Headline: 'Tower B regain top spot in Div2 table tennis'
Week 14 of the Fun88 sponsored Isle of Man Table Tennis League took place last week at the NSC.
Division 1
Ramsey B (1) Travellers A (8)
Wael Kassim was the only point scorer for the home side as he took an impressive win over Malcolm Cummings. All credit to the youngster as the games were extremely close with the last 2 going to Kassim 12-10, 13-11, and a very impressive win. Ramsey's Glenn Callow did well to take a game off Scott Lewis and Liam Chan, but lost both matches in 4. Cummings saw Callow off in 3. Tim Baker got himself into a good position against Cummings at 2-1 up, but lost the last 2 games 7-11, 8-11. Another convincing win then for Travellers A which further stretches their lead at the top.
Strathallan (1) Ramsey A (8)
Second placed Ramsey A were intent on keeping the pressure on Travellers, and managed to match the leaders with a tremendous 8-1 victory over Strathallan. For the home side, Julian Briercliffe took Duncan Alexander to a 5th game decider after leading 2-0. He was unfortunate to go down 9-11 in the final end to the Ramsey man. Briercliffe also suffered a tight 5 game defeat against Chris Holland who took the final game 11-8. Briercliffe was able to take solace however when he managed to defeat Chris Holmes in 4 games. Elsewhere for the home side, Wayne Taylor had no joy against Holland, Holmes, or Alexander. Strathallan's third player Neil Quane had a tremendous battle with Chris Holland. He was up 2-0 after taking the first 2 games 13-11 and 11-6. Holland changed gears however in the third, storming back 11-3, then 11-6, and 11-8.
Copy Shop A (4) Arbory (5)
John Magnall was in magnificent form for Arbory in this encounter. He had a very tight match against Brian Crellin losing the first 16-14, but stormed back in the second and third, before taking the last 2 games 12-10. Changing back to an old bat can sometimes work wonders! Magnall also provided strong resistance against Sean Drewry at the end of the evening with several people watching the action and some tremendous rallies were witnessed. Drewry used all his experience and power play to take the match 11-6 in the 4th. Brian Crellin continued his comeback with some impressive play, and after losing narrowly to Magnall he squeezed past Mike Tamarov in 5 sets. Jason Quirk however had other plans and managed to outwit and outplay Crellin in 4 games - 9-11 in the final 2.
Ramsey C (7) Desmonds Douglas A (2)
Adam Teare made an appearance for Ramsey C which had a notable impact on the result in this match, alongside the fact that Desmonds were only able to field 2 players. Teare beat Neil Ronan in 3 straight games before encountering a little more resistance from Tommy Cowin, losing the first game, before taking the next 3 in dominant style. William Dalugdugan had a really good win against Cowin, managing to defeat the Desmonds player 11-6 in the fifth end. He then beat Ronan in 4 games. Cowin and Ronan had some recompense by each picking up a point against an off-colour Adrian Slater.
Tower A (0) Travellers B (9)
William Shooter was outstanding in this fixture. First up was Jakk Limunkoon for Tower A, and despite some magnificent play from Jakk, Shooter managed to just pip him in the 5th end 13-11. Ken Mitchell was also 2-1 up only to fall to some determined play from William, who then took the match 11-9 in the 5th. Shooter then took out Mike Bayley 11-9 in the 4th end. Very encouraging for this fast improving player. John Shooter added a further 3 points against the hapless Tower trio, as did Malc Lewis who was in dominant form.
Division 2
Copy Shop C (3) Peel A (7)
Kevin Drewry of Copy Shop, had excellent wins against Peel A's Ken Hegarty and then Ronan Thompson. Stu Mason retaliated by taking Drewry down in 4 games. Rob Wright played well again for Copy Shop, and had a battling performance against Mason, only losing 6-11 in the 5th end. Wright then beat Hegarty in 3 games, after the first went to him 15-13. Wright could not make it three wins however, being defeated in 4 games by Thompson. Dan Levine was Copy Shop's step up player and he was unable to add to the home side's points tally. The doubles went to a resurgent Hegarty, and Thompson, in 4 ends.
