First defeat of Season for BATTS I / Double defeat for Woodfield
The Single Days play which always constitutes the third weekend of British League action has often seen teams with unbeaten records finally come unstuck. That was the case here where BATTS I lost for the first time. They were beaten 5-3 by an inspired Cippenham I. Martin Adams and Steve Munson both won twice and Munson clinched an outstanding victory by getting the better of Tony West 11-13, 11-3, 10-12, 11-7, 14-12 in the all important last game.
If it is was surprising to see BATTS lose that pales into insignificance when compared with the plight of Woodfield III in Division Three South Midlands and West. Woodfield had the misfortune of playing both of their main rivals on the same day. Unfortunately, they caught both of their opponents on a good day. Victoria Smith starred for Woolwell as they beat the leaders 5-3 and Woodfield made a terrible start against NWF falling 4-0 behind. NWF’s Andy Whitcher won an absolute humdinger 11-4, 9-11, 5-11, 11-5, 25-23 against Paul Worrallo to compound Woodfield’s agony.
Division One North - Drumchapel Glasgow II with a record of 20 points out of 20 and a games record of 64-16 are virtually home and dry. With fourth-placed Barrow II (like Drumchapel Glasgow II) also ineligible for the Premier Division Play-Offs in May it is looking good for second-placed Halton I (14 points) and third-placed Derwent I (13 points).
Drumchapel Glasgow II turned in two commanding performances. Craig Hardie (16/20 wins), Terry McLernon (15/20 wins) and Chris Main (17/20 wins) were all undefeated as they beat Northfield 7-1 whilst Craig Hardie, Richard Main (16 wins out of 20) and Chris Main were all unbeaten in the 7-1 win against Westfield II. Keith Rodger was Northfield’s sole winner. He beat Richard Main 11-8, 10-12, 11-2, 10-12, 11-9 whilst Westfield’s John Fuller came up trumps against Terry McLernon, a win that earned him the Player of the Match Award for his efforts. England no. 398 Terry Cardwell (“Tiny” to his friends) also came very close to scoring what would have been a major upset. He only missed out 6-11, 7-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-13 against Scottish no. 11 Terry McLernon.
Halton I recorded two wins. They recovered from falling 2-0 behind against Westfield II to win 6-2. The Westfield wins were certainly worthy of mention. England no,. 58 Veteran John Fuller scored a superb 11-9, 11-9, 14-12 win over England no. 15 Veteran Richard Lightowler and Alex Green did well to defeat England no. seven Veteran Keith Williams 12-10, 11-6, 15-13. After that Halton took charge and their side of Lightowler, Williams, Michael Moir and Paul Hutchins rattled through the next six games. Halton beat Burton Uxbridge 7-1. Burton’s victory came in the last game when England no. six Junior Girl Abbie Milwain came up trump. She scored a fine 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-6 win over Paul Hutchins.
Derwent (Matt Dodds, Stephen Horsfield, Mark Short and Richard Smith) dealt severely with the challenge of Barrow and they ran out surprising 7-1 winners. Scott Crawford who beat Richard Smith in four ends was Barrow’s only winner. The hard-hitting Matt Dodds (16 wins out of 20) took the Player of the Match plaudits beating Paul Cicchelli 11-2, 11-8, 16-14 and Jonathan Crawford 14-16, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7. Derwent were pushed harder by Northfield and eventually won 5-3.Richard Smith secured both points by getting the better of Tim Surrey 13-11, 11-4, 11-8 in the last game. The improving Edward Fambely impressed for Northfield. He beat Richard Smith 11-7, 12-10, 10-12, 11-3. Matt Dodds was again the top player on view. He beat Daniel Welsh 11-7, 13-11, 11-5 and Keith Rodger 11-8, 11-8,
11-9.
