The Hastings & District Table Tennis League got under way with some close contests in Division One.  Arguably, match of the week was the clash between Tackleway B and Bexhill D which saw an immediate return toTackleway for Martin Richards on his debut for Bexhill, which ended 5-5 with Kevin McEwan unbeaten for Bexhill and Roger Pingram winning two for Tackleway. At 3-5 down, Richards scraped a win over Sue Pingram at 13-11 before McEwan came from 0-2 down to beat Roger Pingram in five games.

Hollington Academy D edged past a depleted  Academy C team 6-4 with Stacey Furnival unbeaten and Nick Standen winning twice for the losers. Chelsea Britt beat Scott Bills 12-10 in the fifth before losing to Standen by the same margin.

Saints A beat Bexhill B 8-2 with a Dave Butler maximum and two wins each for Ron Davenport and John Wond. Andy Summers won two for Bexhill.

In Division Two, pre-season favourites Saints B beat Hollington B 9-1, with Jamie Martin and Mick Hart unbeaten and Andre Keen winning two. Not quite one-way traffic with four of Saints’ wins going the distance, including all of Hart’s matches.

Maximums from Shaun Godfrey and Kevin Barry saw Hollington A to a 7-3 win over last season’s runners-up Tigers A.

Three wins for Paul Hyland and two for Mike Courtnage set up a 6-4 win for NALGO A against Tackleway C, for whom Kevin Rowe won twice.

Monarchs A won 7-3 at Bexhill F when Bob Lowe was unbeaten and Alison Jordan won two. Lowe had to come from 0-2 down to beat Harvey Webb, who won two for the losers.

In another close encounter, Bexhill H won 6-4 at Tackleway E with three wins from Andy Panayi and two for Dan Starnes. Mike Charter, on debut for Tackleway, won twice.

In Division Three, maximums from Phil Bailey and Ken McEwan led Willett & Phillips to a 7-3 win over Tackleway G.

Two wins each for Adam Akar, Sacha Ward and Tristan Hyland gave Hollington E a 6-4 win over NALGO B who had Ron Spencer unbeaten.