Copy Shop B (2) Tower B (8)
Copy Shop B were aided by an improved performance from Malcolm Lambert who had a great win against the experienced Graham McFarlane, outlasting him in 5 ends. He then went on to convincingly defeat Simon Radcliffe in 3 games. Dario Mazzotta was the stumbling block for Lambert however, outplaying him with his long pips and looping combination game. It was tight though: 6-11, 9-11, 11-9, 9-11. John Paul Banaag stepped up next for Copy Shop, but he was unable to dent the Tower trio's progress. Sonja Shaw was Copy Shop's third player and whilst playing well was not able to prevent defeat against Mazzotta in 4, and Radcliffe and McFarlane in 3 games. A further 8 points lifts Tower 3 points ahead of Peel B at the top.
Travellers C (6) Peel B (4)
David Buck had an impressive win against Peel's Matty Evans after losing the first 11-4. He battled his way back into the match taking the second game 14-12, then the 3rd and 4th games 11-5 and 11-9. Adrian Tinkler did well to defeat Maggie Mulhern in 3 games, but had no such joy against Stu Perry or Evans. The latter match was very close and was settled 11-9 in the 5th. Perry also defeated Buck in 4 games, as did Mulhern. Paul Matthieson-Nelson needed his trademark sweatband in his first match against an in-form Perry, but eventually managed to overturn a 2-1 deficit taking the last 2 games 11-4. He had tight games in the first 2 against Mulhern but managed to defeat Maggie in 3, as he did in his match with Evans.
Ramsey D (5) Desmonds Douglas B (5)
This turned out to be a very tight match with no one player being dominant. Charlie Callow of Ramsey D was perhaps closest, impressively defeating Neil Ronan in 5 games, Peter Russell in 3 games, but then falling to Richard Hill in a close 4 setter. Geoff Ball then secured wins against Hill and Russell in 3 with some dominant play. He could not however out-perform Ronan with the latter taking the match 11-7 in the 3rd game. Hill added to his haul by beating Sally Green in 3 games, as did Ronan and Russell. The doubles went to Ramsey D, courtesy of the impressive duo of Callow and Geoff Burchill.
Travellers D (2) Tower C (8)
Maurice Campbell had an off night for the home side by his standards, falling to the Tower C trio of Steve Curtis, Mike Chapman and Barry Jenkins. It was particularly close in his game with Chapman however, going all the way to a 5th set decider 11-9. Jackie Gill had a good win against Chapman 6-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-5. For Peel C, Steve Curtis was unbeaten on the night, as was Barry Jenkins. They then teamed up well to take the doubles against Campbell and Gill in 4 close games.
Division 3
Ramsey G (1) Ramsey E (9)
Ramsey G were only able to field 2 players for this tie so Ramsey E instantly found themselves 3 up. Lisa Lord then added 2 points by defeating Henry de Silva in 3 games, and daughter Megan in 5. Francesca Lord was also able to beat both Henry and Megan in 3 games. Wilma Dalugdugan then had an epic 5 setter againts Megan before coming out as victor 11-7 in the final end. Wilma and Francesca capped the night with a 5 set win in the doubles against the battling duo of Henry and Megan.
Copy Shop E (10) Copy Shop D (0)
Yet another sparkling performance here from Division 3 leaders Copy Shop E. Ege Niyazi, Daniel and Mike Levine met with only sporadic resistance from Jake Saulnier, Darren Shaw and Pat Halliwell. Jake did take Daniel to a 5th set decider, as did Darren Shaw, but interestingly in both matches Daniel took the final game decisively. Mike Levine was untroubled on the night, and this 10 points extends Copy Shop E's lead at the top of Division 3.
Ramsey F (6) Peel C (4)
The other form team in Division 3 is the junior trio of Ryan Holland, Mathew Bell and Tom Tsitsos. Ryan continued his excellent form by defeating Amit Lanin in 3 convincing games, as he did against Vlad Lanin. He also made short work of Bob Borland in 3 games. Matthew Bell saw off Vlad in 5 tough games, and Borland in 4, but then came unstuck against the excellent Amit, in 4 games. Tom Tsitsos had an impressive win against Borland too, pipping him 13-11 in the 5th. The win keeps Ramsey F in second place in Division 3, albeit well behind leaders Copy Shop E.
Picture below (credit to Malcolm Lambert) - 'William Shooter was in excellent form last week for Travellers B'
