Phil Mead beating Tony Stead 11-5 11-9 14-12 as well as teaming up with Alan Cummings to win the doubles for the C team. Jason Roberts and Neil Hurford both got maximums as Sonning Common & Peppard A beat club mates Sonning Common & Peppard B 9-1, Jeremy Willis getting a win over Joe Barraclough for the B team.
Bottom side Tidmarsh B kept their chances of avoiding the drop alive after a creditable 5-5 draw against Kingfisher B, Mike Aistrop’s double for Tidmarsh included a 15-13 12-10 12-10 success over Richard Rosinski while Barry Carter and Duncan Groves both managed singles. Springfield A were 6-4 winners at Kennet Valley A, despite a good treble from Kennet’s Graham Mendick. Adam Sheen stepped up to the mark to seal the win by beating Catherine Venning 6-11 12-10 14-12 15-13. Curzon Club A nudged a little close towards safety despite losing 7-3 to Tidmarsh A, Lee Calcutt holding off Jon Willis 9-11 11-4 12-14 11-6 12-10 for Tidmarsh while Nick Lean managed a 7-11 11-7 6-11 13-11 12-10 win over Ray Webb for Curzon.
In division 2 the promotion race continues to get tighter and tighter. Our Lady of Peace B pushed their A team club mates hard before the A team eventually won 7-3. For the B team Pradeep Desh managed an 11-8 6-11 11-1 9-11 11-7 win over Benedict Carless and Binit Bhaskar beat Chris West 15-13 12-10 11-13 13-11. Tilehurst Methodists A were held to a 5-5 draw by Kingfisher D, Keith Winter’s treble supported through singles from Nigel Rowland and Phil Jones, while Sonning Sports A continued their pursuit of a top two finish after winning 7-3 at Our Lady of Peace C, Paul Savage and Nick Sears with trebles, Paul just getting the better of Dave Godfrey 11-6 9-11 17-15 9-11 11-4.
Alan Mollett managed an impressive maximum as Sonning Common & Peppard D defeated Milestone A 6-4, Alan and team mate Johnathan Abbott also teaming up to win the doubles set 22-20 7-11 11-7 12-10. Pangbourne WMC kept their hopes of avoiding the drop alive after a 5-5 draw at Kingfisher E, Clive Taylor winning twice, while Springfield B were 7-3 winners against Our Lady of Peace D in a close tussle that see’s the OLOP teams relegation confirmed.
In division 3 Our Lady of Peace E beat second place Tidmarsh C 6–4 mainly due to the third division champion Mo Cook who hit a stunning treble by beating Simon Craig 11-6 11-5 11-9, Richard Hudson 11-5 11-4 11-2 and Spencer Harvey 11-2 11-3 11-6. Louise Forster also did well to win two. Tilehurst Methodists B beat Curzon Club C 6–4 with four players all winning two namely Mike Williams, Jes Eassom and Patrick O’Sullivan for the Methodists and Paul Treadgold for Curzon. Eric Holmes was in good form by winning all three to help Kingfisher F beat Springfield C 8–2.
Milestone B came back to winning ways by winning 10-0 at Sonning Sports B, John Crosfield, Chris Collins and Oliver Bonser were the hat trick men, while Curzon Club B drew a long match with Kingfisher G 5-5. Kate Maksimenko and Linda King both gained doubles for Curzon as did Nils Wedi and Andrew Adair for Kingfisher, Linda gaining probably her best ever win when she beat Nils. Reading FC A beat a two player Tidmarsh D team 9–1 with Anthony and Wayne Alleyne unbeaten. For Tidmarsh Theresa Watson won their set.
In Division 4 Reading FC B maintained their bid for the top spot with an 8-2 defeat of Kingfisher H, Freedom Agindotan and Derek Anderson undefeated on the night, with teammate Harry Edwards beating Gill Bennett but losing to Ania Pytka 9-11 12-10 8-11 10-12 and Haris Munir. Sonning Common & Peppard E kept up the pressure at the top by winning 10-0 at Springfield D, with Anthony Reeve, Ian Davenport and Jim Warren winning every game bar one, in a very one-sided match, Paul Martin, Tom Berryman and Colin Jones finding the competition too tough on the day.
Kennet Valley Free Church B recorded a 9-1 victory over Sonning Common & Peppard F, Derek Wavell avoiding the whitewash by winning the final set against Steve Christelow, leaving Toby Barter and Roshan Patel as the only two undefeated players, the Commoners’ Alistair Scott and Derek Maltby leaving empty-handed. Tidmarsh E gained valuable points when Our Lady of Peace F could only field two players, but still lost 4-6 with Pete Sinclair defeating Alona Slobodskoy 11-8 14-12 11-9 to earn Tidmarsh’s fourth point, Jan Polnik recording a further maximum in beating Steve Andrews, Mike Bundy and Pete. Milestone C won 7-3 at Sonning Sports C with both teams gaining valuable points in their fight to avoid bottom place, Milestone’s Carl Edlind and John Evans both recording trebles while Colin Phillips ended the evening with no points, after losing to John Scott 9-11 5-11 10-12, Michael Byrne 9-11 12-10 8-11 11-9 14-16 and Mo Cole in another 5 game set.
