Headline: 'Copy Shop E dominant in Division 3 Table Tennis'  

Week 12 of the Fun88 sponsored Isle of Man Table Tennis League took place last week at the NSC.

Division 1

Tower A (1) Travellers A (8) 

Dave Parsons managed to salvage a valuable point for Tower from a challenging tie with table topping Travellers A, with an impressive 11-9, 4-11, 11-4, 11-7 win over old foe Malcolm Cummings. Parsons met his match however, with both Scott Lewis and Liam Chan defeating him in 3 games. Mike Bayley made a welcome return to action for Tower, but had to face the mighty Lewis first, who showed no mercy and defeated Bayley soundly in 3 games. He suffered a similar fate at the hands of the ruthless Chan. Jakk Limungkoon made his second appearance of the season for Tower and did well to take the second game off Cummings and narrowly lost the third 10-12, and went on to lose the match. The 8 points for Travellers takes them well ahead in the table on 97 points after 12 fixtures.  

Ramsey C (0) Ramsey A (9)

Second placed Ramsey needed 9 points from this tie and they did exactly that. Chris Holmes did well to see off Adrian Slater in 3 games, albeit the first went to 15-13. Young Charlie Callow stepped up for the C team and acquitted himself well on the night. He took a game off Holmes but lost in 4, but 3 of those games were relatively tight. Charlie also played well against the experienced Chris Holland and Duncan Alexander but both were able to see off Callow in 3 games. Slater took a game off Holland to his credit, but lost in 4. Geoff Ball was Ramsey C's third player, bravely stepping up from the third division. This win takes Ramsey A to 83 points and maintains their second place, just ahead of Arbory.  

Ramsey B (0) Arbory (9)

Arbory ran riot over their opponents in this tie, but it wasn't easy. Tim Baker unusually came away with nothing on the night, losing to Khayee Vinas 15-17, 12-10, 6-11, 7-11, then to John Magnall 7-11, 12-10, 9-11, 10-12, and most notably to Mike Tamarov 6-11, 11-4, 13-11, 7-11, 9-11. All pretty close games and it says a lot about the Arbory player's determination to win. Wael Kassim had a very close and exciting match with Magnall, ultimately losing 10-12 in the final end. 4 of the games in that match looked to be nerve-janglers. Tamarov then blasted aside Kassim in 3, and Callow in 4. An impressive 9 points therefore for Arbory against tricky opposition, keeps them within touching distance of second place.  

Strathallan (6) Copy Shop A (3)

Sean Drewry had a potentially difficult match against super blocker Andy Patterson, but there was no repeat of their epic match in the recent Divisionals Championships, and Drewry looped his way past Patterson 11-4, 11-7, 12-10. Patterson had better luck against Ewan Watterson however, defeating him in 4 games, and Sasha Thomas in 3. Wayne Taylor had an excellent win over Watterson too - closing out the match 11-6 in the 5th, after coming back from 2 games down. He also swept aside Thomas in 3 games, albeit the final 2 were close at 13-11, 15-13. Neil Quane made a rare appearance for Strathallan and must have been delighted to secure another 2 points for his team by defeating Watterson in 4 games, and Thomas in 3. 

Division 2 

Travellers D (0) Peel A (10)

Travellers were fortunate to have Junior Development Player Ryan Holland play with them in this tie, alongside the experienced duo of Maurice Campbell and Jackie Gill. Unfortunately for them however they were up against stiff opposition in the form of table toppers Peel A. Stuart Mason, Ken Hagarty and Ronan Thompson all came away with 3 points and added the doubles to make it a 10-0 trouncing for Peel. Ryan's match with Mason was close however, with Mason just managing to see off the talented youngster in the 5th end. Campbell did well to take games off Hegarty and Thompson but lost both matches in 4 games. Hegarty and Thompson did well to beat Ryan in 4 games. The 10 points means that Peel A are now neck and neck with Tower B on 92 points. 

