PREMIER / DIV 1 ROUND-UP WEEK 17
Published 20/02/2024 at 11:29:10 by David Wackrill.
PREMIER DIV MONARCHS WIN THE BATTLE BUT LOSE THE WAR
Multiple League winners Greenleys Monarchs fielded all their big guns this week, looking to derail debutants MK Titans title bid by making inroads into the 10 point margin between the two contenders. After a great start in which they went 5-1 up against their old club-mates, the durable Titans outfit (formerly competing as Greenleys Kings) clawed their way out of trouble to stage a spirited comeback, taking 3 of the last 4 sets and post a respectable 4-6 scoreline. While the gap between the sides is down to 8 points, it will surely not be enough for Monarchs. So expect a new name on the trophy come the end of next month. Tomek Nowakowski (2), Dave Tiplady (2), Alex Meade (1) plus the (Tom/Dave) doubles for Monarchs. Nick Howard (2), Craig Brown (2) for Titans with Guy Sparrow winless. Best match of the season by far.
Well clear in 3rd spot, MK Spinners stumbled slightly in an 8-2 win over bottom side and club colleague Phoenix. Usual hat-tricks here for Alan Cherry and Jecu Aurelian but Gary Jones was beaten by both Mervyn Phillips and Ioan Constantin. Zero for Gerald Ridgway.
It must have been a case of too many Shrove Tuesday pancakes for relegation threatened MK Sasaki, who went down 10-0 to Greenleys Glory, only promoted themselves this season, with only one set going the distance. Full marks to Glory boys Jacob Midson, Iain Lindsay and Ian Mead. Sasaki were represented by Michael Wilkins, Minesh Pitamber and William Kit Liang. I cannot recall the 2019 champions Sasaki (one of my former teams too) EVER losing 10-0 before in the Premier, so maybe a first blackwash for them?
No news yet on the scheduled Friday match at Wing between Leighton Buzzard Generations and Greenleys Warriors.
DIVISION 1
SAISH SAVAGES PRIMES AS TOPSPIN MOVE FURTHER AHEAD
Leaders MK Topspin swept aside a 2-man Leighton Buzzard Avengers side this week as rivals Open University Primes faltered against rock bottom Greenleys Princes in the title race.
With Mervyn Kelly back from his latest Antipodean adventure and Luton legend Mal Hussain signed up hours before the February 1 deadline, Topspin seem well placed to take the title in an absorbing tussle with challengers Primes. Both players were in action against mid table Avengers and although a rusty Mervyn, who last played a League match 9 weeks ago, slipped up in the opening set against Steve Jordan, it was all one way traffic thereafter with Topspin running out 9-1 winners. Russell Penn was the third Topspinner and Richard Hardy the other Avenger.
Meanwhile the Primes trio of Andy Tan, Patrick Wong and James Zeng were falling to the attacking wiles of Princes’ Saish Prabhu in a burst of form not seen before this term. Primes still won 7-3 though to leave them 9 points behind the leaders but with a game in hand. John Stamp and Saravana Kumar were the other Princes on parade.
The fight for 3rd spot is hotting up nicely between MK Sharks and Chackmore Hasbeens, who met this week with Chackmore’s 6-4 win enough to bring them level on points with their 3rd placed rivals. Sarah Hudson hit a sparkling hat-trick for Sharks, who could only add a Rupert Greyling win to their score. Bub Burman (2). Andy Whitehead (2), their usual doubles success together, and Div 4 sub Colin Beckett (1) were the Hasbeen scorers. Abhay Tijare was the other Shark.
Equally intruiging is the battle to avoid relegation between MK Pumas and Leighton Buzzard Van Hire, who were pitched against each other to produce yet another 6-4 encounter and a vital win for Pumas as it puts them 11 points ahead of Van Hire. Pumas’ points came from Andy Smith (3) and Chris Belton (2) plus a doubles success. Keith Carrington played up from div 2 to make up the numbers. Van Hire’s sets came courtesy of Iko Jacob (2), Mateusz Browarnik (1) and Andy Fiske (1).
Player of the week : Saish Prabhu