Division 1 round-up - Week 4
The first match of the week involved leaders MK Phoenix hosting Club-mates MK Topspin resulting in a 10-0 win for Phoenix. Oliver Young scored his third successive maximum, this time against Mervyn Kelly, Mal Hussain and Russell Penn. Alan Bolding needed 4 games to beat each of the visitors, needing a marathon 19-17 game to secure the win against Mal. Ioan Constantin extended his winning streak to 12 sets with his 4th maximum. Phoenix also remain unbeaten in doubles so far.
Leighton Buzzard Avengers welcomed MK Pumas, for whom Andy Smith scored a maximum against home players Nathan Fry, Andy King and Donnie MacDonald, although Andy K pushed him all the way, losing 9-11 in the final game. Nathan Fry beat Adam Snowdon in 4 games in the opening set, but needed 5 games to beat Neil Riddy before losing to Andy S. After Andy K had battled hard but unsuccessfully against Andy S, he found it easier against both Adam and Neil, winning in 3 games. Donnie needed 4 close games to beat Neil and 4 more to beat Adam. In the doubles, Nathan and Donnie won the opening two games against Neil and Adam, who won the next two and the decider 12-10. The final match score was 6-4 to the Avengers.
MK Sharks entertained Chackmore Hasbeens. Rupert Greyling for the home team started the evening off with a hotly fought 5-game match against Andy Whitehead, won by Andy 10-12, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 12-10. Rupert could not continue the same momentum, losing to both Sam Willett and Bub Burman. Andy Pearson had straight-game wins against Bub and Andy W, but lost to Sam without notching a game. Derick Rodrigues also lost to Sam in 3, then to Bub in 5 games, before a straightforward win against Andy W. The doubles had resulted in a 4 game win for the Hasbeens’ ever-reliable pairing of Andy W and Bub against Derick and Andy P, their 4th success of the season.
The final match of the week was a local affair between promoted Greenleys Princes and Greenleys Crusaders. Although the Crusaders ran out 7-3 winners, the going was not easy and involved 40 games on the night. The Princes’ captain Saravana Kumar lost in 5 games to Akira Bennatraj and in 4 games to Yevhenil Bohrieiev, before beating the ‘away’ captain Ian Grainger. Richard Bailey and Anand Keshav both beat Ian in five games, but also lost to Akira and Yevhenil. Ian had however played his part in a doubles success with Yevhenil, against Richard and Saravana.
Player of the week: Andy Smith