Travellers A, Arbory and Ramsey A make strong start as IOM Table Tennis League kicks off   

Division One

Travellers A (8), Travellers B (1)

Defending champions Travellers A stamped their authority here with an emphatic win over their B team who were promoted from Division 2 last season. It was great to see John Shooter making a return to the top flight for the first time in 16 years, alongside his  son William, and experienced hand Malc Lewis. The A team showed no mercy however in what was a convincing win. A hat trick of wins for Scott Lewis, who was in dominant mood with straight set victories against his Dad Malc, John & William. Liam Chan also had 3 wins only losing 1 game to John along the way. Malcolm Cummings won 2 for the A team, only succumbing to John Shooter in an exciting 4 game match.   

Arbory (8), Tower A (1)

There were some hard foughts matches in this tie despite the result but Arbory showed their credentials as title contenders, with a resounding victory. Some exciting rallies here with combinations of defensive and attacking styles. Jason Quirk won 3, John Magnall won 3 and Mike Tamarov won 2 for Arbory. Ken Mitchell had a 5 set thriller with John with the latter prevailing 11-9 in the 5th. Dave Parsons had an excellent and convincing win over Mike in 3 games. Will Bayley was the third man for Tower, putting in solid performances, taking games off John and Mike, but losing in 4 in both. 

Ramsey A (9), Desmond's Douglas A (0) 

This was a forfeited match with no matches played. Desmonds Douglas A were promoted last year as Division 2 runners up, with Ramsey A being runners up in Division 1, so it was a pity to see no action here. 

Copy Shop A (7), Ramsey C (2) 

Home team Copy Shop won the fixture with some exciting play being seen. Sean Drewry topped the player averages last season and he continued in that vein with 3 straight set wins against William Daulgdugan, Rhys Yardley and Adrian Slater. Ewan Watterson won 3 also, with Adam Davies winning one. Ewan was pushed hard by Rhys but used his experience to ease through in 4 sets. Ewan then beat William 3-1, and Adrian in 3 straight. Adam succumbed to Rhys in 4 games in what looked to be a close match. Adam then pushed through against William 11-9 in the 4th. Adrian Slater had an excellent win for Ramsey, beating Adam in 4 sets. 

Strathallan (4), Ramsey B (5) 

This was the closest fixture of the night, with some great play from both teams. For the away team, Wael Kassim had 2 tremendous wins over experienced Strathallan hands Wayne Taylor and Andy Patterson, only losing to Julian Briercliffe in 4. His match against Wayne looked particularly close. Wayne went 2 up 13-11 in both games but Wael battled back, beating Wayne 12-10 in the 5th. Knife edge stuff! Wael then beat Andy in 4 games. Wayne beat Glenn Callow in 4 games but lost in 3 straight to Tim Baker. Tim had a strong night, beating his 3 opponents in straight sets, alongside Wael's 2 wins. For Strathallan, Julian one 2 matches, Wayne 1, and Andy 1.  

Division Two

Peel A (10), Tower C (0) 

A very strong opening performance here from Peel A. Stuart Mason and Ronan Thompson both won their 3 matches in straight sets, and Ken Hegarty won his 3 matches, only dropping 1 game each to Barry Jenkins and Margaret Forsyth. Mike Chapman teamed up with Barry Jenkins in the doubles for Tower C, losing in 4 after 2 very close opening games.   

Tower B (10), Desmond's Douglas B (0) 

Newly relegated Tower B are keen to get off to a positive start this season, and this whitewash achieved that aim. Graham McFarlane used his years of experience to edge past his 3 opponents. He beat Peter Russell in 4 games, Neil Ronan in 3, and Richard Hill in 4. Simon Radcliffe beat Neil in 4 games with the last 2 looking close. He then beat Peter in 3 and Richard in 4. Steve Curtis used his push and chop style to good effect to provide solid wins against Neil, Peter and Russell. Steve and Graham then combined well to beat Neil & Peter in 3 games. 

Peel B (10), Traveller's D (0) 

Stuart Perry showed his class with 3 wins, albeit his match with wily chopper Maurice Campbell was a close 5 setter. Maggie Mulhern had 3 good wins too - but again Maurice provided stiff opposition, with Maggie also prevailing in 5 games. Matty Evans was Peel's 3rd player and he also managed 3 wins, with Maurice yet again providing a tricky test. Matty won that in 5 also. Better luck next time Maurice!  Traveller's other player was Jackie Gill, and they fielded a Junior Development Player. In the doubles, Maggie & Matty won in straight sets. 

Traveller's C (8), Ramsey D (2) 

For the home team, Alex Buck played well to defeat Sally Green and Charlie Callow in 3 straight games, but then took 5 games to beat a battling Geoff Ball. Adrian Tinker beat Sally & Charlie but lost to the excellent Geoff in 3 games. David Buck had a busy night, beating Sally in 3, then losing to Charlie in 5 in what looked to be one of the games of the night. David then steadied himself to beat Geoff Ball in the fifth set. In the doubles, Alex teamed up with Adrian to beat Geoff & Charlie in 4 games. A good start to the season for Travellers C then. 

Copy Shop B (3), Copy Shop C (6) 

There were 3 forfeited matches here, but the C team won the fixture. Sonja Shaw of the B team had a close match against Sasha Thomas with Sasha edging through in 5 games. Sonja had a good win against Kevin Drewry in 4 games with the final game being settled 15-13. Kevin and Sasha then teamed up to beat Sonja and Grant Paterson in a close 5 game doubles match. 

Division Three

Copy Shop D (8), Ramsey G (2) 

Darren Shaw had an impressive start to his season with 3 wins - in 5 against Megan Lord, and in 3 against Robin Burchill, and Henry De Silva.  Jake Saulnier then won his match against Robin in a close 5 setter, and against Henry in 3. He lost to Megan Lord who was again involved in a tense 5 setter, but this time prevailed. Well done Megan. Pat Halliwell had close matches against Robin and Henry but came through the winner in both, after 5 sets each. She lost to Megan in 3 straight. In the doubles, Darren and Jake teamed up to great effect to beat Megan and Robin in 4 games. 

Peel C (5), Copy Shop E (5) 

A tight affair this one. For Peel C as the home team, Amit Lannin had 2 wins in 3 sets against Corbyn Schade and Daniel Levine. He then was soundly beaten by the experienced Mike Levine. It was a similar story for Vlad Lannin who beat Corbyn and Daniel but also succumbed to Mike.  Bob Borland didn't pick up any points for the home team but had a very tight match against Corbyn just losing out in the 5th. Amit and Vlad then teamed up to beat Corbyn and Daniel in 4 games in the doubles contest. 

Peel D (2), Ramsey F (8) 

Peel D lost out to the away team in what was an impressive win for Ramsey F. Ryan Holland had a great night, winning all his 3 matches, against Ali Ramirez in 4, James Devereau in 4, and in 3 against Liam Bibby. Matthew Bell also had 3 good wins against Ali, James and Liam. Tom Tsitsos backed up his team mates admirably, by beating Ali and LIam, only to lose out to James in 3. In the doubles, Ali and James teamed to great effect with a very good win against Ryan and Matthew in 3 games.   

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