Table tennis: Whistlers B and Lions C early pace setters in the top division

Wednesday October 9, 2024

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Whistlers B and Lions C are the sides in pole position at this very early stage of the season, having both recorded impressive wins in the final round of Doric Insurance League action.

The Whistlers side are officially top of the table thanks to their superior game difference ratio and this was helped by a crushing 9-1 victory over a seriously weakened Lions A side, in the absence of their leading players Joshua Butler and Liam Robilliard.

Lawrence Stacey and reserve Mark Pipet were unbeaten in their singles matches against Sam Clark and reserves Luke Evans and Cameron Powell, although Pipet did have to fight back from 2-1 down to get past 11-year-old Evans, with the youngster having beaten him. in Division 2 action just six nights earlier.

Dawn Morgan added a four-set victory over Evans and a straight-set victory over Powell, but she was defeated by Clark in the match opener. This didn't seem likely when she was 2-0 up, but Clark fought strong and narrowly took the last two points, 12-10, 14-12. The doubles match was won by Stacey and Morgan against Evans and Powell.

Lions C's victory was extremely hard fought, but it was an excellent 6-4 victory over the side tipped as one of the favorites for the title, Whistlers A.

Ryan Bichard played a big role in the win as he was undefeated in singles. However, this was a severe test for him. His first match was one of the toughest, as a 17-15 loss in the third set of his match against Matthew Casey left him 2-1 down. From then on he played well and stayed calm to get through the last two sets by matching 11-5 scores. His next match was against Josh Stacey and despite leading 2-1 he was forced into another deciding set. In the final phase he was again the stronger player and won the score 11-5. In his final match of the evening, he dropped the third set to Joseph Bourgaize, before storming through the fourth again 11-5 to round off a successful evening.

Dan Collenette and Connor Powell contributed the remaining three rubbers, but these were again closely fought and they all went the distance. Collenette looked on cruise control after winning the first two points against Bourgaize and losing just seven points, but the Whistlers player stormed back to a decisive leg. It was close, but Collenette held on and won the score 11-8.

Collenette was in a similar boat to Bichard in his clash with Casey, as a tight 13-11 result in the third set for Casey left him 2-1 behind. He also played well, navigating the remaining points 11-9, the fifth most impressive as he was behind for most of the match.

Powell picked up a win in the first game of the season, but this one was even more important. He had never defeated Bourgaize before and after winning the first set this was followed by defeat in the next two sets, losing by just three points. Despite the apparent momentum for Bourgaize, Powell turned it around to win the fourth 12-10. The nervous fifth was taken 11-7 by the younger player. For the beaten Whistler side, Stacey was a comfortable straight set winner over Collenette and Powell, while Casey dispatched Powell in straight sets in the final match of the evening. Stacey and Casey won the doubles match against Bichard and Collenette in four sets.

Lions D are the only other undefeated side left in the Division and recorded their first win of the season thanks to a 7-3 victory over Ravenscroft Panthers A.

Paul Hainsworth and Jez Powell were unbeaten on the night, which sealed the points. Hainsworth had to fight back from 2-1 down to beat Nye Matthew in five sets, while also beating Barney Groves in straight sets. Powell defeated Matthew in four sets and Groves in straight sets.

There was bad luck for Andy Gill in his clash with Powell as despite the southpaw being 2-0 up and with a couple of match points in the third set, he failed to take them and Powell made it 15-13 . Powell led the fourth set comfortably 7–1, when Gill injured his arm, forcing him to forfeit the match. This also meant that Hainsworth earned a win via walkover against him, as their match would follow that. Hainsworth and Powell had earlier combined strongly to beat Gill and Groves in straight sets in the doubles. All Panthers players earned their first wins of the season thanks to wins over Craig Dunning.

The final match of the week gave Lions B a first win of the season, beating Lions E's missing star player, Ben Foss, 9-1. Phil Ogier and Steve Ozanne were each on hand to beat Matthew Stubbington, Charlotte Casey and reserve James Crocker in the singles, although Ogier trailed Stubbington 2-1, before claiming the remaining points 11-9, 12-10. The B-side had its own reserve in the form of Ellis Tomlin. Tomlin defeated Crocker in 4 sets and Casey in straight sets, but was defeated by Stubbington in straight sets, preventing the whitewash. Ogier and Ozanne won the doubles match against Stubbington and Casey in straight sets.

Division 2

Whistlers D lead the way by one point and are the only team to have won all their matches so far this season. They defeated Lions G 7-3 this week, despite an unbeaten night in singles for Andy Ferbrache. This included Kay Chivers' first defeat of the season, with Ferbrache impressively winning over four sets. His other matches were also hard-fought and he had to overturn a 2-0 deficit in both matches, with matching 11-8 scores in the final fifth against both Keith Opie and reserve Ken Falla. However, Chivers, Opie and Falla were on hand to win the remaining singles matches against Brian Ferbrache and Ollie Sparkes to ensure victory. The doubles match was won by Chivers and Opie against Andy and Brian in straight sets.

The surprise result of the week saw one of the title favourites, Whistlers C, held to a 5-5 draw by Ravenscroft Panthers C, in a result that could have been worse, with two important five set matches going in their favour. The Whistlers side were missing one of their key players, Kennedy Chepkor, which hampered them, but on paper it was still a match that the Whistlers side looked favorite to win.

The Panthers side took full advantage of the missing Chepkor with Marli Barker, Albie Lihou and Peter Vivian dispatching reserve Shane Cotter in straight sets. Barker played super table tennis to beat Le Ber in straight sets, while Lihou also fought back well from 2-1 down to earn Le Ber's scalp. The young Panthers duo came very close to winning the doubles match against Le Ber and Tim Le Page, which would have given their team the victory. They fought back bravely from 2-0 down before running out a decisive 17-15 final. Vivian also came close to adding the decisive 6th rubber in the opening match of the evening. He extended Le Page to five sets before falling 11-6 in the deciding set.

Division 3

The battle between the undefeated teams ended in a comfortable 7-3 victory for Ravenscroft Panthers D against Ravenscroft Panthers E. Micah Cohen is one of only two players left with an average of 100% and he narrowly maintained this in this match. After winning the first two sets comfortably against fellow junior Xavier Ingrouille, he lost the next two 12-10, 13-11, despite leading 10-7 in the fourth. However, he held it together in the decisive 5th end to claim the score 11-6. His other wins came over Vikki Stacey and Richard Wellfair in straight sets. Shaun Mosley added wins over Stacey in straight sets and Ingrouille in four sets, while Steve Martin got past Wellfair in five sets. The doubles match was won by Cohen and Mosley against Ingrouille and Stacey in five sets. For the beaten Panthers side, Ingrouille and Stacey both saw off Martin in five sets, while Wellfair took an excellent four-set win over Mosley.

Division 4

The youthful Ravenscroft Panthers G side sit at the top of the table having won all four of their matches so far this season. This week they achieved their second 10-0 whitewash result of the season, Whistlers I on the wrong side of the scoreline. Isla Bretel, Olivia Gilbert and Thea Cummins all defeated Shaun Evans, Steph Evans and Connor Osbourne in singles. Gilbert and Cummins won the doubles match against Steph and Osbourne in straight sets.