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Press Report #25 In Division 1 of the Basingstoke Table Tennis League, despite having secured the top spot for an unprecedented 6th year in succession, there was no let up for the St Peters A team of Peter Matthews, James Wright and Sean Pickin as they powered through Winklebury to another maximum 0-10 win. Below St Peters A there is a huge battle for 2nd place in the Division, with no less than 6 teams all in with a chance. Among the contenders are Minitec B who improved their standing this week, beating KG A at their Essex Road home 3-7. Norman Swift scored a convincing treble for Minitec, well supported by Gary Livingstone, who would also have scored a treble but for a sterling effort by KG’s Patrick Garlick who recovered from a heavy loss in their first game to go on and win the decider 12-10. A two-man Minitec A side of Andrew Parker and Steve Murgatroyd made up for their lack of players when they hosted a Hannington side of Steve Rollason, Tony Brown and Paul Robinson, both winning all of their singles matches. Brown came tantalisingly close to beating both Minitec players, but had to settle for a doubles victory with partner Rollason for a 6-4 home win. At the bottom of the Division, Oakley A widened the gap between themselves and St Peters B, beating them 7-3. Steve Armstrong scored two points for St Peters, and it would have been three, but for Chaz Smith who, trailing by 1 game to 2, suddenly had a resurgence to convincingly take the next 2 games and the match to give him a well deserved treble. In Division 2, current leaders Basingstoke Hindu Society A were away to Portals. Kanti Mistry just managed to triumph over Portals’ Avril Waters, but lost out to both Steve Redstall and Peter Blunden. Paritosh Singh and Sav Thevendria both proved too strong for the home side, comfortably winning all of their matches for a 2-8 away win. The RAF Odiham team of Simon Clarke, Darren Flack and Roger Barnacle continued their bid for the cup as they took on Oakley B. All the matches were very close; in particular Chris Smith took both Flack and Clarke all the way before succumbing in the decider. But RAF’s efforts were rewarded with a well earned 0-10 victory. In an exciting local derby, the KG D team of Mike Wood, Holly Edwards and Josh Manson took on a KG F team of Martyn Richards, Tristan Noon and Charlie Morrison. Richards pulled off a great treble for his team, with Noon and Morrison adding one apiece. Meanwhile Manson and Wood both scored 2 individual points for their side as well as a doubles win for a 5-5 draw. Basingstoke Hindu Society B scored a welcome 3 points when they hosted KG E this week, with successes for both Dipan Lakhani and Sirish Modi. KG E junior Zoe Blagbrough scored a great treble for KG as did team mate Peter Millie for a 3-7 away win. In a correction to a previous statement - the Closed Championship finals night will be held at Basingstoke Rugby Club on Thursday 25th March not on Tuesday 23rd as previously stated. Catch up on all the latest table tennis news in Basingstoke by visiting the league website: www.basingstokett.co.uk |
