Division 2 Roundup - Week 18
Battle for Runners-Up Spot Hots Up
Despite only their second loss of the season, it was, in a way, a good week for Division 2 leaders, Greenleys Princes. Princes lost 4-6 to fifth-placed Mursley Hawks, with a maximum for Mark Dixon of Hawks, backed up by two singles wins and a share in a very close doubles (12-10 in the fifth) by Martin Johnson, whilst for Princes, Ricky Jackson collected two singles wins, backed up by one win each for Saravana Kumar and Anand Keshav against Ian Spanswick. Although they lost the match, Princes have now guaranteed an end of season top two spot, and, after other results this week, now only need a single point from their final two matches to claim the Division 2 title.
Meanwhile, second-placed Leighton Buzzard Van Hire lost 3-7 to equal third-placed Little Horwood Wooden Tops, with John Sharp scoring a maximum for Wooden Tops, assisted by Bill Higgins with two singles wins and a share in the doubles, plus Andy Hooper with one win. Van Hire only had two of their regulars playing, with Richard Hardy grabbing two wins and Donnie MacDonald winning once, whilst reserve Peter Dixon found the going too tough in the higher Division.
The basement battle saw sixth-placed Open University Shockwave claim a 6-4 win over the team below them, Milton Keynes Cavaliers, despite a fine treble of singles wins by Anjana Navalkissoor for Cavaliers, as both Charity Wong and Charles Tien won twice in singles and combined to win the doubles, assisted by one singles win for Yi Cao. For Cavaliers, Chris Welch claimed the remaining singles win against John Bradley.
This week's results means the battle for runners-up spot is getting closer, with Wooden Tops having climbed to second place, but they have three teams within nine points of them, and all with a game in hand over Wooden Tops, so with Princes effectively certain to take top spot, it could go down to the wire for second, although Van Hire just about look best placed at this stage. At the other end of the table, Cavaliers now look likely to finish in seventh, as they now trail Shockwave by six points, and have played a match extra. Shockwave would also need a dramatic finish to climb up from sixth, as they trail fifth placed Hawks by 12 points, with just three matches to go.
Next week sees the first Knockout Round (Round of 32) in the Challenge Cup, with all six entered Division 2 teams still involved. At best that could only be five into the last 16, since Van Hire and Hawks are drawn against each other, whilst the other Division 2 teams all face big handicaps against lower Division teams, with Cavaliers facing a 100 point handicap, whilst Princes, Wooden Tops and Shockwave all face a 200 point handicap.
Player of the Week : Anjana Navalkissoor.
Team of the Week : Little Horwood Wooden Tops.