The Robert Excell Photography-sponsored South Devon & Torbay Table Tennis League
The First round of the Dyment Doubles Shield took precedence over the League in the first week back after the Christmas break. The match of the round saw Torbay Table Tennis Academy’s top side come back from 3-0 down to beat current 2nd Division leaders Taverners 5-3. Taverners had opportunities to go 4-0 up, when Geoff Read & Tony Morley had Kris Piwowar & Patrik Cincala in trouble, but the all-round strengths of the overseas stars saw them through 7-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-8 and from there the Academy side took control. Marldon got the better of Torbay Academy III 5-2 but it was never easy, with many, very close sets. There were strong performances from Halwell who travelled to Brixham and defeated the Swallows 5-1, Bishops Academicals who beat Hasbeens 5-0 and Newton Bishops who brushed aside Battlers 5-0.
Taverners had a comfortable win in the second round of the Challenge Cup, seeing off Hasbeens 5-0
A previously postponed First Division league match between Halwell & Battlers saw a great performance from Helen Glover but ended in defeat for her Battlers team. Helen won her three singles and then teamed up with Peter Nicholson to win the doubles but these were their only points as her team-mates succumbed to the aggressive hitting of Rod Sugden, Mick Atkinson and Dave Wadling, who saw Halwell home to a 6-4 victory.
Important Division 3 results that missed the last report saw Marldon Badgers extend their lead at the top with an emphatic 9-1 win at Brixham Dolphins, Gareth Gilpin’s victory over Frazer Warwick preventing the whitewash. Mike & Simon Hern both got maximums for the Badgers. Jordan Hastie completed his 8th maximum and remains unbeaten as the Torbay Academy side just overcame Hasbeens, Both Mike Wickens & Richard Fitzgerald pushed Jordan all the way, but he beat Mike 13-11 in the 5thgame and Richard 11-9 in the 5th game. The match result came down to the last doubles and Jordan, who teamed up with Klara Cincalova, was not in a losing mood, taking the doubles three straight and the match 6-4. Brixham Rebels’ Steve Munns was undefeated in his sides narrow 6-4 win over stable mates Swifts
Results
Dyment Doubles Shield Round 1
Brixham Swallows 1 Halwell 5
Newton Bishops 5 Battlers 0
Torbay Academy I 5 Taverners 3
Bishops Academicals 5 Hasbeens 0
Marldon 5 Torbay Academy III 2
Challenge Cup Round 2
Hasbeens 0 (Smallshaw 0, Fitzgerald 0, Wickens 0) Taverners 5 ( Read 2, Harrop 2, Morley 1)
Div 1
Halwell 6 (Sugden 2, Atkinson 2, Wadling 2) Battlers 4 (Glover 3, Thompson 0, Nicholson 0, Dbls 1)
Div 3
Brixham Rebels 6 (Munns 3, T Johns 1, R Salt 1, Dbls) Brixham Swifts 4 (Durrant 2, Mercer 2, Daniels 0)
Hasbeens 4 (Wickens 2, Fitzgerald 2, Smallshaw 0) Torbay Academy III (Hastie 3, Perry 1, Cincalova 1, Dbls)
Brixham Dolphins 1 (Gilpin 1, N Shipley 0, S Shipley 0) Marldon Badgers 9 (M Hern 3, S Hern 3 Warwick 2, Dbls)
