Milton Keynes Phoenix 3-7 Milton Keynes Topspin
Wednesday 8 March 2023
| Game | Result | Score | Match score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mervyn Phillips beat Mervyn Kelly (3-0) | 11-5, 11-8, 11-5 | 1-0 |
| 2 | Ivor Howard lost to David Wackrill (1-3) | 6-11, 3-11, 11-7, 8-11 | 1-1 |
| 3 | Abhay Tijare lost to Russell Penn (1-3) | 6-11, 6-11, 11-6, 9-11 | 1-2 |
| 4 | Ivor Howard & Mervyn Phillips lost to Mervyn Kelly & Russell Penn (0-3) | 9-11, 8-11, 6-11 | 1-3 |
| 5 | Ivor Howard lost to Mervyn Kelly (1-3) | 8-11, 11-5, 7-11, 2-11 | 1-4 |
| 6 | Mervyn Phillips beat Russell Penn (3-2) | 11-9, 10-12, 11-9, 4-11, 11-8 | 2-4 |
| 7 | Abhay Tijare lost to David Wackrill (1-3) | 2-11, 2-11, 12-10, 7-11 | 2-5 |
| 8 | Ivor Howard v Russell Penn: not played because the home player pulled out. | Not applicable | 2-6 |
| 9 | Abhay Tijare lost to Mervyn Kelly (0-3) | 6-11, 5-11, 4-11 | 2-7 |
| 10 | Mervyn Phillips beat David Wackrill (3-1) | 11-3, 11-3, 5-11, 11-8 | 3-7 |
| Team | Legs won | Legs average (%) | Points won | Points average (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milton Keynes Phoenix | 13 | 38.24 | 267 | 45.64 |
| Milton Keynes Topspin | 21 | 61.76 | 318 | 54.36 |
| Team | Player | Games played | Games won | Legs played | Legs won | Legs average (%) | Points played | Points won | Points average (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milton Keynes Phoenix | Mervyn Phillips | 3 | 3 | 12 | 9 | 75.00 | 210 | 118 | 56.19 |
| Milton Keynes Phoenix | Ivor Howard | 2 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 25.00 | 134 | 56 | 41.79 |
| Milton Keynes Phoenix | Abhay Tijare | 3 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 18.18 | 185 | 70 | 37.84 |
| Milton Keynes Topspin | Mervyn Kelly | 3 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 60.00 | 165 | 89 | 53.94 |
| Milton Keynes Topspin | David Wackrill | 3 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 58.33 | 197 | 108 | 54.82 |
| Milton Keynes Topspin | Russell Penn | 2 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 55.56 | 167 | 88 | 52.69 |
Abhay Tijare played on loan from Milton Keynes Sharks in Division One.
| Match date | Wednesday, 8 March 2023 at 19:30 |
|---|---|
| Competition | League |
| Division | Premier Division |
| Venue | Milton Keynes Table Tennis Centre |
| Season | 2022-2023 |
| Legs played | 34 |
| Points played | 585 |
Published 05/05/2024 05:43 by David Wackrill.
JUST REWARD FOR PERSERVERANCE
A victory at long last, my Topspin team’s first of the season, although somewhat diminished in value by a weakened opponent. But, then again, you can only beat what’s put in front of you, after all.
Our regular trio of Russell Penn, Mervyn Kelly and myself were back in harness once again after my enforced lay-off and faced up to a Phoenix outfit consisting of Mervyn Phillips, Ivor Howard and Div 1 reserve Abhay Tijare, Abhay coming in at short notice for incapacitated star-man Alan Bolding. Unfortunately Phoenix were further handicapped by a far from fit Ivor, just returned from Cambodia, and it soon became clear that he was way out of sorts and was forced to ‘retire hurt’ with a self diagnosis of ‘absolutely knackered’ after playing myself and Mervyn.
Abhay gave Russell an early scare with his ferocious hitting off both wings before the Topspin skipper squeezed home 11-9 in the 5th. Surprising, in a way, that the Div 1 man took him so close as Russell has been in magnificent form this past fortnight with sensational wins over top dogs’ Greenleys Kings duo Guy Sparrow and Craig Brown. But then, with Abhay out of the way, Russell put in a tremendous shift against Mervyn P, dominating the play so much that it left Mervyn K and me wondering how he managed to lose big leads in both the 3rd and 5th games, which untimately cost him the set twice over.
With a rare doubles win to our credit too, all that was left for the home boys to win was a splendid Mervyn P hat-trick on a snowy night where the temperature outside the hall was higher than that inside.
Key stat : Phoenix are Topspin’s most played against opponent, standing at 16 matches in the last 6 seasons (8 now won with one draw and 7 defeats).
Man of the match : Mervyn Phillips
A victory at long last, my Topspin team’s first of the season, although somewhat diminished in value by a weakened opponent. But, then again, you can only beat what’s put in front of you, after all.
Our regular trio of Russell Penn, Mervyn Kelly and myself were back in harness once again after my enforced lay-off and faced up to a Phoenix outfit consisting of Mervyn Phillips, Ivor Howard and Div 1 reserve Abhay Tijare, Abhay coming in at short notice for incapacitated star-man Alan Bolding. Unfortunately Phoenix were further handicapped by a far from fit Ivor, just returned from Cambodia, and it soon became clear that he was way out of sorts and was forced to ‘retire hurt’ with a self diagnosis of ‘absolutely knackered’ after playing myself and Mervyn.
Abhay gave Russell an early scare with his ferocious hitting off both wings before the Topspin skipper squeezed home 11-9 in the 5th. Surprising, in a way, that the Div 1 man took him so close as Russell has been in magnificent form this past fortnight with sensational wins over top dogs’ Greenleys Kings duo Guy Sparrow and Craig Brown. But then, with Abhay out of the way, Russell put in a tremendous shift against Mervyn P, dominating the play so much that it left Mervyn K and me wondering how he managed to lose big leads in both the 3rd and 5th games, which untimately cost him the set twice over.
With a rare doubles win to our credit too, all that was left for the home boys to win was a splendid Mervyn P hat-trick on a snowy night where the temperature outside the hall was higher than that inside.
Key stat : Phoenix are Topspin’s most played against opponent, standing at 16 matches in the last 6 seasons (8 now won with one draw and 7 defeats).
Man of the match : Mervyn Phillips