W/C 12/10/26
HEADLINE: NOT SO SWEET FOR TONY.
Div One:
Tony Sweet of Molyneux Associates A suffered rare loses when playing their B club mates. Alper Eroglu, who did nothing wrong all evening, took a hard earnt maximum with some absolutely outstanding defending just beating Sweet 5-11, 7-11, 11-6, 12-10, 13-11 and then Russ Keith won by 4-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8. All players had some exceptional play during the matches and a draw was a shock for Molyneux A.
When Molyneux Associates C (Steve Garlick, Toby Spencer and Steve Tyler) hosted Shopfitting by SWS A (Sam Rose, Mark Weymouth and Mike Briggs) there were some epic battles with 10 tie-breaks and four ends finishing 11-9. Weymouth and Briggs managed to secure maximums in their teams 7-3 win. Briggs had a struggle with Tyler winning 11-8, 11-13, 11-8, 11-13, 11-8 and then against Garlick winning 12-10, 11-7, 12-14, 12-10.
Darbz Allen returned for Shopfitting by SWS B and managed a brace along with his team mates Colin Mitchell and Dan Kayes and their 6-4 win over Crafthole A (Iain Oxenham, Shirley Luckhurst and Mike Cookson). Allen needed a fifth end win to defeat Oxenham 11-6, 10-12, 12-10, 8-11, 11-8.
Div Two:
Lee Mill welcomed Richard Smaridge back for his first game of the season and he inspired the team to their first win of the phase. The 10-0 score line against Shopfitting by SWS C (Martin Fowler, John Palmer and John Sherlock) was a little misleading as there were loads of close games. 13 games either went to a tie-break or were won 11-9 and Lee Mill won 11 of these. It was a fine maximum from Ann Warren only losing one game all evening.
Shopfitting by SWS D (Steve Foster, Rob Barnes and Bryn Ford) had to fight all the way to beat Woodland Fort B (Graham Cooksley, Brian Luscombe and Glenn Delaney) 6-4. There were some great Table Tennis played throughout the evening. Barnes, however, lost his 100% record against Cooksley 11-7, 9-11, 6-11, 5-11. Foster claimed the only maximum.
Another close encounter saw Burrington Way Garage beat Astor A 6-4. Garage’s Abel Hernandez set the pace with a hard-fought battle and win against Steve Harvey 11-4, 10-12, 7-11, 11-8, 12-10 and then went on to obtain a maximum. John Goodfield, with a brace for Garage, had a marathon game against Andy Watmore winning one end 24-22. However, Goodfield just lost to Nigel Aston (2) 11-6, 4-11, 12-14, 10-12.
Shopfitting by SWS E continued their unbeaten run beating Crafthole B 7-3 thanks mostly to another maximum from Chris Tucker and a brace from Keith James. The match was played in great spirit despite SWS’s Les Cole claiming many net points.
Div Three:
Woodland Fort C won their first match of the phase with Lucas Deves and Mike Willis securing maximums in their teams 7-3 victory over Molyneux Associates D.
Young Jack Swain continues to enjoy his table tennis but although he is gaining great experience playing in the league, his team were whitewashed by Molyneux Associates E. Swain did give Jamie Canning a scare but eventually just lost out 10-12, 11-9, 7-11, 11-13.
W/C 05/10/26
HEADLINE: SPENCER STUNS FAVOURITES.
Div One:
Seventeen-year-old Toby Spencer of Molyneux Associates C, playing his first season in the top flight, stunned two experienced players of Molyneux Associates A players beating Glyn Price 11-7, 11-9, 11-8 and then Paul Haigh 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7. Things changed when facing the skills of Tony Sweet losing 3-11, 4-11, 8-11, however this learning curve will put Spencer in good stead for the future. Molyneux A won the match 8-2.
Shopfitting by SWS B (Dan Kayes and Jan Walaszkowski) were without Colin Mitchell for their encounter with Molyneux Associates B (John Steuart, Steve Hill and Alper Eroglu) and lost 4-6 in a match that saw everything. The fierce hitting of players made for spectacular finishing during the rallies. Molyneux Associates B currently lead the division but their A clubmates are seven points behind with a game in-hand.
Johnny Hill of The Miss Hits took a maximum and the doubles for his team as they lost 4-6 to Shopfitting by SWS A (Martin Parnell, Mark Weymouth and Mike Briggs). Hill only lost one end to Weymouth throughout the evening. The doubles, with Francesa Maestri, was a lot harder as it was the only match that went to the fifth end but they eventually won 8-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-6, 11-8.
Div Two:
Things seemed to be going well for Burrington Way Garage’s (Abel Hernandez, Brian Luscombe and Jon Goodfield) until the fifth game when Mark Chapman (2) and Ann Warren won three hard fought games on the trot for Lee Mill. Burrington then won the last two singles and the doubles to finish 7-3 at the end of an enjoyable evening. With this win, Burrington currently lead the division by seven points but the two teams below them both have a game in hand.
