Published 25/11/2017 at 17:16:08 by David Wackrill; edited 2 times, last on 26/11/2017 at 19:36:21 by David Wackrill.

PREMIER 
SASAKI SUPER SUB SAVES STICKY SITUATION
 

Even with only two regulars, leaders MK Sasaki still had enough ammunition in their locker to overcome bottom side Greenleys Kings. But with both Kelvin Choong and the usually ‘Mr. Reliable’  Dan Smalley falling to Nick Howard, the match seemed destined for a draw. Enter super-sub Terry Lau, who doubled up on the night with his Division 1 fixture on an adjacent table, to save the day and secure the Sasaki victory with a great win over Guy Sparrow. Another superb showing from Nick though, who’s now won over half of his team’s points single-handedly.
 

Birthday boy Alan Cherry celebrated with his 6th hat-trick of the season for MK Spinners in a 6-4 win over MK Kingpins which takes them into 2nd place  Alan was in such imperious form that he conceded only 9 points over 3 games to 2014 League champion Julian Adams (his previous best was 10 against Guy Sparrow).  Neil Massa was in the sharpest form I’ve seen for a while, losing only to Dave Allison. But Gary Jones continues to endure an indifferent season and went home winless again, castigating himself for the poor quality of his service returns.
 

Meanwhile over at Greenleys, current champions Monarchs were held to a draw by the new kids of the division MK Bandits. And it could have been worse with Martin Hall going into the last set with his side 5-4 down to face the so far unbeaten James Tapp, cock-a-hoop after wins over Tom Nowakowski and Division 2's John Stamp. But the evergreen Martin showed his experience with a straight games success. So it was just a brace for James after all, as well as 2-a-piece all-round for colleague Michael Wilkins and opponents Tom and Martin.
 

Player of the week is Terry Lau.
 

DIVISION 1 

A 2nd defeat for leaders Greenleys Warriors looked a formality when St.Christopher Van Hire led by 5-3 with Biao Wang due next on the table to face Division 2 reserve Ian Dummett. But Ian hadn’t read the script properly and pulled off a sensational 5-game victory against the division’s main man, leaving Ollie Horswell to follow up by beating Jez Wilcox and rescue the draw. Earlier Fabrice Spelta had beaten Ian and 4 players (Fabrice, Biao, Ian & Ollie) ended up with 2 wins each. Van Hire reach the halfway stage with their 100% doubles record intact while Warriors continue to search in vain for their first doubles win  
 

MK Topspin were on the wrong end of a Bishop backlash as a resolute Barry made up for his narrow defeats to Andy Smith & Julie Snowdon last week by demolishing all opposition with his fast attacking play, finely tuned this time around. Adding a potent Iain Linsday, with his booming forehand, into the Greenleys Eagles line up made for a winning combination for the visitors, who romped home 7-3. A reversal of that score-line would have put my Topspin side at the head of the table but , nonetheless, we remain in 2nd place.
 

Andy Smith took his winning run to 15, easily dispatching his opponents from bottom team Chackmore Hasbeens in MK Pumas 7-3 victory. However his team-mates struggled as Hasbeens’ Bub Burman beat both Chris Belton and Keith Carrington, with Chris also losing out to Sam Willet.
 

MK Phoenix last played MK Powers in this division in March 2015 when a famous victory, eagerly catalogued by Carl Furness in his last match report, took his team to the title. With Alan Bolding in the side another success this week was never in doubt and the Phoenix mainstay duly obliged, extending his own winning streak to 16 in the process. Terry Lau chipped in with 2 wins in the 7-3 victory and Powers Minesh Pitamber also got a brace.
 

Woburn Sands Data too have their own man on a winning roll in James Molloy and he took this to 14 against O.U. Prime in Data’s 6-4 win. A brace here for Rob Mungham, off the mark at last, and Primes’ Xiangyu Gau  Next week we have the mouth watering prospect of a clash between James and Alan Bolding.
 

Player of the week is Ian Dummett.