Travellers A and Ramsey A joint top in Division 1 Table Tennis
Last week saw the third week of fixtures in the Fun88 sponsored Isle of Man Table Tennis League.
Division 1
Travellers A (9) Tower A (0)
Travellers fielded a strong side in the form of Scott Lewis, Malcolm Cummings and Liam Chan, and blasted their way to victory, amassing a maximum 9 points. No joy for Dave Parsons, Ken Mitchell or step up player Graham McFarlane. Scott won all his matches in 3 sets, as did Liam. Cummings beat Mitchell in 4, and was taken to a fifth set decider against Parsons. All his 3 games against McFarlane were close. A ruthless and efficient display then from last season's champions, takes them to joint top alongside Ramsey A.
Ramsey A (9) Ramsey C (0)
Chris Holland led the way here with 3 straight sets wins for the A team against William Dalugdugan, Adran Slater and Rhys Yardley. Step forward Duncan Alecxander who did likewise, only being taken to 4 games by Yardley. Chris Holmes then beat Dalugdugan in 3 sets, but had more of a challenge from Yardley who took a game off him, as did Adrian Slater. Ramsey A now joint top.
Arbory (7) Ramsey B (2)
Ramsey B did well to take 2 points from an experienced Arbory team. Jason Quirk won all his 3 matches but was taken to 4 by Wael Kassim with each game close. Tim Baker took a game off Quirk but also lost in 4. Mike Tamarov lost out to a battling Tim Baker in what looked to be a topsy turvy match, with the last going to 13-11 in favour of Baker. Kassim and Glenn Callow each took a game of Tamarov, only for the Arbory player to prevail each time. John Magnall had 2 good wins against Baker and Callow with some excellent play being seen. He then played Kassim with the young Ramsey player prevailing on this occasion in what was a notable victory which will surely add to his confidence. Arbory now sit third in the table 2 points behind Ramsey A and Travellers A.
Copy Shop A (3) Strathallan (6)
Sean Drewry of Copy Shop A dismantled the opposition in familiar style, beating Wayne Taylor, Julian Briercliffe, and Andy Patterson in 3 sets apiece. Adam Davies had a more trying time, losing out to Taylor, Briercliffe, and Patterson, all in 3 sets. Step up player Sasha Thomas played well for Copy Shop, but also lost to the experienced Strathallan players in 3. A valuable 6 points then for Strathallan, which lifts them to 5th in the table on 15 points.
Travellers B (7) Desmonds Douglas A (2)
John Shooter led the way for Travellers B, beating Jim Travers, Russell Kent and Tommy Cowin in convincing style. Malc Lewis had a close match against Kent, but prevailed in 5 in the end, and he beat Cowin in straight sets. Lewis' match against Jim Travers looked to be a tense affair with the 3rd game going JIm's way 14-12 to make it 2-1. Travers then took the last set and the match, for an excellent win. William Shooter had a great night with 2 very good wins against Kent in 4, and Cowin in 5. Longest game of the season to date came in William's second against Russell, with William holding his nerve to edge out Russell at 19-17. The last game was also very close with him winning 15-13. William then came from 2 games down against Tommy Cowin to take the next 3 and provide another invaluable point for Travellers B, which takes them well clear of the relegation zone on 12 points.
Division 2
Peel A (10) Travellers D (0)
For the home side, Stuart Mason led the way with straight sets wins against Maurice Campbell, and wins against Junior Development Players Ege Niiazi and Francesa Lord. Ronan Thompson had a close 5 setter against Campbell, and against Ege also in 5, but prevailed in both for Peel. Ken Hegarty also had a close win in 5 sets against Maurice Campbell. Peel A now sits atop the table alongside Peel B and Tower B.
