SUMMER LEAGUE MONDAY NIGHT WEEK 13 ROUND-UP

Published 14/08/2018 at 19:33:01 by David Wackrill.

DIV 1
 
Results:  HowSmall 5  Topspin 0,  Spinners 4 Stormers 1,  Towcester 3  Ijebu Warriors 2
 
Table: 1st HowSmall (49 pts)  2nd Spinners (44)  3rd Ijebu Warriors (36)  4th Topspin (26)  5th Stormers (21)  6th Towcester (19)
 
As we approach the business end of the Summer season I note that after a wonderfully erratic start that saw 4 different sides leading the pack, the table has remained static since around the halfway point. It won’t change again now and  by this time next week champions HowSmall should have retained their title, and worthy winners they will be too. Tonight they took on Topspin, the only team they’ve lost to this Summer in a match that must be a contender for Russell Penn’s greatest ever. No heroics from Russell this week in a whitewash for HowSmall although he did lead Guy Sparrow 3-1 in games before succumbing in the only set in the Division that needed a decider. Nick Howard has elected for a change of playing equipment, abandoning Butterfly in favour of Tibhar, and was as rock solid as ever. Mervyn Kelly completed the Topspin line-up.
 
I played Alan Cherry for the 87th time in this millennium (a fast turnover of sets compared, for example, to my battles with Mark Purcell which number just 72 over a 42 year period). Usual outcome against Alan with his Spinners’ team-mate Pete Tillotson similarly unaccommodating to me although Andy Smith managed a hard fought victory against Pete for Stormers consolation win in  a 4-1 defeat.
 
New boys Towcester pulled off a good 3-2 win over Warriors thanks to a magnificent brace from Iain Lindsay, who beat both Ricky Taiwo and Jiten Pitamber conclusively and then, with the match poised at 2-2, took the crucial doubles with Ian Brown.
 
Player of the week is Iain Lindsay.
 
 
DIV 2 (courtesy of Mike Ainsworth)
 
Hit n Hope 4 Swifts 1
Classics 3 Blades 2
Phoenix  4 Sweet and Sour 1
 
After a hard fought match between the top two teams of division two of the Summer League, the Phoenix team of Gerald Ridgway and Ioan Constantin are poised to take the title; a feat that should be accomplished next week when Phoenix face Hit n Hope.
 
This week’s match was as tough as any have been for Phoenix and Julie Snowdon in particular showed great resilience to come from 3 games to 1 down to beat Gerald in the decider. Julie found Ioan a somewhat trickier opponent as he prevailed 4-1 against some fierce hitting, whilst the doubles was a pretty straight forward affair for Phoenix. Terry Lau could possibly count himself unlucky to have gone down 4-2 against Ioan in the battle of the unconventional styles!
 
Hit n Hope consolidated their position in third place with a fine 4-1 win against a Swifts team who had a rare appearance from Mike Scott, playing instead of the consistent Sue Lewis. Braces here for Ivor Howard and Tony Coomber with just the doubles as consolation for Mike Scott and Mo Duncan.
 
Fourth placed Classics had to battle to overcome bottom placed Blades before edging to a 3-2 win. Bill Tyler won the only singles for Blades with a 4-0 win against Nick Markham but Masoud Nassor always had something in hand in his two singles wins against Bill and Brian Evans. Nick picked himself up from the loss against Bill to take his team to a winning 3-1 lead with a win against Brian. Blades then pulled a consolation win from the doubles.
 
Player of the evening: Tony Coomber
 
Week 13 Table
 
Phoenix                54
Sweet and Sour     49
Hit 'N Hope        30
Classics                25
Swifts                20
Blades                17