PREMIER / DIV 1 ROUND-UP WEEK 16
Published 06/02/2023 at 11:40:49 by David Wackrill.
PREMIER DIV
MONARCHS STILL RULE THE ROOST
This past fortnight has been MK Sasaki’s turn to play catch-up on their outstanding fixture with lowly Phoenix. They duly polished off the 7th placed team 8-2 last week with maximums from Michael Wilkins and Nicolas Wong, who combined for the doubles with the other set coming from Noah Levens. Ioan Constantin and Mervyn Phillips took one-a-piece for Phoenix and Ivor Howard was their other player. But what a difference a week make. From playing a basement team to taking on the top dogs was a step too far for Sasaki as they crashed 9-1 to Greenleys Monarchs in this week’s scheduled fixture. Tomek Nowakowski and Dave Tiplady secured maximums for Monarchs and Sasaki’s Nicolas Wong only saved the whitewash with a last gasp win in the final set of the night when coming from 2 games down to beat Dave Beddall in the 5th. Noah Levens and William Kit Liang also played. Despite the heavy defeat Sasaki will be looking to keep ahead of their mid-table rivals to secure a top 4 finish.
MK Spinners stay in 2nd spot after matching Monarchs 9-1 scoreline, this time against club-mates Phoenix. Ioan Constantin got the consolation set for Phoenix, his unorthodox but canny defence bamboozaling Gary Jones on this occasion. Maximums for Alan Cherry and Jecu Aurelian but zeros for Mervyn Phillips and Gerald Ridgway. All sets decided in straight games here.
One time runaway league leaders Greenleys Kings, currently in 3rd spot, struggled again with just a draw against 6th placed Leighton Buzzard Van Hire. Javier Goh was in top form for Van Hire with a hat-trick, ably supported by a brace form Hakan Karaagac. David Broome was the other Van man. Kings sets came courtesy of Andras Bayer (2) with one each from Guy Sparrow and Craig Brown.
It’s been a good week for 9-1 results with another in the MK Topspin/Greenleys Warriors clash. My bottom of the table team, Topspin, were on the wrong end of the score-line this time. A maximum here for Ricky Taiwo and Shrishlal Basant Rai with a brace provided by Ameya Phatak. Russell Penn was the Topspin hero with a good win over Ameya and a close defeat to Shrishlal. I also played and we gave a Premier debut to Div 1 Shark Derick Rodrigues. At least this brings Topspin's points to 21, which is one more than the record lowest points for a season in the Premier (held by MK Powers).
Player of the week : Javier Goh
DIVISION 1
PUMAS FALTER AS GREENLEYS BOUND FOR GLORY
Early front-runners slipping in the title race as the season draws to a conclusion. Sound familiar? It’s not just happening in the Premier but in this division too. MK Pumas seemingly unassailable lead is down to 6 points from Greenleys Glory after this week’s matches as an exciting finish to the programme seems certain.
Pumas were held to their first 5-5 score-line by mid table draw specialists Open University Primes. Lori Hurd scored her regular hat-trick and Julie Snowdon a brace to complete the Pumas scoring while Patrick Wong hit a brace himself for Primes, who also snatches the vital doubles, with James Zeng and Ning scoring one-a-piece. Chris Belton remained winless for Pumas.
An MK Powers side that wouldn’t look out of place in the Premier remain bottom despite taking 3 valuable points from title chasers Glory. The Powers’ revival continued from last week, however, with Sarah Hudson opening the match with a deciding game victory over a rarely beaten Jacob Midson. Jiten Pitamber and Clare Styles added further wins. Iain Lindsay hit a hat-trick for Glory, Jacob a brace and Ian Brown one plus the doubles with Jacob.
3rd placed Leighton Buzzard Avengers, an outsider for the title themselves, had a close call against 7th placed MK Pioneers. Paul Haig provided fierce resistance for Pioneers with a fine hat-trick in a 6-4 defeat for his side and Terry Lau picked up their other win. Cristi Hulpan and Graham Silversides hit a brace a-piece for Avengers and Richard Hardy one. Andy Frearson was the other Pioneer.
The last match saw MK Sharks double spearhead stars Derick Rodrigues and Rupert Greyling in good form with maximums against Woburn Sands Mosquitoes in an 8-2 victory which reversed their mid-table League standings. They paired up to win the doubles as usual with Abhay Tijare providing the other win. James Mason and Andy Jenkins had a win each themselves for Mosquitoes while Glen Barcham remained winless.
Player of the week : Paul Haig