Tower B (7) Ramsey D (3)
For the away team, Geoff Ball had an extremely satisfying evening with 3 great wins against Graham McFarlane in 4, in 3 against Simon Radcliffe, and in 4 against Steve Curtis. Ramsey fielded step up player, young Ryan Holland - who acquitted himself well and gained good experience against the 3 Tower players. Charlie Callow played well but lost his 3 matches. The doubles went to McFarlane and Radcliffe in a close 5 setter against Ball & Callow.
Peel B (8) Copy Shop C (2)
A satisfying 8 points for Peel, with only Sasha Thomas having any joy with a win against the experienced Maggie Mulhern in 4 games, and then in 3 against Nathan Evans. Maggie played well to beat Rob Wright in 3, and then had a tougher ride against Grant Paterson, winning in 5 games. Matty Evans had a great night with convincing wins against the 3 Peel players only being taken to 4 by Wright. Nathan and Matty then teamed up well to beat Rob and Sasha in 4 close games.
Travellers C (6) Copy Shop B (4)
Paul Matthieson-Nelson beat Sonja Shaw and Jean Paul Banaag in 3 sets, but was stretched to the limit by a determined Malcolm Lambert. This looked to be an extremely close affair with 3 games being settled 13-11, with Paul taking a narrow and hard-fought point. David Buck then blasted his way to victory against Shaw in 3, and Lambert in 4, only to come a cropper against Banaag who played extremely well to win in 5 sets. Adrian Tinkler had no success on the night, but had some very close games in hsi 3 matches. The doubles went to Matthieson-Nelson and Buck who steamrollered their way past Lambert and Shaw, to take the match 6-4.
Tower C (4) Desmonds Douglas B (6)
Hard bat player Margaret Forsyth had a welcome win for Tower C against Desmond's Richard Hill, taking the match in a gruelling 5 setter. Steve Curtis had 3 good wins for Tower against Peter Russell, Neil Ronan and Hill. Unfortunately Tower were unable to field a third player, and thus forfeited the other 3 points. The doubles went to Neil and Peter 3-0 to take the tie 6-4 for Desmonds.
Division 3
Ramsey E (3) Copy Shop E (7)
A good win for the Copy Shop team here, with Ege Niiazi winning his 3 matches against Francesa Lord, Lisa Lord and Megan Lord, all in 3 sets, albeit one of the games against Francesca went to 18-16. Francesca had some success, beating Corbyn Schade in 3 games, as did sister Megan, whilst Lisa required 4 games to see the unfortunate Corbyn off - but they were all close. Daniel Levine also had a very successful night, with 3 points, with only Franscesca taking a game off him. Daniel and Ege then took the doubles in a close 5 setter against Francesca and LIsa. This looked to be an epic match with all games being very tight.
Copy Shop D (1) Ramsey F (9)
Ryan Holland again came up trumps for Ramsey, disposing of his opponents Darren Shaw, Jake Saulnier and Pat Halliwell in straight sets. Matthew Bell was equally as impressive, also winning his 3 matches in straight sets. Tom Tsitsos won 2 matches in 4 sets, with only Shaw being the stumbling block, taking his match against Tom in 3. Ryan and Matthew then disposed of Darren and Jake in ruthless style to take the doubles. Ramsey F now sit top of Division 3 with 23 points.
Peel C (8) Peel D (2)
For the home team Amit Lannin played very well to take 2 points against James Devereau in 4, and then in a 5 set thriller with Ali Ramirez coming from 2 down taking the last 2 games 13-11 and 11-9, for the match. Amit had another 5 setter with Liam Bibby but lost out this time. Vlad Lannin had an even better evening with 3 wins - in 3 against Liam and James, with only Ali able to take a game off him. Bob Borland then backed up his teammates well with 2 good wins against Liam in 3, and James in 4. Ali Ramirez had an impressive win against Bob in 5 close games, to take Peel D's second point. Vlad and Amit then secured the doubles in seemingly routine fashion.
Picture: young Ryan Holland continued his impressive start to the season in Division 3 for Ramsey F, and stepped up for their D team in Division 2. Photo by Malcolm Lambert.
