SENIOR LEAGUE 2021-22 WEEK 2

The top flight of the Doric Insurance sponsored table tennis leagues saw 3 hard fought encounters this week including a couple of surprise results.

 

Division 1

Defending champions Lions A and Whistlers A on paper look like the teams to beat this season, however both surprisingly slipped up this week with each being held to 5-5 draws by their opposition.

This enabled a Lions B outfit missing top player Phil Ogier to move to the top of the table after their hard fought 6-4 win over Whistlers C. Jez Powell once more stepped in to reserve for the B side to great effect and he went one better than last week due to his trio of singles wins over Matthew Casey, Ellis Tomlin and Joseph Bourgaize. Liam Robilliard made his debut for the season with wins against Tomlin and Bourgaize in straight sets, whilst Sam Clark rounded off the victory with an important 4 set win over Tomlin. For the defeated Whistlers side Casey beat Robilliard and Clark in 4 sets, Bourgaize earned a 4 set win over Clark and Casey and Bourgaize teamed well to earn a 5 set win over Robilliard and Clark in the doubles encounter.

Out of the 2 draws, the biggest surprise was Lions C's against Whistler A. Lions president Paul Hainsworth was pivotal in this result as he enjoyed an unbeaten evening of action. His best win came against Island Men's champion Josh Stacey. Having been comfortably beaten by him in straight sets just 2 nights reserved at the Senior Group tournament, Stacey would have been confident going into the match, however Hainsworth just about held his nerve to take the opener 11-9, with Stacey having battled back from an early 7-1 deficit. Stacey restored parity with a matching 11-9 result in the second and breezed through the 3rd 11-3. Momentum looked firmly with the Whistlers man and he held 3 match points at 10-7 in the 4th. He was however unable to close the game out and Hainsworth clawed it back 12-10 courtesy of 5 consecutive points. The decider was nip and tuck throughout and a missed Hainsworth forehand off a weak return at 10-8 to Hainsworth could have proved costly. Luckily for Hainsworth though an effective float serve produced a service return error on the following point to enable him to edge the surprise win 11-9. Hainsworth's other singles wins came over Dawn Morgan and Ryan Gilson in straight sets, whilst he also teamed with left-hander Andy Gill to earn a superb straight sets doubles win over Mixed Doubles Island champions Stacey and Morgan in straight sets. Gill was the player to earn the crucial 5th rubber and he did this in style with an excellent 4 set win over Morgan. The third end was very important and Gill pinched it 14-12 before motoring through the 4th 11-3 with some devastating attacking topspin strokes off both wings. Stacey and Gilson each beat Gill and Charlotte Casey in singles action, whilst Morgan defeated Casey in straight sets.

Defending champions Lions A in the other match were held by Whistlers B. Lawrence Stacey continued his excellent start to the season with another 3 big singles wins. The recently crowned Senior Group champion defeated Ben Foss, Ryan Bichard and Steve Ozanne in singles action, however he was required to fight back from 2-1 down to get the better of Bichard and needed 4 sets to get past Ozanne. His best win came over Foss in straight sets. Ben Sharp also had an excellent evening and he was responsible for the other Whistlers wins on the night. He first earned a nice straight sets win over Ozanne before holding his nerve excellently in the final match of the night against Bichard. With his side trailing 5-4 he upset the formbook with a high quality 4 set win over his elder opponent. Each member of the Lions side defeated Paula Le Ber in singles action, whilst Foss also overcame Sharp in straight sets. The final Lions win came in the vital doubles clash where Foss and Bichard came through a tight 4 set affair against Stacey and Sharp.

Division 2

The most unpredictable division in terms of early season results continues as St Pauls A are now the only unbeaten side and lead the way by a single point. They finally ended the excellent 100% winning start of Ravenscroft Panthers A with a gritty 6-4 win. Tim Le Page and Chas Elliott both had good evening with 2 singles wins apiece. Le Page beat Ben Foote in straight sets as well as battling past Craig Dunning 12-10 in the final end. Elliott on the other hand beat Foote in 4 sets in the final match of the evening and Oscar Pearson 11-8 in the deciding end of the match opener. Maurice James earned an important 4 set win over Foote, whilst the doubles was kind to the St Pauls pair of Le Page and James who cruised through in straight sets over Dunning and Foote.

The Panthers side are now down to third however there is just 2 points separating the top 4 teams and it is anyone's guess as to who will come out on top come the end of the season - it is shaping up to the be one of the hottest contested 2nd divisions for a long time.

Division 3

Ravenscroft Panthers may have had a disappointing result in Division 2, but the story in the third Division is quite the opposite. They are dominating the Division with their 3 teams comfortably occupying the top 3 positions. Ravenscroft Panthers B and Ravenscroft Panthers D are top with a single point lead from Ravenscroft Panthers C.

The B side are top due to a stronger games ratio and an 8-2 win was obtained this week over Whistlers G. Shaun Mosley was unbeaten with wins over Shane Cotter, Ian Fitchet and Mick Solway. Richard Edwards and Steve Martin each beat Fitchet and Solway, whilst the Panthers side won the doubles in straight sets. Cotter had a good evening despite the defeat for his side as he beat Edwards and Martin in 5 sets.

The D side on the other hand made up some ground on the games ratio front as they ran out perfect 10-0 winners over Lions H. Becks O'Keefe, Juliette Yeaman and Tia Timms all beat Dave Finn, Lynn Finn and reserve Tim Grosvenor in singles action. Yeaman and Timms also won the doubles against Finn and Grosvenor in 5 sets, having trailed 2-1.

Division 4

Lions J and Lions M are both leading the way with each having won twice so far this season. The J side have dropped just 1 rubber all season and were 10-0 winners over Whistlers H this week. Val Guilbert, Alex Paul and Diane Le Page won all of their singles matches over Olly Sparks, Sabato Folmi and James Kennedy as well as a doubles win for Guilbert and Le Page over Folmi and Sparks in straight sets.

The M side edged past Lions L 6-4 in a match where Grosvenor won his singles matches over Rose Powell, Katy Collenette and Rachael Sharp. Frank Coppolo beat Collenette and Sharp, whilst Grosvenor and Coppolo beat Powell and Sharp in straight sets in the doubles.
Author: via Guernsey Table Tennis Association
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