Ramsey D (2) Tower B (8)

Dario Mazzotta continued his excellent form with 3 great wins against Charlie Callow in 4 games, and Nathan Walker  and Geoff Ball in 3 games. Mazzotta's combination of heavy forehand loops and awkward pimpled backhand shots looks to be a winning combination and the veteran has contributed hugely to Tower's success this season. Graham McFarlane also had a great week, managing to secure 3 solid wins against Callow, Ball and Walker in apparently  trouble-free fashion. Simon Radcliffe has also been in good form this season for Tower, and he disposed of Charlie in 3 games, and Walker in 3, albeit the last went to 16-14. He then came up against Geoff Ball, who had other ideas. Ball managed to turn the tables on Simon after losing the first. This was a notable and impressive win for Ball. The doubles went to Ball and Callow with an impressive 11-6, 11-2, 6-11, 11-6 win. 

Copy Shop C (4) Peel B (6) 

Unfortunately for Copy Shop they were only able to field 2 players in this tie. However Rob Wright and Kevin Drewry played well to secure 4 points, with wins for Wright against Maggie Mulhern and Nathan Evans. The latter match went to the in-form Wright in 4 tense games 12-10, 13-11, 7-11, 12-10. Stu Perry managed to turn the tables on Wright however with a solid 3 set win. Kevin Drewry then did just that to Perry, managing to overhaul the Peel man in 3 games. Drewry then disposed of Mulhern but met greater resistance, finally securing the win in the 4th end. 

Copy Shop B (4) Travellers C (6) 

Malcolm Lambert had an excellent win in 4 games against tricky opponent David Buck. He then had his usual tussle with old enemy Paul Matthieson-Nelson, with Paul finally prevailing 7-11, 14-12, 11-7, 11-9. He then added wins against Darren Shaw and Sonja Shaw, as did Buck. Buck and Mathieson-Nelson added the doubles in 3 games against Lambert and Sonja Shaw. Unfortunately Travellers were without a third player here so 6 points was the maximum they could extract from this tie. 

Desmonds Douglas (7) Tower C (3)

Neil Ronan  had another excellent week for Desmonds, securing 3 points - all in 3 ends which was hugely impressive against a very good Tower team. Steve Curtis managed to take a point for Tower against Peter Russell and Richard Hill, as did Barry Jenkins against Hill. Ronan and Rusell then secured the doubles for Desmonds 11-7, 11-8, 11-8 against Curtis and Jenkins. 

Division 3

Copy Shop D (1) Ramsey E (9)

The fabulous trio of Francesca Lord, Lisa Lord and Wilma Dalugdugan secured all the singles points in this tie. Darren Shaw put up a tremendous fight against LIsa and Wilma, but ultimately fell to both 8-11 in the 5th end. Pat Halliwell and Jake Saulnier did extremely well to take the doubles from Wilma and Francesca - 14-12 in the fifth and final game. Some consolation then for Copy Shop. 

Peel C (10) Ramsey G (0)

Peel C were in ruthless mode in this tie with Amit Lannin leading the charge with 3 solid wins against Megan Lord, Geoff Burchill and Henry de Silva. Brother Vlad did likewise with hugely impressive performances against all 3 Ramsey players. Bob Borland then did the same - again in impressive fashion. The Lannin brothers then added the final point in the doubles. This win takes Peel C to third place and now only 5 points behind second placed Ramsey F.  

Peel D (0) Copy Shop E (10)

Copy Shop E have been incredibly consistent and impressive this season, with the experienced MIke Levine leading the way and still on a 100% win rate. Son Daniel continues to play extremely well this season alongside the hugely impressive Ege Niyazi. This 10 point win extends their lead to 15 points in the third tier after week 12, and surely puts them in prime position for promotion to Division 2 next season. The closest match was between Daniel and James Devereau with Levine managing to close the match out in the 5th end 11-7. Daniel had another 5 setter against Liam Bibby in a rather topsy turvy match, but came out on top in that one too. Ege was ruthless in his performances, disposing of Bibby, Devereau and Ali Ramirez in 3 straight games. Ali was able to take a game off Levine senior, but lost in the 4th end. The doubles went to Daniel and Mike in 4 games against James and Ali. 

Pictures (see below - credit to Malcolm Lambert)

Picture 1: Dan Levine continues his impressive form in Division 3 for Copy Shop E alongside Dad Mike