WEEK 20 MATCH REPORTS

 Table Tennis Report by Malcolm Wenn

It’s a double celebration for Copy Shop as their A and B teams claim top spots in Divisions 1 and 2 while Foxdale A have edged two points ahead of Travellers A in the battle to avoid automatic relegation from the first division.

Travellers B are almost guaranteed the promotion play-off spot in Division 2 but Tower B have moved ahead of Foxdale B and they meet next week.  A special mention here for Graham McFarlane who won two out of three for Tower A and all three for Tower B.

Peel C now lead Peel B by 6 points at the top of Division 3. The runner up will play Tower C of Division 2 in the play off for a place in Division 2 next season.

Division 1     

Two weeks ago Ramsey A were challenging Copy Shop A for the Championship but having to play with only two players in their last two matches due to illness, injury and work commitments they made it much easier for Copy Shop. This was obviously a disappointing end to the season but take nothing away from a great team performance by Ronan McDonnell, Brian Crellin and Jane Coulthurst. They have won nineteen and drawn one of their twenty matches. It was in the drawn match with Arbory that Island Champion McDonnell suffered his only defeat of the season so far at the hands of Liam Chan.

Travellers A battled hard to take three sets from Copy Shop and it could have been even more as Gary Shilling took the first two games off Brian Crellin and Paul Nelson also took Crellin all the way but lost 11/6 14/16 3/11 11/9 9/11. Malcolm Cummings and Shilling both overcame Jane Coulthurst and then combined for a tremendous win against the Divisional Doubles Champions Crellin and McDonnell.

Mason McLarney suffered an injury during the internationals at the weekend so Foxdale A were gifted three points by Ramsey A. Will and Rebecca Bayley both beat Darren Smethurst but he recovered from 2 games down to defeat Ruth Bailey. Adam Teare maintained his impressive record with four wins out of four and sportingly offered an apology to the Travellers A team for the fact that his team could only field two players in a match affecting the battle for survival at the bottom of Division 1.

Super sub Graham McFarlane showed he still has what it takes as he convincingly beat Strathallan’s Andy Patterson and Julian Briercliffe. Tim Baker went one better by also beating Haydn McLarney to complete his hat-trick. McLarney just got home 11/9 in the fifth against Dave Parsons but the latter joined Baker for a doubles win as Tower A took the match 6-4.    

Paul Corran starred as Breakaway A recorded a 6-4 victory over Arbory. In a competitive and absorbing match each team shared the 14 games which were won 11/9 or at deuce. The combination of John Magnall and Liam Chan would normally guarantee success for Arbory but Corran beat them both and Steve O’Hare beat Magnall 14/12 in the fourth but lost to Chan over five games. Chan also beat Chris Kewley in five games but Corran and O’Hare took the decisive doubles.

Division 2

Champions Copy Shop B defeated Foxdale B 8-2 to end the latter’s chance of making the play off. Mike Bayley retained his third spot in the averages with two good wins over Sean Drewry and Danny Hamill but couldn’t end Ewan Watterson’s unbeaten record.  Neil Quane had a real battle with Hamill but missed out over five games and took a game off Drewry. This match was a good example of Copy Shop’s will to win as they came out on top in 8 of the 10 games that were won by the narrowest margin of just 2 points.

Travellers B have now been joined by Tower B in the contest for runners up spot and the chance to gain promotion to Division 1 via a play off with Foxdale A or Travellers A. The two B teams both obtained maximum points. Tower B trounced Travellers C while Travellers B enjoyed similar success against Tower C. Mike Chapman gave Colin Brown a bit of a scare but Brown prevailed 14/12 13/11 11/8 and Malcolm Wenn came close against Graham McFarlane but the latter made a great comeback to win 5/11 4/11 11/6 11/9 11/9.

 It was a good night for Tommy Cowin as he achieved three impressive singles wins for Salmon River Spinners against Peel A. Spinners’ top player Nigel Beattie achieved the same feat while Colin Barron chipped in with success against Maggie Mulhern as they beat Peel for the first time this season.

