DIVISION 2 ROUND-UP : WEEK 16
Published 31/01/2020 at 22:04:53 by Martin Johnson.
Division 2 Round-Up – Week 16 (Week 14 in D2)No changes of position, this week, with the top three teams all winning 8-2, whilst the bottom two teams have fallen further adrift of safety from relegation.
Leaders, Milton Keynes Tornadoes, collected their seventh straight win, beating fifth placed Newport Pagnell Lagondas, 8-2. Once again it was the dynamic duo of Tanmay Tijare and Nicolas Wong who did the main damage, each winning their three singles and combining to also win the doubles versus Roy Read and Chris Horn, backed up by a single win for Matthew Curley. For Lagondas, both Roy and Chris took away one win, but Glen Davison came away empty handed. Tanmay took his individual run of wins up to 13 in a row.
Second placed Milton Keynes Hit ‘n’ Hope returned to winning ways, also 8-2 victors in their match against bottom team, Milton Keynes Blades. Paul Tompkins collected a maximum, with three singles wins, plus the doubles with Andy Frearson versus Tony Coomber / Andy Phillips, whilst Andy F and Ivor Howard each picked up two singles wins for Hit ‘n’ Hope, but each losing out in five games to Tony Coomber. Both Tony and Andy P had also taken Paul to five games, but each time Paul stepped up his game in the final leg, to comfortably seal the win.
Third placed Milton Keynes Classics took on fourth placed Mursley Hawks and notched up a big 8-2 win, to open up the gap below third. The Classics pair of Dylan Cox and Masoud Nassor each won three singles, and paired up in the doubles to just beat Martin Johnson / Peter Sear in five games, whilst Barbara Peters added a singles win against Hawks’ John Paul, to complete the scoreline.
Sixth played seventh, and unsurprisingly it was close, as epitomised by three of the opening four sets going the distance, and the match ending as a 5-5 draw, as Woburn Sands Mosquitoes took on St. Christopher Spitfires. Set 1 saw Paul Hamer beat Andy King in the decider, whilst Bernie Raffe returned the favour with a narrow five games win over Glenn Barcham in set 2, with Bernie going on to make it six wins from his last six for Spitfires, as he won all his singles. Spitfires other wins came from Andy King with two, although no luck for Jock Wallace. For Mosquitoes, Paul picked up two wins, whilst Glenn and Andy Jenkins won one each, plus Paul / Andy took a close doubles against Bernie / Jock.
Eighth placed Milton Keynes Shambles have widened the gap above the two relegation places, and closed a little on the teams above, as they won 7-3 versus ninth placed Milton Keynes Cavaliers. Shambles players Steve Jordan and reserve Pedro Anastacio each won their three singles, Steve’s triple being his second in a row, whilst Simon Green completed their scoring with a win against John Bradley. Chris Welch and Chris Paddon each had one singles win, plus they teamed up to take the doubles versus Steve /Pedro.
Players of the Week : Paul Tompkins and Dylan Cox