Ormesby II (six points) did well to beat the higher placed Burton Uxbridge 6-2. England no. 59 James Ward was responsible for both of Burton’s wins whilst Karina Lefevre and Martin Rutter both picked up doubles for the Middlesbrough side. Rutter excelled on this occasion. He beat Russell Boone 11-9, 11-5, 11-9 and Abbie Milwain 6-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-6.
Division One South - The big story in this division was the first defeat of the Season for leaders BATTS I. It took place in round 10 against fourth-placed Cippenham I who moved into a commanding 4-1 lead and withstood a BATTS comeback to eventually win 5-3. BATTS were without their top player - England no. 35 Sean Gibson but that shouldn’t detract from the fine form that Cippenham produced. None more so than England no. 70 Martin Adams. He beat both Jimmy Walsh (13-11, 11-8, 11-5) and Martin Kubrt (11-8, 11-9, 11-9). Steve Munson was Cippenham’s other key player in this success. He accounted for England no. 82 Ryan Collins in four ends (11-8, 10-12, 11-8, 11-5) and with his team leading 4-3 he outlasted Tony West 11-13, 11-3, 10-12, 11-7, 14-12 to seal his side’s victory.
BATTS I lead the table by three points from York Gardens I (15 points) with Urban Progress I (14 points) only a further point adrift. But with both of these strong sides still to play in the last round of matches there is still a lot left to play for. BATTS know they can’t afford to slip up.
BATTS had shown good form in round nine by beating London Progress II 7-1. Martin Kubrt was at his best. He beat England no. four lady Egle Adomelyte 11-3, 12-10, 11-9 and Sherwin Remata 11-4, 11-9, 4-11, 11-6. His efforts rubbed off on his team-mates. Tony West avenged a first half defeat against Ryan Maynard by winning 11-7, 11-7, 11-8 and he also beat Jared Knowles 11-4, 12-1, 11-6. Ryan Collins was also a double winner. He beat both Jared Knowles and Egle Adomelyte in four ends.
Cippenham I also did well to hold Urban Progress I to a draw. Urban’s top player - England no. 50 Gergely Urban (11 wins out of 12) was right in the thick of things. He beat Dob Tokov (11-2, 11-5, 12-10) and Martin Adams (7-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-4) whilst Costas Papantoniou (10 wins out of 20) played his part by beating Martin Adams over five ends (8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 8-11, 11-8). Fast-improving Sam Cowan ensured that Urban Progress came away from the match with what could be a vital point by beating Steve Munson 4-11, 11-4, 11-6, 12-10 in the last game. Rob Hansell was a double winner for Cippenham. He beat Sam Cowan 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 11-7 and Costas Papantoniou 9-11, 11-5, 13-11, 11-2.
Urban Progress showed they still have Play-Off ambitions in round 10. They beat York Gardens II 6-2 although they will be the first to admit that the scoreline flattered them slightly. Put simply - they won all four five-enders. Anthony Corbin prevailed 11-8, 7-11, 11-2, 9-11, 11-9 against new ITTF Para Class Seven World no. one Will Bailey (our congratulations go to him and he can be assured we will all be cheering for him in the Summer) whilst Costas Papantoniou came through an equally tough match against Aaron McKibbin (11-7, 11-8, 6-11, 7-11, 11-8). England no 60 Dariusz Zurowski edged out Will Bailey after a titanic struggle 11-3, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9, 12-10. Anthony Corbin rounded off a very good Urban Progress team performance by getting the better of Aaron McKibbin 5-11, 11-9, 11-13, 11-6, 11-7 in the last game.
At the bottom end of the table Godalming Coversure (five points) did well to beat Woolwell (six points) 5-3 although the match didn‘t go to form. The highest ranked player - Godalming‘s England no. 39 Adam Laws lost twice. He was beaten 6-11, 11-5, 8-11, 12-10, 9-11 by an inspired Harry Cutler and he was no match for Richard Marshall who stormed home 11-3, 11-5, 11-6. With Richard Marshall also getting the better of Michael Chan 3-1 Woolwell led 2-0 and Godalming did very well to win five out of the next six games. Alain Choo-Choy in his first weekend of the Season played his part with two wins whilst Andreas Pusch also picked up two victories. He secured his side’s victory in the last game by getting the better of Rory Harries 11-7, 13-11, 6-11, 11-9.
