PREMIER / DIV 1 ROUND-UP WEEK 14
Published 01/01/2024 at 14:25:21 by David Wackrill.
PREMIIERSPINNERS SEE IN THE NEW YEAR ON TOP OF THE TREE
It’s tight at the top but MK Spinners are heading the table again going into the New Year with one more round of matches for everyone to play. An early festive present from club-mates Sasaki secured the top spot for Spinners when the 7th placed side took 4 sets from former leaders MK Titans in perhaps their best performance of the season. With 2 matches in hand though, Titans remain firm favourite for the title.
Not for the first time, the Titans had to rely on captain fantastic Nick Howard to get them over the line after coming up against a spirited Sasaki team in fine form. After beating Minesh Pitamber and Noah Levens in straight games, plus the doubles with Matthew Horrocks, Nick struggled against an inspired Michael Wilkins, before coming from 2-1 down in games to win at deuce in the decider, surviving a match point on a fault serve from Michael along the way. Titans’ other winning sets were secured by Matthew at the expense of Minesh and Michael. An off night for a winless Guy Sparrow.
A more predicable performance from Spinners in their match with the Greenleys Glory, the whitewash halted by a brace from Ian Mead, who beat Jecu Aurelian and Gary Jones. Usual hat-trick from skipper Alan Cherry. Ian Brown and Jacob Midson were the other Glory boys.
Greenleys Warriors beat MK Phoenix 9-1 in a match affected by sickness and injury. An unwell Shrishlal Basant Rai opened against Alan Bolding but only managed 10 points over the 3 games. However he went straight on again to play Mervyn Phillips, and in a more even contest won 12-10 in the 4thgame. In the disrupted order, Shrishlal played the 5th set of the night to beat Gerald Ridgway before going home. Alan, meanwhile, continued as ‘normal’ until he pulled out after the 4th game against Ricky Taiwo in his final set, conceding with a shoulder injury at 2 games to 1 down. Warriors’ Darren Ward joined Ricky on a hat-trick here.
Another postponement this week, the Leighton Buzzard club venue being unavailable for Generations match with Greenleys Monarchs.
DIVISION 1
TORMENTED TOPSPIN CLING ON TO NARROW NEW YEAR LEAD
Two club derbies, a Chackmore whitewash against their fellow promotees, and a top of the table face-off was the fare in this final week of the second round (of 3) of fixtures.
The Avengers beat fellow Leighton Buzzard club mates Van Hire 6-4 with Steve Jordan (3) and Bernie Raffe (2) winning all the sets between them when they combined for the doubles. Cristi Hulpan remained winless. Van Hire’s sets came from Mateusz Browarnik (2) and one each by Lee Draper and Andy Fiske. Amazingly, despite picking up more points than every other team in this second 7-match sequence, the Avengers have remained stubbornly in 5th place throughout. In fact, all team’s positions in the whole table have barely moved since October.
The Sharks won the bragging rights in their MK Club derby with Pumas after a convincing 7-3 victory. Only the obdurate Andy Smith stood in their way as he extended his current unbeaten run to 13. Zeros for Chris Belton and Adam Snowdon. Braces all round for Sharks’ trio of Sarah Hudson, Derick Rodrigues and Rupert Greyling.
What a sharp contrast in the fortunes of the two promoted teams from Div 2. While Chackmore Hasbeens have always been in the top half, Greenleys Princes have remained in the relegation places. A rare whitewash here for Bub Burman, Andy Whitehead and Sam Willett. Zeros in this one for Saish Prabhu, William Egbuna and Div 4 sub Kunal Vora.
Finally, My MK Topspin side came a cropper 6-4 in the top of the table clash with Open University Primes. We may have lost the battle on the night but we held on to the coveted top spot going into the New Year. A brilliant straight games hat-trick for Andy Tan, with Patrick Wong (2 wins) and Ning He (1) did the damage for Primes. Topspin’s sets came from Jit Pitamber (2), Mervyn Kelly (1) plus the doubles. Zero for me.
Player of the week : Andy Tan