Division 1 Roundup - Week 16

Published 03/02/2025 at 17:43:36 by Martin Johnson; edited 1 times, last on 05/02/2025 at 17:45:25 by Martin Johnson.

Avengers Advance

It was another ‘League’ week, amidst the qualifying rounds of the Challenge Cup, with the leaders extending their gap at the top, whilst there was a significant result in the battle for the second promotion spot.

Top placed Milton Keynes Sasaki have now opened up a 15 point gap at the top of the Division, with just the third 10-0 result of the season; the recipients this time being sixth-placed Milton Keynes Sharks, whose trio of Rupert Greyling, Abhay Tijare and D3 reserve, Chris Paddon, had little answer against the Sasaki regulars of Michael Wilkins, Minesh Pitamber and William Kit Liang.  It was 4-0 to Sasaki early on, with Sharks unable to win a single game at this point, but Abhay took one leg off Minesh, and then Rupert pushed Michael to five, in the closest two sets of the night, and although Chris and Rupert each grabbed one leg in their final singles, Sasaki cruised through, as William and Michael completed maximums due to beating Rupert and Abhay in the doubles, to add to Minesh's triple in singles.

Behind Sasaki, long-time second placed Milton Keynes Phoenix have recently been overtaken by Leighton Buzzard Avengers, so an interesting clash between the two teams was anticipated.  It was Avengers who came out on top, to move them clearly ahead of their rivals in the League Table, winning 7-3 on the night.  Neither team was at full strength, each fielding one reserve; Richard Hardy played for Avengers, whilst Kareem Omar played for Phoenix.  It was Richard who grabbled the glory, though, with a hard-fought five game win over Kareem, with Richard also going on to score a fine win over Phoenix regular Gerald Ridgway, as Avengers stormed into a 6-1 lead after two rounds of singles, plus the doubles.  Fabrice Spelta went on to complete his maximum for Avengers, having earlier partnered Dave Broome to a doubles win against Gerald and Ivor Howard, with Dave adding the final point for Avengers, whilst for Phoenix, Ivor grabbed two singles win and Gerald one singles win, to leave Phoenix 11 points behind Avengers, although still with one match in hand.

Fourth-placed Chackmore Hasbeens were missing their usual third player, Sam Willett, but the other two regulars, Bub Burman and Andy Whitehead grabbed all the points for their team in a 7-3 defeat of eighth-placed Mursley Hawks, with Bub and Andy scoring their customary doubles win in a tight contest against David Bartlett and Martin Johnson.  For Hawks, David, Martin and Ian Spanswick each took one singles win against D6 reserve, Pete Middleton, who nevertheless competed well, however none of the Hawks was able to take any sets against Bub or Andy, with Martin going the closest by taking each of them to four games, but it was Hasbeens who won well on the night.  The result moves Hasbeens into third spot, for now, although Phoenix are only a point back, with a match in hand.

The final encounter of the week ended up as a close-fought affair between fifth-placed Milton Keynes Pumas and seventh-placed Leighton Buzzard Spitfires, with Pumas edging it 6-4 in the end.  Early on it looked like it would be a big win for Pumas, as despite some close sets, they surged ahead 3-0, and then 6-1, with only the doubles going to Spitfires at that stage, as Andy King and Graham Silversides won against Neil Riddy and Adam Snowdon.  Barry Hammond then finally won a singles for Spitfires on the night, against Adam, followed by Andy King then beating Neil, and Graham scoring a fine win against Andy Smith in the last singles, as they ended up with four points, despite the earlier almost one-way traffic in terms of the match scoreline.  In the opening six singles, which all went they way of Pumas (two each to Adam, Neil and Andy S), three of them had gone to a decider, with the other three going close in four, including a 13-11 in the fifth for Adam against Graham.  For Neil, two very welcome wins, as these were his first singles wins since restarting playing a few weeks ago.  No changes in position for the two teams, although Spitfires have closed to within two points of Sharks above them, although have played one match more.

This week sees the six Division 1 teams, who are involved in the Challenge Cup, play their final Group match, to decide whether they qualify for the knockout stages.  Hawks look the best bet to go through, with two wins from two so far, although a big defeat could yet see them miss out if several other results go against them.  Three other teams will probably go through if they win their final Group match, namely Hasbeens, Sharks and Avengers, although Sharks and Avengers have to play each other!  Phoenix will qualify with a win in their final Group match, whilst Spitfires would need a win and other results to go their way, to do so.  Good luck all.

Player of the Week: Neil Riddy.
Team of the Week: Leighton Buzzard Avengers.