Division One South, West & North - Ormesby I - a Club with the proudest of traditions have every intention of intention of returning to the Premier division. With 19 points out of 20 and a four point lead over Kingfisher they look very much on course to be contesting the Play-Offs in May.
They beat Fusion II 6-2 and bottom side Ashford Brunswick 8-0. England no. 18 Michael Marsden (19 wins out of 20), newcomer Yongbe Zhang (12 wins out of 12) and Simon Noutch (16 wins out of 20) were all undefeated in the 6-2 win over Fusion. Ormesby no. two Patrick Thomas - a player with Premier Division experience has not enjoyed the best of Seasons and he lost both of his games to John Dennison and Aaron Smith. Two very good wins for the Fusion players.
Ashford Brunswick, without the services of the injured trio of Matt Pernett, Koran Ozcan and John Robinson have understandably found the going tough this year. Credit where it is due - many teams would have withdrawn when three of their top players became unavailable. They promoted Ugar Surucu from their second team for this weekend and he gave a terrific account of himself against England no. 42 Simon Noutch before losing 9-11, 8-11, 11-3, 11-9, 13-15. England no. two Over 70 ranked player David Crowley also went down fighting. He pushed Patrick Thomas all the way before succumbing 11-9, 8-11, 11-6, 2-11, 8-11. Jason Tendler also gave Patrick Thomas plenty to think about. He only missed out in the fifth end 13-11, 3-11, 8-11, 11-9, 7-11. Quite a good match for top versus bottom………..
Kingfisher I consolidated second place by beating both TTC Cornwall and Fusion II 5-3. Conor Edwards, with wins over Dave Waddington and Adam Tatlow led the way against TTC Cornwall whilst Wiktor Dzwonkowski who beat John Dennison and Aaron Smith gave them the advantage against Fusion. TTC Cornwall’s Darren Reed (the England no. 54) caused them the most problems. He beat Wiktor Dzwonkowski 11-3, 11-6, 13-11 and Lloyd Gregory 8-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7. The match against Fusion was a good one. Five games were decided in the fifth end, and Kingfisher won three of them. Charlotte Carey (10 wins out of 12) was responsible for two of them. She beat England no. four Under 13 Luke Savill 9-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-5 and it was equally “touch-and-go” against Jogenes Senorin where she ran out a 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 10-12, 11-8 winner. Kingfisher led 4-3 and young Luke Savill, promoted from the Club’s third team came very close to securing a point for the South London side. He pushed Conor Edwards (9/12 wins) all the way before succumbing very narrowly 8-11, 7-11, 12-10, 11-3, 12-10.
The big shock in this division was the failure of third-placed Sportingbet Guernsey I to beat BATTS II. True, Guernsey had to concede the last match to catch their Flight home - leaving the scores tied at 4-4 but it was still a superb performance by the Harlow side. BATTS no. one Luke Walsh raced into a 2-0 lead against Six Nations Ladies Singles Champion Alice Loveridge and although he eventually lost 11-9, 11-9, 10-12, 5-11, 4-11 it was clear BATTS fancied their chances. Luis Matos secured a superb win over Gary Dodd (16/20 wins and the Player of the Season in this division last year) 11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 15-13 and he went on to record a second superb victory - a vital one from the match perspective : 11-9, 12-14, 11-9, 11-9 against Oliver Langlois (14 wins out of 20). Luke Walsh, vastly under- ranked nationally at no. 307 made a complete mockery of his National ranking when he also beat Gary Dodd over five ends : 11-8, 5-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9 - a win that is certainly a Contender for the Win of the Season. Linda March (formerly Linda Radford) was the beneficiary of the conceded last game but she came very close to beating Oliver Langlois. The scores of 21-23, 11-2, 12-14, 11-13 tell their own story.
