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Press Report #18 The Basingstoke Table Tennis league has been getting back into gear following a week of disruption to the fixture list caused by the weather. In Division 1, St Peters A still rule the roost at the top of the table after a 9-1 defeat over visitors KG A. KG’s Sue Tompsett and Matthew Wilson both started well, taking early games off Pete Matthews and Sean Pickin respectively, but couldn’t make it stick and the home side looked to be heading for a 10-0 win when KG’s Patrick Garlick pulled off a huge coup in the last match of the evening, beating Matthews 3 games to 0. Oakley A were gifted a couple of points when Queens B player Keith Dickenson was forced to retire after injuring his back at 14-14 in his second game against Oakley’s Dave Smith. Together with a point each for Smith, Sarah Whithorn and Chaz Smith, and a doubles win, this was enough to give the struggling Oakley team a welcome 6-4 result. Later in the week, Queens B captain Peter Martin found himself short of players and had to borrow Division 2 players Celia Hooker and Mick Buley for his team’s match against KG B. Hooker came very close to taking the scalp of Duncan Sibbeck after going 2 games up, only to lose the next 3 games, but she didn’t make the same mistake against Roger Bielby, winning their match 0-3 and adding a useful point to Martin’s maximum for a final score of 6-4 to KG. Queens A produced a surprising 6-4 win when they met with 2nd placed Alpha Cars this week. Queen’s Louis Webb in particular was pleased to notch up his second Division 1 point as he defeated Alpha’s Ron Powell by 3 games to 1. In their clash with Alpha Cars this week, St Peters B were heading for a familiar 10-0 defeat when Simon Kiefer came back strongly in the final game and pulled off a spectacular win over Alpha’s Terry White in the final match of the evening. St Peters’ Steve Armstrong came very close to winning all his matches, particularly against rock solid Paul Rattue but was unable to get a result. Final score 9-1 to Alpha. In a very closely fought match, visitors St Peters A rebuffed a strong attack by Queens A. Tony Palaczky started the evening well for Queens by taking the first match off Pete Matthews, and brother Alan Palaczky later did the same. But despite Tony’s valiant efforts which pushed James Wright and Sean Pickin the distance, the home side had to settle for a 2-8 final result. In Division 2, Queens E improved their standing in the Division by beating home side Oakley B 0-10. Oakley’s Chris Smith, Teri Alison and Robert Draper all had their moments, but Robin Burns, George Freeman and Roy Pike were all unstoppable on the night. The AWE team of Robin Treadwell, Steve Jones and Ken Wyld came unstuck this week when they took on the Queens E team of Robin Burns, George Hellens and Mick Buley. Both Burns and Hellens romped through their matches with ease, and Buley, not wishing to disappoint, came back spectacularly in all of his matches to ensure a maximum 10 points for his team. Basingstoke Hindu Society A produced another emphatic 9-1 win when they hosted KG F this week. Sav Thevendria notched up another treble and is still unbeaten in this division. KG’s Martyn Richards had his side’s only success of the evening, beating Kanti Mistry 2-3 after going 2-1 down in their match. Richards also started well against Paritosh Singh, but failed to capitalise on 4 game points in their first game and then crumbled to allow Singh to take the match 3-0. The match between Queens D and KG E saw some great performances from Peter Millie and Steve Ng who both scored individual maximums. Millie beat off a particularly strong challenge from Queens’ Lorainne Mortimer, finally winning their match 14-16 in the decider. No individual success for captain Dave MacDonald, but he did team up with Ng to add a doubles win to his team’s score sheet for a 3-7 victory. Portals fielded their strongest side of Peter Blunden, Steve Redstall and Avril Waters when they hosted Basingstoke Hindu Society B this week. Predictably, the home side had little difficulty with the opposition and helped themselves to a comfortable 10-0 victory. Later in the week, Basingstoke Hindu Society B were at home to Oakley B with a similar result. Sirish Modi came very close to winning his first league point as he went 2-1 up in his match against Oakley’s Jamie Cole, but Cole bounced back to take the remaining 2 games to help his side to a welcome 10 points. Catch up on all the latest table tennis news in Basingstoke by visiting the league website: www.basingstokett.co.uk |
