SOUTH DEVON & TORBAY TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE
With just a handful of league fixtures, the Team Handicap Cups took precedence in the South Devon & Torbay Table Tennis League this week.
There were great results for Fourth Division sides Torbay Academy 6 & Newton Abbot Owls in the Dyment Doubles competition. Both sides whitewashed higher league opposition: the Torbay Academy 6 side of Jakub Piwowar, Brandon Lewis & Herbie Sage thrashed First Division Halwell 5-0, while NA Owls’ team Rob Bayliss, Sam Hiles and Ross Embury defeated Third Division runaway leaders Marldon Tykes 5-0. Also in the Dyment Doubles, holders Torbay Academy 1, saw off a fine challenge from Division 2 leaders Brixham Imports 5-3; Taverners defeated Torre Bats 5-1; Hasbeens were victorious over N A Kites, and perhaps the biggest surprise of the round was Torbay Academy 3’s defeat by Third Division basement side Dawlish Drifters 5-1
Torbay Academy 6 – Brandon Lewis, Jakub Piwowar & Herbie Sage
Newton Abbot Owls – Rob Bayliss, Sam Hiles & Ross Embury
The 2 matches in the Challenge cup were really close, tense affairs with the Newton Abbot sides coming out on top. At 4-1 down to Marldon Tykes, NA Kestrels looked out of it, but thanks to a fine maximum by Luke Robins, well supported in the latter games by Peter Tarjan & Harry Usher, the Kestrels pulled off the victory with star man Robins clinching the match 5-4 in the final singles. Stand-in skipper Ed Crawford steered the NA Buzzards to a 5-4 win over a fighting Torbay Academy 5 side. Buzzards, never behind in the match, were pegged back to 4-4 when the Academy’s Hannah Wooster beat Charlie Usher, who had won his first two sets. But up stepped Crawford who completed his maximum by defeating Himani Gupta and sending the Buzzards through to the next round.
Brixham Sharks are back at the top of the First Division thanks to a comfortable 9-1 win over basement side, the Battlers, who, catching up with their fixtures also got whitewashed by Brixham Gulls, leaving them in a precarious position at the foot of the table.
NA Hawks climbed up a couple of places to 3rd in the Third Division with a fine 9-1 victory over stablemates the Falcons.
NA Kestrels have opened up a gap in the Fourth Division runners-up spot following their 8-2 win over Pure Torre, but are too far behind the rampant Torbay Academy 6 youngsters to threaten them at the top. Torbay Academy 5 move up the table thanks to a 9-1 win over Brixham Panthers.
Results
Dyment Shield Team Doubles
N A Kites 2 v 5 Hasbeens
Torbay Academy (1) 5 v 3 Brixham Imports
Torre Bats 1 v 5 Taverners
N A Owls 5 v 0 Marldon Tykes
Torbay Academy (6) 5 v 0 Halwell
Dawlish Drifters 5 v 3 Torbay Academy (3)
Challenge Cup Team Singles
Marldon Tykes 4 v 5 N A Kestrels
N A Buzzards 5 v 4 Torbay Academy (5)
Div 1
Brixham Sharks 9 (Holmes 3, Shipway 3, Johns 2, Dbls Battlers 1 (Hawkins 1, Nicholson 0, Thompson 0)
Battlers 0 (Hawkins 0, Nicholson 0, Thompson 0) Brixham Gulls 10 (Mercer 3, Smith 3, Dunn 3, Dbls)
Div 3
N A Hawks 9 (Coxhead 3, Doxsey 3, Halse 2, Dbls) N A Falcons 1 (Passmore 1, Stratton 0, Bretagne 0)
Div 4
Torbay Academy (5) 9 (Sharp 2, Wooster 2, Brookes 1, Awarded 3, Dbls) Brixham Panthers 1 (Parton 1, Rodger 0)
Pure Torre 2 (Morris 1, McLennan 1, Spencer 0) N A Kestrels 8 (Tarjan 3, Robins 3, Strickland 1, Dbls)