Division Two North - Speedwell Chesterfield I lead the way with 18 points and a games record of 61-19 whilst second-placed ELGRE Draycott I (16 points) and a games record of 53-27) also won twice - good going as they were a player short in both games. These two teams meet for the second time in round 14 and with a superior games record it is the Chesterfield side who hold all the aces.
Speedwell Chesterfield beat Wodfield I 6-2 in round nine and their top player - England no. 36 Victor Shi Guang (12 wins out of 12) retained his 100 % record - but only just. He had to pull out all the stops to get the better of England no. 95 Radek Mlynarczyk (12 wins out of 20) who clearly played well above that level in their encounter. Victor Shi Guang eventually crossed the finishing line 11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 7-11, 12-10. Radek Mlynarczyk was also involved in a real tussle in his other singles. This time he edged out England no. 100 William Cooney (18 wins out of 20) 5-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9. Speedwell Chesterfield no. three and England no. 144 Andy Henry (12 wins out of 16) gave little away. He beat Zak Chambers 13-11, 11-7, 11-7 and Premek Bednarczyk convincingly 11-4, 11-3, 11-3.
It was pretty much plain sailing for the Chesterfield in round 10. They beat Ormesby III 8-0. William Cooney scraped home 11-8, 11-13, 11-13, 11-8, 12-10 in the first game against England no. 18 lady Karen Shepherd and this seemed to galvanise the Chesterfield side. Victor Shi Guang, Shaun Bibby and Andy Henry picked up the next seven games as well.
ELGRE Draycott are strong in the numbers one and two positions as well. David Arrowsmith (13 wins out of 18) and Amman Ubhi (11 wins out of 12) were both undefeated as they beat both Halton II and Woodfield I 5-3. Aman Ubhin showed up well in the match against Woodfield. He beat Radek Mlynarczyk 11-6, 7-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8.
Redlands Rogues (11 points) beat Wadsley Bridge (five points) 5-3. An unusual match - seven of the eight games were decided 3-1 and one game went to the fifth end. Redlands raced into a 4-0 lead and then seemed to struggle in the second half of the match. Wadsley Bridge’s Jack Grant was the player who won the fuve setter. He beat Steve Crosby 11-5, 11-4, 9-11, 4-11, 11-7.
Wadsley Bridge will be delighted with their performance in round 10. They moved off the bottom by beating Halton II 6-2 - their first win of the Season. Six games were decided in the fifth end and they won four of them. Jack Grant beat Ernest Mpundu 11-9, 11-9, 7-11, 9-11, 16-14 whilst Ernest Mpundu also missed out by the narrowest of margins against Eric Wan : 7-11 11-3, 12-10, 9-11, 9-11. Halton’s David Griffith fought back from 2-0 down to get the better of Bill Grant 8-11, 12-14, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9.
Division Two South & East - Yaxley Royal British Legion I (19 points out of 20) lead the table by two points from Crusaders and although they still have to play their nearest rivals a second time they have a vastly superior games record (65-15 as opposed to 52-28) should the two teams finish level on points. De Vere NETTS are in third place on 15 points.
Yaxley Royal British Legion ran out convincing 7-1 winners against De Vere NETTS although they will know it might have been a very different match had England no. 30 Neil Charles been available for the Essex side. Jon Hall (18 wins out of 20) and Ian Musk (an outstanding 20 wins out of 20) dominated the match from the top of the Scorecard whilst Keiran Smith (a very impressive 15 wins out of 20) also won twice. He repeated his first half victory over Paul Davison and he also ran out a 3-0 winner against Andy Holmes.
