PREMIER / DIV 1 ROUND-UP WEEK 19
Published 12/03/2023 at 16:33:32 by David Wackrill.
PREMIER DIV
KINGS ON STAND-BY TO RECLAIM THE CROWN
Greenleys Kings took the opportunity of the blank League week between fixtures to play their outstanding match against my MK Topspin side, which was duly won 9-1 (Russell Penn beat Craig Brown deuce in the 5th. Otherwise it was maximums for Nick Howard and Guy Sparrow but blanks for Mervyn Kelly and Div 1 sub Jiten Pitamber) to take them 6 points clear at the top from stable-mates Monarchs prior to the commencement of this week’s programme. Winning 9-1 again, this time against MK Sasaki, put the Kings 10 points clear as Monarchs could only manage a draw in their own fixture. Maximums this time round for Nick and Craig with Sasaki’s Nicolas Wong denying Guy the triple. Sasaki gave a promising premier debut here to Div 4 sub Hillard Halm with Michael Wilkins completing their team.
Greenleys Monarchs were thwarted in their title bid by an obdurate performance by club-mates Warriors, who have turned in some impressive results of late which have moved them into the top half of the table. No maximums or zeros here as befits an evenly contested match with braces for Monarchs’ Tomek Nowakowski and Martin Hall and Warriors’ Shirishlal Basant Rai. Dave Beddall took the 5th Monarch point while Ricky Taiwo and Darren Ward had singles win for Warriors and also combined for the always crucial doubles 11-8 in the 5th.
3rd placed and current champions MK Spinners faced a tough challenge at Wing on Friday against a full strength Leighton Buzzard Van Hire outfit but came away with a good 6-4 win thanks to unbeaten skipper Alan Cherry, who also took the doubles alongside Jecu Aurelian. Jecu won a singles as did Tim Cheek. For Van Hire Biao Wang and Javier Goh each hit a brace but Hakan Karaagac remained winless.
In the basement match my MK Topspin notched up our first win of the season, better late than never, against depleted club-mates Phoenix who featured Div 1 sub Abhay Tijare at short notice (after a late withdrawal) and a far from fit Ivan Howard, who pulled out after 2 played sets. They still had Mervyn Phillips though, who duly won his three. However, that was the extend of their scoring on the night as Topspin, represented by Russell Penn, Mervyn Kelly and myself, ran out grateful 7-3 victors.
We are all set up for a fantastic end to the season. In theory Kings could take the title with a week to spare if they equal or better Monarchs result in the next round of matches, and both have tough looking assigments which are impossible to predict, Kings visit Spinners while Monarchs host Van Hire.. Otherwise it’s down to the wire as the always exciting ‘royal’ derby between Kings and Monarchs in the final matchof the season takes on an extra significance.
Player of the week : Alan Cherry
DIVISION 1
NO STOPPING GLORY BOYS NOW
Leaders Greenleys Glory’s explosive run of form continued this week with a 10-0 thrashing of 3rd placed Leighton Buzzard Avengers to take them further away from previous long term top dogs MK Pumas. Usual maximums for Iain Lindsay and Jacob Midson were joined this time with one from Ian Brown, proving that success is infectious. Zeros for Alex Du Noyer, Cristi Hulpan and Steve Jordan. Since these teams last met in December, the Glory mean machine has now harvested a mighty 59 points from the 70 available.
2nd placed MK Pumas fought out a draw this time with club-mates Sharks. Good to see Andy Smith getting back to form with a hat-trick, and just one game dropped in the process too, while Julie Snowdon and Chris Belton had a win a-piece. Usual story for Sharks with Derick Rodrigues and Rupert Greyling registering braces and combining for the doubles success. Abhay Tijare was the third Shark. Just the one close encounter when Derick beat Julie 12-10 in the 5th.
MK Pioneers’ Paul Haig is showing fine form as well, scoring all his team’s points in a 3-7 defeat at Open University Primes. Andy Frearson and Terry Lau also played while the ever reliable Primes were represented by the regular trio of Patrick Wong, Ning He and Andy Tan.
It looks certain that Pioneers and club-mates Powers will finish the season in the relegation places but Powers are going down fighting with another win this week, this time against Woburn Sands Mosquitoes, who made an explosive start to the match with James Molloy taking down Powers’ Sarah Hudson 13-11 in the 5th followed by Rob McPheat trouncing Clare Styles. James and Rob combined to win the doubles but that was the extent of Mosquitoes success. Minesh Pitamber shone for Powers with a fine maximum and Sarah and Clare following up with braces. Andy Jenkins was the other Mosquito on duty.
Player of the week : Paul Haig