Astor A (Nigel Aston, Steve Harvey and Andy Watmore) lost 4-6 to Shopfitting by SWS D (Steve Foster, Rob Barnes and Bryn Ford) after a long evening with many fast and venomous rallies. Only one Set was settled in 3 straight games, but even that had two tie-break ends with Barnes winning both against Watmore and securing a tough maximum.
Woodland Fort B defeated Crafthole B 8-2 with maximums for Graham Cooksley and Shaun Hughes. Hughes playing his first game of the season contributed to possible the longest tie-break this season, and possibly for many seasons, with a 22-24 set defeat to Martin Wilcox, but Hughes still took the team point 11-6, 22-24, 11-8, 11-7. John Cumbers took a useful point for Crafthole with a good display against Glenn Delaney.
Div Three:
As expected Horrabridge lead the way in Div Three with Crispin Jordan keeping his unbeaten start to the season helping his team to an 8-2 victory of Woodland Fort B with Lucas Deves taken the points for Fort. Horrabridge were struggling for a team originally with three players absent, but called on Richard Drew who claimed a brace only losing to Deves.
Deves, standing in for Molyneux Associates D (Pete Andrews and Alan Spencer) claimed a maximum against the E team clubmates (Shaun Hughes, Jamie Canning and newcomer Paul Tiller) as they secured a 7-3 victory. Andrews and Spencer both took braces and Hughes and Canning both took a single point each for their respective teams.
W/C 28/09/26 ~
HEADLINE: Div Two matches all end in a 6-4 scoreline.
Div One:
Molyneux Associates A (Garry Reed, Glyn Price and Paul Haigh) proved too much for Shopfitting by SWS B (Colin Mitchell, Jan Walaszkowski and Dan Kayes) beating them 9-1. SWS’s solitary point came from a closely contested match with Walaszkowski beating Haigh 11-9, 10-12, 10-12, 13-11, 11-6.
The Miss Hits (Kai Fowler Francesa Maestri and Johnny Hill) draw with two player Crafthole A (Iain Oxenham and Mike Cookson) with Hill taking a maximum although he needed two tie-breaks to beat Oxenham 13-11, 11-8, 16-14.
Only for his second time, Ben Stanbury of Molyneux Associates B secured a maximum over his C team Mates and helped to beat them 7-3, where only four matches were won in straight games.
Div Two:
A fine maximum from Mark Chapman and then combining well with Ann Warren to win the doubles gave Lee Mill a respectable four points. The spin of the Astor A players proved too tricky for the other players but there were some enjoyable games and a nice evening with Astor winning 6-4.
Shopfitting by SWS D (Steve Foster, Trevor Mole and Bryn Ford) played Burrington Way Garage (Jon Goodfield, Abel Hernandez, Norman Hall) in an epic battle to the end with both teams scoring 400 points. Mole played up, but could not repeat his form when he played against Burrington last week, due to sciatica, but showed true spirit. Ford had a very hard-fought match against Goodfield beating him 25-23 in the fourth end. Fernandez took a good maximum and also helped in the doubles to give Burrington a 6-4 victory.
Crafthole beat Shopfitting by SWS C 6-4 in a closely fought encounter with a total of 8 tie breaks being decided over 41 games. New comer, John Cumbers (Crafthole) contributing a fine brace as he finds his feet in the League.
Shopfitting by SWS E had Chris Tucker to thank for his third straight maximum to help defeat Woodland Fort B 6-4. Tucker was backed up by Keith James who took a brace.
Div Three:
The youngest league player, Jack Swain of Astor B, playing only his second match, managed to gain his first ever league point beating veteran Jeremy Willcoxs (Molyneux Associates D) 11-5, 11-9, 12-10 where there was a 67-year age gap. After the match, he commented that he is really enjoying playing in the league. Molyneux went on to win the match 8-2.
Favourites to win the division, Horrabridge (Isa Puente, Crispin Jordan and John Cook) beat Fitness-At-Home 6-4 thanks to a perfect maximum from Jordan. Unexpectedly, Puente lost to Mike Chapple 7-11, 5-11, 11-5, 9-11.
W/C 21/09/26
Div One:
Due to club building works, two player Crafthole A (Iain Oxenham, Shirley Luckhurst) played their match against Molyneux Associates B (Alper Eroglu, Russ Keith and Steve Hil) at the league headquarters at Desborough Lane, St Judes. The extra travel might have disrupted Luckhurst as she lost all her matches but battled hard losing two matches in five games and one in four games. Eroglo took another maximum for his team and also the doubles to secure an 8-2 victory for Molyneux.
The Miss Hits (Kai Fowler and Mo Arsal), were totally thankful to stand-in Jan Walaszkowski for talking all of their three points whilst playing Molyneux Associates C (Toby Spencer, Steve Garlick and Steve Tyler). One of the closest matches saw Spencer take a 2-1 lead over Arsal (6-11, 11-7, 11-9) only for Arsal to level in the fourth end 11-9. It was then Spencer who went on to win the final end 11-5.
Shopfitting by SWS A could only field two players against Molyneux Associates A and lost 4-6 but Mark Weymouth managed to secure a maximum for SWS.
