Select a region
The competitive nature of the top-flight of the Doric Insurance sponsored senior leagues continues, with still just two points separating the leading five sides.
Whistlers B opened up a single point lead at the top of Division 1 after returning to winning.
They had been defeated in their last two fixtures, but worked hard to put a stop to the strong form of sixth placed side Lions A, edging a tight encounter 6-4. T
The Lions side were unbeaten in four matches heading into the encounter and looked favourites after they edged a tight doubles match to go 3-2 up and then proceeded to lead 4-2.
In the end though, the Whistlers side battled back strongly, taking the last four matches to edge through.
Lawrence Stacey proved to be vital to the outcome as he was unbeaten in singles action. The Whistlers man defeated Joshua Butler, Liam Robilliard and Sam Clark for the loss of just a single end to Butler in the process.
The headline performance of the night however went to young Oskar Cleal, who played excellently all evening and picked up two important wins. His first saw him come back from dropping the opener against Clark, to win comfortably in four sets, but his best performance came in his last match against Butler.
Butler has been in excellent form this season and was coming into the fixture with 14 straight singles wins, and occupying second spot in the averages. Having already lost to Stacey, he had since comfortably beaten Dawn Morgan and was looking in a strong position to secure at least a draw for his side, whilst leading Cleal 2-1. Cleal however showed excellent resolve and produced some strong table tennis to win the final 2 sets 11-6, 11-8 to earn a super scalp.
It was Morgan that picked up the decisive sixth rubber on the night as she beat Clark in four sets in the final match of the encounter. Robilliard was sharp during straight sets wins over both Cleal and Morgan, whilst he also teamed well with Butler where they sealed an epic five set doubles win over Stacey and Cleal. The final four sets all went beyond the regulation 11 point distance, with Robilliard and Butler winning the final two ends 16-14, 15-13 to edge it.
Whistlers A moved up to second after they ousted former joint leaders Lions C 6-4. Joshua Stacey was in good form for the victors as he won all of his singles matches on the night. He beat Ryan Bichard, Dan Collenette and Connor Powell, dropping single ends during four set wins over both Bichard and Collenette.
Matthew Casey also played well during four set wins over Powell and crucially, Collenette, in the final match of the night, whilst Joseph Bourgaize was on hand to contribute to the win after he beat Powell in straight sets. For the beaten Lions side, Bichard beat Casey in five sets and Bourgaize in four sets, whilst Collenette beat Bourgaize in straight sets. Bichard and Collenette won the doubles over Stacey and Casey in five sets.
Lions B moved up to third by virtue of now having a stronger games ratio than Lions C following their narrow 6-4 win over seventh placed side Lions E. Despite the victory, Ben Foss from the E side maintained his 100% singles record. He beat Phil Ogier, Jamie Ferbrache and Steve Ozanne, but was pushed close by Ogier, edging the deciding fifth end 12-10.
Matthew Stubbington added a four set win over Ozanne, however all of the other matches were won by the B side. Ogier beat Stubbington and Charlotte Casey in straight sets, whilst Ferbrache mirrored this, albeit he dropped an end against Stubbington during a four set win. Ozanne added a straight sets win over Casey and also combined with Ferbrache to win the important doubles rubber against Stubbington and Casey in four sets.
Lions D remain in fifth place, but are level on points with the two sides above them. They won their third consecutive league match of the season as they ran out 7-3 winners over bottom placed side Ravenscroft Panthers A.
Paul Hainsworth was unbeaten for the victorious side and this saw him defeat Nye Matthew, Barnaby Groves and reserve Marli Barker in singles action. Whilst his wins over Groves and Barker were in straight sets, he had a much tougher time against an in-form Matthew. Matthew led 2-1 following some strong table tennis, however Hainsworth battled back well to take the final two sets for the loss of just 11 points.
Craig Dunning and Jez Powell each defeated Barker in straight and four sets respectively, whilst Dunning did superbly to fight back from 2-0 down to dispatch Groves over the full five set distance. The margin of victory was extended when Hainsworth and Powell combined to see off Matthews and Groves in straight sets in the doubles clash. For the Panthers side, Matthew beat Powell in four sets and Dunning in straight sets, whilst Groves picked up a super five set win over Powell in the match opener.
Whistlers D remain a single point clear at the top after they defeated Ravenscroft Panthers C 7-3 this week.
Kay Chivers was unbeaten after she overcame Marli Barker and reserves Xavier Ingrouille and Micah Cohen in singles action. She was however tested by Cohen in the last match of the night and snuck through 13-11 in the deciding end against the youngster.
Keith Opie beat Ingrouille in straight sets and also battled back from 2-0 down to overcome Barker in five sets, while Henri Whitehorne picked up a win via walkover against Barker. The doubles was won by Chivers and Opie against Cohen and Ingrouille in straight sets. Cohen had a strong evening as it saw him beat Opie in five sets and Whitehorne in straight sets, whilst Ingrouille also stepped up well, adding a straight sets win over Whitehorne.
With half of the fixtures contested in the third Division, Ravenscroft Panthers D are showing no signs of letting up. They won their 14th consecutive match of the season this week, Whistlers G on the wrong side of a heavy 8-2 defeat.
The two losses came from Division 4 junior reserve Olivia Gilbert, who lost to both Ken Falla and Shane Cotter in straight sets. She did however pick up an excellent five set win over Ian Fitchet in a match where she trailed 2-0. She won the final two ends of this tight clash 15-13, 16-14.
The other matches were won by Cohen and Steve Martin relatively comfortably. The exception was the match between Martin and Falla, where Martin needed to battle back from 2-1 down to win over five sets.
Lions K have had their lead at the top halved to just a single point after they were held to a shock 5-5 draw by seventh placed side Bribar B. It was an incredible result as it saw the Bribar team come back from 5-1 down to win the last four matches.
Reserve Simon Carter had been the sole victor in the opening six matches where he had crucially fought back from 2-1 down to beat Diane Le Page and he added a further emphatic straight sets win over Val Guilbert in the eighth match of the night. Sam Cox had lost his opener to Guilbert in four sets, but he turned his form around with a couple of key wins in the latter stages of the match. He first defeated Le Page in straight sets before winning the vital final match of the night against Rolands Tracums in four sets. The final win came from Daniel Martin over Le Page in straight sets, with him having lost to both Tracums and Guilbert earlier in the match. The doubles was won by Tracums and Le Page against Carter and Martin in 4 sets.
This result enabled Lions M to make up ground and they duly converted with a strong 8-2 win over Bribar A. Rachael Sharp was unbeaten thanks to wins over Noah Nicolle, Samuel Sheward and Fred McLellan in straight sets. Karen Brouard defeated Sheward in four sets and McLellan in straight sets, whilst Katy Collenette beat both Nicolle and McLellan in five sets. The doubles was won by Brouard and Collenette over Nicolle and McLellan in four sets. The whitewash was prevented due to Sheward's 5 set win over Collenette and Nicolle's four set win over Brouard.
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.