Keiran Smith was involved in two tough games as Yaxley beat Cippenham II 7-1. He had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Tony Stead 11-13, 11-8, 1-19, 4-11, 11-9 and he also beat Chris Hansell 11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 11-8. Paul Baker was Cippenham’s only winner. He defeated Blake Taylor 11-5, 11-9, 11-9.
De Vere NETTS were impressive 6-2 winners over York Gardens III. Paul Davison (14 wins out of 20) gave NETTS a great start by getting the better of Richard Carden in five ends and NETTS built on it. They raced into a 4-1 lead with Alex Facey seeing off Richard Carden 11-6, 7-11, 11-5, 11-8. Kelly Skeggs was a double winner for NETTS defeating both Rafael Lawanson (3-0) and Simon Forest (3-1). and she shared the Player of the Match Award with Neil Cartwright who was York Gardens’ best player with wins over Andy Holmes (3-0) and Paul Davison (3-1).
Ashford Brunswick I (four points) scored an excellent draw with Bedford Modern I and they fought back from 2-0 and 4-2 down to achieve this. Adam Burgess who had beaten John Camilleri 4-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 defeated Alex Meade 13-15, 11-8, 11-5, 11-7 to level the scores at 4-4. Bedford’s Josh Robinson (nine wins out of 16) won twice. He beat Winston Wong (11-6, 11-9, 11-5) and Sharokh Mostame (7-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4).
Bottom side Ellenborough (two points) made a very creditable showing against second-placed Crusaders and weren’t that far away from getting a point. Crusaders eventually won 5-3. Double winner Ben Lacombe (15 wins in 19 games) beat Keith Fung (11-7, 11-9, 11-6) to seal his side’s victory having previously beaten Ellenborough’s new signing Andrew Woodhead 6-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-4, 11-3. Mohammed Imran Dawood Bashir took the Player of the Match Award. He beat Paul Martindill 7-11, 13-11, 11-4, 11-4 and Fabien Mauroy over five fluctuating games 9-11, 11-3, 2-11, 11-9, 11-4.
Division Two South Midlands & West - Bournemouth Sports (19 points out of 20) have an outstanding squad of players and one that is surely set to grace division one next year. The records of their players -Matt Ware (8/8 wins), Hannah Hicks (4/4 wins), George Downing 19/20 wins), Nathan Bingham (10/11 wins), Chloe Thomas (7/8 wins), Stephen Foster (11/16 wins), Matthew Haynes (4/8 wins) and Tony Clayton (2/4 wins) speaks for itself. This weekend’s results included a 6-2 win over second-placed Woodfield II and on this basis it will be a huge surprise if they don’t go on to take the title.
Bournemouth Sport’s 6-2 win over Fusion III was notable for the two games they lost. Farhat Rasul scored an excellent last-gasp 7-11, 9-11, 12-10, 12-10, 11-9 win over Tony Clayton and the improving Jamal Dennison an outstanding 7-11, 11-4, 11-9 , 8-11, 11-6 win over Nathan Bingham - Nathan’s first defeat of the Season. England no. three lady Hannah Hicks showed her class, She beat Rodney Farquharson 11-4, 12-10, 11-7 and Farhat Rasul 14-12, 11-4, 11-4.
England no. nine Junior Boy George Downing lost his magnificent 100 % record in his side’s 6-2 victory over Woodfield II. England no. 59 Veteran Steve Bertie battled back from 2-0 down to win 10-12, 5-11, 11-7, 11-8, 12-10. Woodfield’s Billy Pegg (14/20 wins) and nationally ranked no. 87 showed up well by beating Tony Clayton 11-9, 16-14, 11-3 but he was found wanting against Hannah Hicks. She ran out a 11-7, 14-12, 11-5 winner. Andy Dixon doesn’t often lose two games in one match at this level but he did on this occasion. He lost 6-11, 7-11, 12-14 to Nathan Bingham and 11-5, 11-13, 7-11, 11-13 to Tony Clayton.