 

Division 3

It is now Peel C 148 points to Peel B’s 142 at the top of the league. Last week the C team defeated Peel D 9-1 while the B team defeated Ramsey B 7-3.

A 9-1 result for Peel C looks very one sided but Sean Cassidy, Chris Holmes and Ashley Reid had to battle hard for their wins which included 10 games they won 11/9. Eann Mulhern and George Melvin just missed out 9/11 in the fifth game of the doubles but Mulhern prevented the whitewash by beating Reid.

Matty Evans has achieved some good results this season and he consolidated his place in the top five of the averages with two wins against Ramsey B including Marion Forrest. Steve Mitchell inflicted a rare defeat on Chas Grills on his way to a hat trick while Will Cross made it 7-3 for Peel B by beating Christin Maschmann.

The match between Breakaway B and Copy Shop C was the last one to finish. That’s not surprising when seven of the ten sets went to five games and the other three were decided in the fourth game. Ben Christian and Kevin Drewry were the busiest players but their results were very different as young Ben Christian beat Drewry 12/10 in the fifth on his way to four wins while Drewry lost 9/11 in the fifth to Aaron Faragher but came out on top in five games with Sam Callister. Oliver Cain did well to overcome Faragher 11/7 in the fifth. 

Fortress and Peel E may not be challenging for honours this season but they produced a close fought match with thirteen games going to 11/9 or deuce. Karen Hassan versus Fraser Dorling was a typical example with the latter taking the honours 11/5 10/12 11/4 9/11 13/11. Mahmoud Hassan turned the tables on Dorling by beating him in five and was unbeaten in singles and the doubles.

 

Division 1

Arbory A 4 (L. Chan 2, J. Magnall 1, M. Tamarov 1, Dbls), Breakaway A 6 (P. Corran 3, S. O’Hare 2, C. Kewley, Dbls); Ramsey A 5 (A. Teare 3, D. Smethurst 1, Dbls), Foxdale A 5 (W. Bayley 1, R. Bayley 1, R. Bailey, walkovers 3); Tower A 6 (T. Baker 3, G. McFarlane 2, D. Parsons, Dbls), Strathallan 4 (H. McLarney 2, J. Briercliffe 1, A. Patterson 1); Travellers A 3 (M. Cummings 1, G. Shilling 1, P. Nelson, Dbls), Copy Shop A 7 (B. Crellin 3, R. McDonnell 3, J. Coulthurst 1).

Division 2

Copy Shop B 8 (E. Watterson 3, S. Drewry 2, D. Hamill 2, Dbls}, Foxdale B 2 (M. Bayley 2, K. Mitchell, N. Quane); Peel A 3 (M. Lewis 1, L. Wilson 1, M Mulhern, Dbls), Salmon River Spinners 7 (N. Beattie 3, T. Cowin 3, C. Barron 1); Tower B 10 (S. Curtis 3, G. McFarlane 3, D. Stevenson 3, Dbls), Travellers C 0 (J. Gill, A. Harding, M. Wenn); Tower C 0 (D. Callow, M. Chapman, M. Forsyth), Travellers B 10 (C. Brown 3, S. Douglas 3, S. Mason 3, Dbls).

Division 3

Breakaway B 8 (B. Christian 3, S. Callister 2, A. Faragher 2, Dbls), Copy Shop C 2 (O. Cain 1, K. Drewry 1, C. Aspden); Fortress 7 (M. Hassan 3, K. Hassan 2, P. Halliwell 1, Dbls), Peel E 3 (F. Dorling 2, V Patel 1, O. Mitchell); Peel B 7 (S. Mitchell 3, M. Evans 2, W. Cross 1, Dbls), Ramsey B 3 (C. Grills 2, M. Forrest 1, C. Maschmann); Peel C 9 (S. Cassidy 3, C. Holmes 3, A. Reid 2, Dbls), Peel D 1 (E. Mulhern 1, G. Melvin, D. Mulhern).

Author: via Isle Of Man Table Tennis Association
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