Ramsey edge past Arbory as table tennis resumes

Isle of Man Table Tennis Association’s Fun88-sponsored league season resumed last week following the end of lockdown.

Division One

Ramsey B (2), Travellers A (7)

There were some games in this match which were hard-fought, with six tie-break sets, three fourth-set deciders and from the two fifth-set deciders.

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Ramsey scored their two wins courtesy of one for Tim Baker and one for Wael Kassim. Travellers A won the remaining games without too much resistance, with Liam Chan completing a hat-trick while both Malcolm Cummings and Mark Townsend took two games each.

Ramsey A (5), Arbory (4)

Ramsey A were without their captain for this fixture and therefore featured step-up player Chris Holmes.

The match was very close-fought with some surprising results and scorelines, eight tie-break sets, one ending at 18-20, plus two fifth-set deciders and two games decided in the fourth. Ramsey’s Chris Holland and Duncan Alexander both won two games and Holmes took one for the overall success.

For Arbory, Khayee Vinas and John Magnall claimed two games each to secure their four points and just keep their nose in front of Ramsey in the fight for the Division One title.

Tower A (4), Copy Shop A (5)

Copy Shop A were without one team-mate and therefore featured one step-up player which gave Tower the opportunity to score big in this fixture.

This they duly did, but not without a struggle as five of the games were decided in the fourth set. William Bayley took two games and both Ken Mitchell and David Parsons claimed one game each for Tower’s four points.

Sean Drewry clinched a hat-trick and Ewan Watterson won two games for the five points and the win.

Strathallan (10), Tower B (0)

The scoreline doesn’t reflect the resistance Tower put up against the experienced Strathallan team, with three tie-break sets and one set claimed by the Tower team.

In the end the Strathallan team of Julian Briercliffe, Andrew Patterson and Wayne Taylor were just too strong for Tower to prevent the whitewash.

Peel A (4), Ramsey C (5)

From a spectator’s perspective, this match was a thriller.

Peel really took the challenge to the Ramsey team with some outstanding passages of play that resulted in three fifth-set and three fourth-set deciders.

Malcolm Lewis won two of the games, while Stuart Mason and Ken Hegarty claimed one each for Peel’s four points. Ramsey’s points came from a Becky Taylor hat-trick and two wins from Chris Holmes for their five points and the win.

Division Two

Desmond’s Douglas A (6),

Copy Shop B (4)

With some close-fought games and unexpected results, both teams fought hard for every point in this fixture.

One game was decided in the fifth set and five decided in the fourth set, therefore they were all close. Tommy Cowin secured a hat-trick for Desmond’s Douglas, while Jim Travers took two games and Russell Kent won one.

For Copy Shop, Sasha Thomas won two games, while John Paul Banaag claimed one and Thomas with Kevin Drewry paired up for the doubles win.

Peel B (3), Travellers B (7)

Peel put up a good fight against the league leaders, taking four games to a fifth-set decider, three games to a fourth-set decider and battled through six tie-break sets.

In the end they won three well-deserved points, one each for Stuart Perry, Matty Evans and Maggie Mulhern.

The Travellers team continue to march on with John Shooter who clinched another hat-trick, while Nathan Evans won two games and William Shooter who picked up one. Evans and J. Shooter paired up to win the doubles, settled in the fifth set.

Ramsey D (8), Travellers D (2)

Ramsey were gifted three points from this fixture through a one-player forfeit from Travellers. Nevertheless, the latter took the challenge to Ramsey with three fourth-set deciders and four tie-break sets.

For Ramsey, Charlie Callow and Adrian Slater both won two games and also paired up for the doubles victory. The two players from Travellers, Maurice Campbell and Jackie Gill, won a game each for their two points.

Travellers C (7), Ramsey E (3)

In this fixture there were some strong individual performances with some close-fought games resulting in five tie-break sets, one fifth-set decider and three fourth-set deciders.

Despite Travellers featuring with one step-up player, there was little more Ramsey could do to prevent defeat.

David Buck secured a hat-trick, while step-up player Rob Wright won two games and Adrian Tinkler won one game, Wright and Buck paired up for the doubles win. Ramsey’s Nathan Walker won two games and Martyn Howard won one game for their three points.

Copy Shop C (7),

Copy Shop D (3)

In this derby match, most games were won in three sets with the exception of one singles game and the doubles which were decided in the fifth set.

For the C team, Sonja Shaw started as she meant to go on and clinched a hat-trick, while Libby Quaggin won two games and Leo Doyle claimed one. Shaw and Quaggin paired up to win the doubles.

Cameron Dudley battled hard to win two games for the D team and Darren Shaw had a purple patch and won one game with ruthless precision.

Division Three

Peel D (4),

Desmond’s Douglas B (6)

With some strong individual performances and close passages of play, league leaders Desmond’s Douglas team took the win.

But it was not without serious resistance from Peel, with three of their four wins being secured in fifth-set deciders.

Vlad Lannin won two games for Peel, while Amit Lannin and Bob Borland claimed one game each for their four points.

Desmond’s Neil Ronan secured a comfortable hat-trick, while Jo Healey and Peter Russell won one game each and Ronan and Russell teamed up for the doubles victory.

Tower C (6), Peel C (4)

The experience and individual playing style of the second-placed Tower team takes more than a trained playing style to overcome, which Peel discovered in this fixture. Three games settled in the fifth set, two settled in the fourth and five tie-break sets show just how close Peel were to Tower.

For Tower, Mike Chapman and Barry Jenkins won two games each as well as pairing up for the doubles victory, while Margaret Forsyth also took one. Ronan Thompson completed a hat-trick and only lost one set, while James Devereau won one game for Peel’s four points.

Ramsey G (2), Copy Shop E (8)

The Ramsey team had to rely on two step-up players for this fixture which put them at a disadvantage against a strong Copy Shop team.

Nevertheless, Ramsey did not make it easy for their opponents with three fifth-set and four fourth-set deciders.

Ramsey’s Aiden Hawker won one game and step-up player Ryan Holland claimed one game for their two points.

Daniel Levine and Jake Saulnier both secured hat-tricks and the experienced Pat Halliwell won one game. Mike Levine and Halliwell paired up for the doubles win for Copy Shop.

Ramsey F (9), Ramsey H (1)

Despite the scoreline in this derby match, there were some serious battles going on with one fifth-set and five fourth-set deciders. Lisa Lord and Francesca Lord both clinched hat-tricks for the F team and Wilma Dalugdugan won two games, before pairing up with F. Lord for the doubles win.

The H team were saved from a whitewash by a defiant Geoff Burchill who won his game in the fifth set 5-11.

Peel E (5), Ballakermeen (3)

Both teams struggled to field a full team for this fixture, with Peel forfeiting one player and Ballakermeen two, which meant there were only two games actually played.

Both were won by the solitary Ege Niyazi, one in three sets and one in the fourth set. Let’s hope Niyazi gets more support from his team-mates for the remaining season fixtures.

l Missed matches from January will be played as follows, subject to re-opening:

Week 18 - w/c May 3; Week 10 - Wednesday fixtures w/c May 10; Week 11 - w/c May 17; Week 12 - w/c May 24; Week 10 - Friday fixtures w/c May 24.