The match between fifth-placed Woolwell II (nine points) and sixth-placed Horsham I (eight points) finished tied at 4-4. England no. six lady Marketa Myskova (13/19 wins) won twice although this was countered by the efforts of Anil Thilakarathna who also picked up two wins. Marketa’s win over Martin Gunn was the hardest fought. She had to battle back from 2-1 down to win 9-11,11-9, 13-15, 14-12 11-6. Graham Carter sealed the draw for Horsham by beating Ollie Buddell 11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 12-10 in the last game.
The match between third-placed York Gardens II and Woolwell II also finished level. Marketa Myskova again showed up well for the Devon side by beating Martin Hewett and Andy Norwood both 3-0 whilst Mike Short also picked up his two singles. He beat Philip Thomas and Marin Hewett in five ends. The win over Hewett went right “to the wire” with Short scraping home 10-12, 11-4, 8-11, 11-9, 12-10. Philip Thomas earned his side a share of the points by beating Ollie Buddell 11-4, 11-4, 13-11 in the last game.
Division Three North - Results not received to date.
Division Three South & East - Bedford Modern II (19 points out of 20) are going to be very hard to catch. Rob Swift, Mick Harper, Olivier Autin and John Alsop were 7-1 winners over Britannia Ipswich and 8-0 winners against Kingfisher II. The 7-1 win over a strong Britannia side may have flattered them slightly but it was still a performance worthy of the Table toppers. Britannia’s England no. 246 - Andy Warner was involved in two really hard-fought battles. He missed out 10-12, 11-6, 7-11, 13-11, 9-11 against Mick Harper (13/15 wins) but he sneaked home 11-5, 9-11, 11-5, 3-11, 11-9 against Robert Swift. John Alsop (who is having a fine Season with 14 wins out of 19) picked up two hard-fought wins here. He battled back from 2-0 down to get the better of both Paul Broxton 10-12, 5-11, 11-5, 11-5,11-9 and Aimee Sparkes 9-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8.
Property Street Rowhedge (Steve Joslin, Andrew Mudie, Antony Greenwood and Michael Andrews) are in second place with 16 points. They recorded 8-0 wins over both Kingfisher II and Generation 2.
The 8-0 victory over Generation 2 stood out - after all Generation 2 (12 points) are in third place. But, it was the Colchester side who made the running on this occasion. All four Rowhedge players impressed with Michael Andrews (13 wins out of 19) judged to be the Player of the Match for his 11-9, 11-3, 9-11, 11-5 victory over Mike Rhodes and his 12-10, 9-11,11-5, 7-11, 11-5 win over Daniel Lucking.
Generation 2 did better against Hastings in match which finished tied at 4-4. Three players won twice - Generation’s Mike Rhodes and Hastings’ Dave Butler and Jon Wilson. Dave Butler (six wins out of eight) was on top form. He powered his way past Ross Saxby 11-5, 11-5, 11-4 and Roger Hookey 11-4, 11-9, 11-7.
Division Three South Midlands & West - Woodfield III lead the table with 15 points but after losing 5-3 to both second-placed Woolwell III (15 points) and third-placed NWF (14 points) their grip on the title is tenuous. England no. 20 lady Victoria Smith (10 wins out of 12) scored two excellent wins for Woolwell in the round nine clash. She beat Steve Horton 11-7, 7-11, 11-4, 6-11, 11-9 and Paul Worrallo 12-10, 9-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-5. The success over Worrallo gave her side a 4-2 lead and although Joe Hurdley pulled one back by beating David Wetherill 3-1 Lisa Radford sealed the Woolwell victory by getting the better of Chris Tarr 3-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 in the last game.
