The second half of the Bolton Table Tennis League season kicked off last week with the second round of the Divisional Cups Competition. In the Brian Gittins cup for teams in the Premier Division and Division One there are only three out of the eight matches where results are in. Flixton Cricket Club A had an easy ride over effectively a two man Little Lever B. Under the points system a two-man team is virtually a lost cause. Although Little Lever had a 121.5 start Flixton ran out winners 396 – 227.5.
Wingates had a 44.5 start against Hilton B but lost out 372 – 266.5 with Hilton’s Dave Andrews winning all but one of his twelve games. Hilton D also had a start of 65.5 but lost out 374 – 333.5 to Wharton in a match with game scores swinging both ways throughout.
In the George Yates competition for Divisions Two and Three results are in for all eight matches. Brass Zone’s 58.5 may have given them a morale boost as they ran out winners over Bolton TTC A 396.5 – 321 in a good match with no player able to totally outplay their opponents. Farnworth SC D made good use of their 65.5 start as they ran out winners over Ladybridge C 400.5 – 336. Meadow Ben B’s Mike Heaton won all but one of his twelve games giving them success over their own D team whose 114.5 start was not enough to prevent the 388 – 329.5 win. Hilton F made good use of their 60.5 start to run out winners against Heaton Cricket Club B 363.5 – 351, despite Dave Jones for Heaton putting up a good show winning all but one of his games. Another in-house draw was between Farnworth SC B and their own C team. Both being on the same points, the match was played from scratch although the team drawn away had 0.5 to prevent a draw. The B team ran out winners 345.5 – 305. Ladybridge B did well to overcome Irlam Steel’s 121.5 start to win 371 – 359.5. Bolton TTC B had a 30.5 start against Top Spinners but did not require it winning 377.5 – 294 in an otherwise balanced match with all players game scores going both ways.
The first prize for sportsmanship and fair play came in the match Hilton H against Polonia Club B. Polonia had a 58.5 start. Hilton’s Jei Makino won all his sets and at the end of the match the score stood at 348 – 347.5 to Hilton H. However, when the Hilton H Team Captain Brian Young took the card home he realised that there had been a slight scoring mistake and the score in fact stood at 348 – 348.5 to Polonia Club. He immediately contacted the Match Secretary and General Secretary to have the matter corrected. It is enough to restore your faith in human nature.