Ormesby came out on top in an incredible battle between two of the British League Premier Division title favourites as they defeated Drumchapel 3-2.
A topsy-turvy game saw the Scots twice peg back the visitors before Tianming Zhao’s win over Tang Yao secured a vital win for the Cleveland-based side.
David McBeath’s excellent double had twice brought parity in the contest, with Daniel Reed winning his doubles match alongside Helshan Weerasinghe before overcoming an almighty scare to defeat Dylan Curry, having initially fallen 2-0 behind.
But McBeath’s victories over Zhao and Weerasinghe ensured a decider, which went the way of the visitors as Zhao defeated Yao 3-0.
Despite victory extending their unbeaten start, Ormesby are only fourth, with defending champions Urban and Ormeau setting the pace on eight points each.
Urban were pushed all the way by Cardiff as they churned out a 3-2 victory in Wales. Satoshi Aida was once again the star for Urban as his two wins over Chinese talent Jiawang Song and English ace Tom Maynard proved to be the difference.
Yet the key set was arguably the first. Tibor Kadar and Mateusz Mikosz came from behind twice to win the doubles against Maynard and Dean Cundy, winning the fifth set 15-13.
Cardiff replied in the third and fourth set with wins for Cundy and Song over the triumphant doubles pairing, but Aida was the star as he rose to the occasion to secure the win.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland’s Ormeau proved their strength in depth with a 4-1 win over North Ayrshire.
Despite the loss of key players for the rest of the season, young French player Alexis Lebrun and Lucas Molland proved to be more than adequate replacements as they contributed towards all four of their sets.
Lebrun partnered up with Keith Knox to defeat Colin Dalgleish and Zak Wilson 3-2 in the doubles, before Lebrun, a former European Mini Cadet champion, beat Chris Main 3-0.
Meanwhile, Molland also beat Main and overcame Dalgleish too, winning both 3-1. Zak Wilson got North Ayrshire on the board with a 3-2 win over Knox.
The defeat leaves North Ayrshire joint bottom with Fusion, who lost 4-1 to BATTS.
Frenchman Alexis Mommessin won both of his singles against Kazeem Adeleke and Ben Hee, and he was ably supported by another Paris-based star, Hugo Batocchi, who defeated Adeleke in five and teamed up with Ismaila Akindiya to secure victory in the doubles.
Young English talent James Smith impressively defeated Akindiya to get Fusion on the board.