It wasn‘t Woodfield’s day and things were about to get a lot worse. They fell 4-0 behind in their match against NWF. Rod McMullan (eight wins in 12 games) scored an opening game victory over Steve Horton (6-11, 11-9,11-4, 9-11, 11-8) and Scott Lawson beat Joe Hurdley 3-0. Woodfield were in trouble but despite his best efforts Paul Worrallo missed out 3-2 against Andy Whitcher. The scores were poised at 2-2 and few would have predicted just how fiercely contested the last game would turn out to be. Andy Whitcher eventually won 11-4, 9-11, 5-11, 11-5, 25-23 - the closet game of the British League Season so far. Even though Steve Horton and Paul Worrallo hit back by defeating Scott Lawson (3-1) and Rod McMullan (3-0) respectively the advantage was still with NWF. They weren‘t going to be denied and Alex Rorke defeated Joe Hurdley 7-11, 1-11, 11-8, 11-7, 12-10 to secure a famous NWF victory.
Bottom side Westbury (four points) were unfortunate to face Woolwell III on the Sunday afternoon and after their fine Sunday morning performance Woolwell were “flying“. Dominic Sussex, Vicky Smith and Lisa Radford were all undefeated. Dominic Sussex hit top form against Westbury no. one Andrew Hodges and ran out a very impressive 11-2, 11-6, 11-4 winner. David Walton was Westbury’s sole winner with a 11-8, 13-11, 8-11, 11-7 success against David Wetherill.
Westbury may have been slightly disappointed with this performance as they had done well to beat Cippenham (seven points) 6-2 in round nine. David Walton and David Marshall were both undefeated whilst Andrew Hodges and Chris Pickard both won once. Andrew Hodges edged out Anthony Gardner 9-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-13, 12-10 in the closest game of the match.
Division Four North - Results not received to date.
Division Four South, East & Midlands - Results not received to date.
Division Four South Midlands & West - The top two teams both recorded two wins and Sycamore stay top with 20 points out of 20 and a games record of 64-16. B-BATT Pavilion II follow next with 18 points and a superior games record of 69-11.
Sycamore showed what they are about by disposing of third-placed Grantham Tornadoes 6-2. Two of the League’s undefeated players went head to head in this match and England no. 57 Jason Ramage came out on top 11-7, 11-13, 11-4, 11-4 against England no. five lady Emily Bates. In a high class match Emily did well to beat England no. 166 Michael George 12-10, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9. Sycamore no. three Mike Thornley made his mark with 3-0 wins over Father and son duo Rhys Evans and Miles Evans. Sycamore were even more clinical against Yaxley Royal British Legion II and they won 7-1. Jason Ramage, Michael George and Jozef Zygaldo were all undefeated. England no. 250 Dan Fielding made his mark for the losers with an assured-looking 11-4, 11-9, 11-6 victory against Mike Thornley.
B-BATT Pavilion II won both of their games 6-2. England no. six Cadet Tyrone Wells tasted defeat for the first time against Yaxley Royal British Legion II. It was a close run thing but he missed out 12-10, 9-11, 14-12, 6-11, 9-11 against Shaun Murray although he hit back well in his second singles by defeating Dan Fielding 11-9, 11-8, 11-7. Adam Reed (19 wins out of 20) has been a major success for B-BATT and he added another two wins here. He beat David Powell 3-1 and Stephen Williams 3-0. B-BATT no. one Tyrone Wells picked up two more wins in his side‘s victory over Woodfield IV - UK DEAF. But he really had to work for them. He had to battle back from two games down to get the better of James Meyers 7-11, 11-13, 11-6, 11-7, 11-8 and it was no easier against Nicholas Gilmour. Here he won 11-7, 14-16, 11-7, 19-17.
England no. 14 Junior Girl Isobel Ashley was on good form for Redlands Rogues III in their 5-3 win over Woodfield IV - UK Deaf. She beat Andrew Callaway 11-9, 11-5, 11-9 to give her side a 3-1 lead and she secured her side‘s victory in the last game by battling back strongly after losing the first end to defeat Alireza Kamrani-Masodleh 8-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-5.
Division Five North - Results not received to date.
Steve Kerns
British League Press Officer
