Published 28/04/2024 23:02 by Michael Howard.

Despite an 8-2 win, Van Hire were mostly made to fight all the way to victory,in a match finishing after 11 pm, with only Biao Wang finding it straightforward. As in other matches, Vantage took hallf the sets to 5 legas, but only Tony Ardis managed  to get over the finish line, beating first Jex Wilcox and then Paul Haigh (who had won the first 2 legs),The evening started with a long 5-leg clash of styles between Mike Howard and Paul Haigh, with Paul taking the 4th leg easily to give him the confidence to go for his shots in the final leg. It ended with a long battle of wits, guile and patience between Mike and Jez which Jez finally won 11-8 in the final leg, repeating the 8-2 scoreline from the earlier meeting between the teams.
Sue Lewis as usual caused difficulties for the opposition, usiing her pimpled bat to good effect, but on this occasion was unable to produce victories,losing to Jex in 4 legs and to Paul in 5.
Tony Ardis simply could not get going against Biao, only managing 11 points over 3 legs. He found both Paul and Jez easier to cope with althouogh it took him until the final leg in each case to produce the home side's only wins on the night. Baio also brushed aside Sue's efforts, using his speed of shot and his backhand to great effect. Biao had also beaten Mike in 3 legs, but had found him more awkward. After taking the initial leg easily, Biao was forced to dig deep before winning the set 11-3, 11-9, 14-12.
The doubles had been another tough seet, with Biao and paul beating Sue and Tony in 4 legs, with Biao commenting afterwards that he could see that their mix and match styles are well-suited, making Tony and Sue such a strong and consistent doubles pairing.
This season's fixture list has paired the two teams again next week, at Leighton Buzzard, so Vantage have a week in which to remember how to win tight sets!