Headline: 'Table Tennis season kicks into action’    

The nights are drawing in which means only one thing - the start of another table tennis season! Week 1 of the Fun88 sponsored IOM Table Tennis Association league took place at the NSC last week. Division 1 champions Travellers A will be focused on defending their title, but Ramsey A are just one challenger who will be keen to usurp them. Full match details can be found at  www.tabletennis365.com/IOM

Division 1

Travellers A (9) Tower B (0)

The reigning Division 1 champions Travellers A, pretty much picked up exactly where they left off last season, and dished out a sound beating to newly promoted Tower B. The familiar trio of Scott Lewis, Liam Chan and Malcolm Cummings were dominant in their matches, with only Paul Callow managing to nab a game off Cummings, and Steve Curtis teasing one off Chan.

Arbory A (6) Tower A (3)

Arbory now have 2 teams in the top flight and have done a good job in spreading their experience, whilst nurturing some younger players. Jason Quirk and Mike Tamarov were joined by Sonja Shaw who was making her debut in Division 1. Quirk was dominant in his matches with no games dropped. Tamarov won all his 3 but was pushed hard by Ken Mitchell, winning in 4, and Dave Parsons took him all the way to a 5th game. Sonja wasn’t able to collect any points but gained a good insight into the standard of play.  

Travellers B (6) Strathallan (3)

John Shooter was untroubled for the home side, beating Andy Patterson in 3 ends. He was pushed hard by an impressive Wayne Taylor who battled his way back into the match by taking games 3 & 4, before Shooter stepped up a gear and blasted his way to victory in the 5th end. Andy Horne made a rare appearance for Strathy, and whilst he used all his guile, he was unable to dent the progress of the Travellers trio of John & Will Shooter, and Malc Lewis. Malc took 5 games however to edge out Andy, but had a torrid time against Taylor, losing in 3. He pushed Patterson hard, before losing 8-11 in the 4th end. Will had a particularly impressive win against Patterson in 4 close ends, and then against Horne whom he beat 11-7 in the 5th end. Taylor was in excellent form in his opening week, adding a second win on the night by beating Will in fine style 11-9, 11-6, 11-8. 

Ramsey A (9) Arbory B (0)

Ramsey look like they will give Strathallan a good run for their money this season, with 3 formidable Island team players as their first picks - Adam Teare, Duncan Alexander and Becky Taylor. In their opening tie against Arbory B, Adam firstly swept aside Dan Levine in 3 ends, then defeated John Magnall in 4. Adam then quashed the ambition of youth by soundly beating the current young hope of Island table tennis Amit Lanin in 4 ends. Meanwhile, Alexander didn't have things quite his own way against Magnall, but managed to pip John 12-10 in the final end. Becky Taylor is improving every season and she got off to a good start with impressive wins against Amit, edging him out 11-8 in the 5th, and Dan in 3 ends. She took the honours 11-9 in the 5th end against a battling Magnall to the applause of the remaining spectators.

Division 2

JRTE A (3) Travellers C (6)

Last season’s Division 3 champions, Tower House changed their name this season to JRTE Marketing, and bolstered their A team by adding the very experienced Darren Smethurst - welcome back to him after several years out of table tennis! Darren had a tough opener against Keeran Chan but pulled through 11-8, 12-10, 12-10 to his credit. He then overwhelmed young Luke Begley who was making his Division 2 debut. He was stopped in his tracks however by a determined Paul Mathieson-Nelson who was also making a comeback after knee surgery. Paul did extremely well, beating Darren in straight ends, picking up where he left off prior to his injury with a 100% win rate. Darren’s teammate Paul Mitchinson managed to beat Luke in 3 ends, but could make no impression against either Paul or Keeran, losing both in straight ends. JRTE’s third player Cameron Millar found the going tough, losing to Paul, Keeran and Luke in straight ends.

Ramsey B (4) Arbory D (5)

Tim Baker has decided to bolster the Ramsey B team this season, which I’m sure was welcome news to them. He was pushed hard by a determined Mike Levine in his first match and narrowly lost out 7-11 in the final end. He had an easier time against rising star Liav Lanin however, pushing past him in 3. Malcolm Lambert was next up and a tough opponent for Tim on paper, but Tim was able to take the match in 4 ends. Adrian Slater was next up for the home side, and he was able to defeat Liav in 3 ends, albeit the youngster made him play for it. Adrian took a game off Lambert but the Arbory player was too strong for him, taking the match 11-5 in the 4th. Wilma Dalugdugan was Ramsey’s third player. She made a good start against Malcolm, taking the first game 11-9, but was pegged back, losing the next 3, and the match. She had a closer match against Mike Levine, but ultimately lost out narrowly in 4 ends.

Desmonds A (7) Arbory C (2)

Brandon Montgomery was in fine form for the home side, racking up 3 points by beating Rob Wright and Kevin Drewry in straight ends. He needed 5 ends to dispose of a battling Dave Bufton however, albeit it was 11-4 in the 5th. Neil Ronan was also in good form for Desmonds, and whilst he pushed past Rob in straight ends, he needed 4 ends to get past Drewry, and like Brandon he needed 5 ends to pip Bufton in a topsy turvy scoreline. Russ Kent was unusually subdued, only managing one win, against Rob in 3 ends. Drewry managed to close him out 11-7 in the 4th, whilst Bufton beat him comprehensively in straight ends.

Peel A (9) Ramsey C (0)

Peel A will be strong contenders this season in Division 2, only losing out narrowly on promotion last season. A 9-0 scoreline was a great start to their campaign. Jon Taylor Burt was solid as ever, winning all his 3 matches in straight ends, and was ably assisted by Stu Perry and Ken Hegarty. Only 2 matches went to 4 ends - Stu conceded a game against Martyn Howard, as did Ken. Other than that it was plain sailing for Peel. 

Division 3

Travellers F (2) Ramsey D (3)

It’s a new look for Division 3 this season, with Junior Development players being integrated into some new Travellers sides. Sydnie Weaver had an excellent win 3-1 against Pat Helliwell, and followed that up with another good win against Tony Sewell. Her teammate Megan Corris took Tony to a 5th end but was pipped 11-6 by the Ramsey player. It was a similar story against Pat, but this time she was defeated in 3 ends. The doubles went to Tony & Pat in straight ends.

Travellers D (4) JRTE Marketing B (1)

Maurice Campbell and Jackie Gill combined well to take 4 points in this tie against Steven Carridge and Gary Skillicorn. There was consolation for JRTE when Steven pipped Jackie 12-10 in the 5th end.

Travellers E (3) Travellers G (2)

Youngsters Henry Weaver and Eben Moore look to be a strong team in Division 3 this season, playing for the Travellers E team. So, too are Max Doyle, Rhys Bufton and Tom Taylor Burt for the G team. Rhys pulled off a tremendous opening win against Eben, winning 13-11 in the 4th end. He was pegged back however by Henry, who prevailed 11-8, 11-6, 11-7. Tom added a valuable point for the G team by beating Eben 3-1. Henry then eased his way past young Max with a win in 3 ends. Doubles was taken by Henry & Eben in a very exciting final match against Tom & Max - 11-9, 10-12, 12-10, 12-10 - illustrating how close this match was. 

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Practice nights have resumed but on Fridays commencing 20/9 between 7pm to 9pm - fee of £5 per session for adults and £3 for juniors.

Picture 1: Sonja Shaw making her Division 1 debut for Tower B (photo by Malcolm Lambert)