Div Two:
There was a close encounter when Shopfitting by SWS E (Chris Tucker, Tony Powlesland and Les Cole) hosted Lee Mill (Mark Chapman, Ann Warren and Wendy Quick) but it was Tucker, securing yet another perfect maximum, who stole the show. The outstanding match saw a topsy-turvy match between Powlesland and Warren. Warren took a 2-1 lead but lost the fourth end on a 10-12 tie-break only to win the final end convincingly 11-2. The final score saw SWS win 6-4.
Woodland Fort B (Graham Cooksley 3) began their season with a narrow 6-4 win over Astor A, with six of the ten games going tie-break fifth ends. Lucas Deves playing up from Division Three for Woodland Fort pushed his experienced opponents to fifth ends in all of his games and picked a valuable point by beating Steve Harvey 6-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-5 and an epic 17-15 decider. The matches were so close, only one point separated the teams with Fort edging it 418-417 throughout the evening.
Shopfitting by SWS C (John Sherlock, John Palmer and Trevor Mole) could only draw with Burrington Way Garage (Abel Hernandez, John Goodfield and Norman Hall) with Mole taking a hat-trick of points, only losing one end to Hernandez. The draw was a fair result seeing seven ends were decided on tie-breaks.
A match postponed from last week saw Shopfitting by SWS D (Steve Foster, Rob Barnes and Bryn Ford) play their Club mates from the C team (Trevor Mole, John Sherlock and John Palmer) with the result going 7-3 in favour of the D team thanks to a perfect straight games maximum for Barnes. The combined age of the players amounted to 432 years, showing age is nothing in this great sport.
Div Three:
Horrabridge (Isa Puente, Crispin Jordan and Dave Vanstone) came away with an 8-2 victory when they played Molyneux Associates D (Jeremy Willcox, Alan Spencer and Pete Andrews) and look like true contenders for promotion. The match of the evening saw Vanstone take a two-game lead over Andrews 12-14, 7-11, only for Andrews to level the match winning 11-8, 11-9, the fifth and final end was a nail bitter with Vanstone eventually winning 14-16.
Young 13-year-old Jack Swain played his first ever match in the league for Astor B and enjoyed his evening and the experience will put him in good stead for the future despite losing to John Dodd who had 60 years more experience! Astor were however white washed by Fitness At Home who are also vying for the promotion spots.
Molyneux Associates E (Shuan Hughes, Jamie Canning and Fraser Scott) could only draw with Woodland Fort C (Mike Willis, Lucas Deves and Richard Searle) despite the great effort from Hughes winning a maximum.
W/C 14/09/26
The Plymouth & District Table Tennis Club, started their new league season this week and were excited to play on their new World Championship tables at their Headquarters at Desborough Lane, St Judes, Plymouth.
Div One:
Molyneux Associates B (Alper Eroglu, Russ Keith and Ben Sanbury), got off to a good start beating a new team The Miss Hits 9-1 (Johnny Hill, Kai Fowler and Mo Arsal), Newcomer to the league, Fowler managing to save the whitewash.
Toby Spencer of Molyneux Associates C (Steve Garlick and Mike Briggs) played his first ever games in the top flight and came away with an incredible maximum against Crafthole A (Iain Oxenham, Shirley Luckhurst and Mike Cookson), requiring four ends to achieve it in every set. Crafthole’s Luckhurst took a point along with the doubles with Cookson but lost 2-8.
Div Two:
Burrington Way Garage (Jonathan Goodfield, Abel Hernandez and Norman Hall), who used to be Woodland Fort A, secured a 7-3 win over visitors Crafthole B (Antony Shapland, John Cumbers and Martin Wilcox) with Hernandez taking a maximum for the Garage. The tightest match saw Jon Goodfield win over Wilcox. Goodfield took the first two end on tie-breaks 13-11 but then lost the third end 13-15 but went on to secure the team point winning the next end 11-4. Crafthole’s newcomer Cumbers managed his first ever win by beating Norman Hall.
Chris Tucker of Shopfitting by SWS E (Keith James and Tony Powlesland) secured a perfect maximum and in a league of his own over Astor A (Nigel Aston, Steve Harvey and Andy Watmore) by not losing an end. This helped his team to a 6-4 victory. The toughest match saw Watmore jump into a two-nil lead over James, only for James to level the match at 2-a-piece. Watmore then upped his game to win the fifth end 11-4.
Div Three:
Unfortunately, Molyneux Associates D (Alan Spencer and Pete Andrews) could only field two player but Spencer and Andrews both won braces when facing Fitness At Home (Chris Dodd, Mike Chapple, and John Dodd). Spencer was unlucky not to secure a maximum after losing 5-11 to Chapple in the fifth end. The final score favoured Fitness at Home 6-4.
Horrabridge (Isa Puente, Crispin Jordan and Max Jordan) whitewashed Astor A (Steve Nolan, Jewel Vittle and stand-in Jamie Canning) with only three sets going to a fourth end and Horrabridge winning 70% of the individual match points. Canning did his utmost to win a set and was unlucky losing both of his tie-break games. Astor’s Steve Nolan was playing his first ever match in the league and will improve with more coaching and practice.
