Week eight of the Fun88 Welton Play Isle of Man Table Tennis Association Winter League took place at the NSC last week.
The star performance of the night surely belonged to ex-Island Champion Mark Johnson, who accomplished a rare double feat by playing up in Division One for Arbory C after earlier completing a maximum sweep for Arbory D in Division Two, remaining undefeated across six individual matches.
Arbory A currently top Division One, and Arbory F lead in Division Two.
Division One
Arbory B (1), Ramsey A (9)
Ramsey A produced a dominant team display against Arbory B.
Player of the Match Darren Smethurst was in impeccable form, securing a treble of singles victories and teaming up with Chris Holmes to take the doubles set 13-11, 9-11, 7-11, 1-11 over John Magnall and Khayee Vinas.
Holmes matched his teammate with three single wins, including a tight five-set victory against Dave Bufton 7-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7, 6-11.
Becky Bayley contributed two solid singles wins, battling past Bufton 11-7, 13-15, 11-8, 2-11, 7-11 in another five-set thriller.
Magnall earned Arbory B’s sole point with a straight-sets 11-9, 11-8, 11-8 win over Bayley.
Intact A (7), Intact B (3)
Intact A claimed bragging rights in the intra-club derby over Intact B.
Player of the Match David Parsons led the line brilliantly, earning a maximum of three singles wins.
Ken Mitchell added two wins, including a straight-sets victory over Steve Curtis, but dropped a marathon five-set contest to Lee Alexander 9-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-2, 11-13.
Sam Step up player Sam Sen posted two superb wins for Intact A, defeating Curtis in four ends.
For Intact B, Alexander impressed with two singles victories, while combining with Curtis to snatch a nerve-tingling doubles 10-12, 9-11, 11-7, 10-12 against Parsons and Mitchell.
Peel A (3), Travellers C (7)
Travellers C put together a cohesive squad effort to defeat Peel A.
Player of the Match Charlie Callow starred with a perfect treble in singles play and paired with Paul Mathieson-Nelson to claim the doubles 11-5, 7-11, 7-11, 7-11 over Stuart Perry and Maggie Mulhern.
Luke Begley supported strongly with two wins, prevailing 7-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7, 7-11 in five ends against Ken Hegarty.
David Buck claimed a hard-fought five-set win over Perry 8-11, 13-11, 9-11, 11-8, 9-11.
Jon Taylor-Burt, Perry, and Hegarty each earned one singles point for Peel A.
Strathallan (5), Arbory C (5)
A thrilling encounter ended honours in this tie.
Arbory’s Mark Johnson was the standout competitor, earning Player of the Match honours with three commanding singles victories without dropping a single game.
Strathallan stayed competitive through Andrew Patterson and Julian Briercliffe, who both secured two singles wins.
Briercliffe edged Russell Kent 8-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-3, while Patterson looped his way past Kent in five ends 7-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8.
Kent and Sonja Shaw grabbed a crucial doubles win for Arbory C 8-11, 11-9, 9-11, 9-11 to secure the draw.
Travellers B (2), Travellers A (8)
Travellers A comfortably took the spoils against their B team.
Player of the Match Scott Lewis was in pristine form, winning all three singles matches in straight sets and joining Liam Chan to win an extraordinary doubles battle 12-10, 3-11, 11-6, 5-11, 17-19 against John Shooter and Keeran Chan, with some amazing rallies witnessed by those who stopped to watch.
Chan and Malcolm Cummings added two singles victories apiece for Travellers A, with Cummings battling past Keeran Chan 3-11, 11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 6-11 in five ends.
Shooter fought gamely for Travellers B, registering both of his team’s points by expertly overcoming Chan and Cummings.
Division Two
Arbory D (7), Intact C (3)
Arbory D put on a strong display to overcome Intact C.
In his earlier session, Mark Johnson set the tone with a perfect maximum in singles before teaming up with Wendy Hogan to claim the doubles 11-8, 11-9, 10-12, 12-10 against Keith Whiteway and Sam Sen, who put up a tremendous fight.
Hogan matched her teammate’s singles return with three wins of her own.
Intact C fought back through Sam Sen, Whiteway, and Keith Herrington, who each earned a point over Geoff Burchill, with Sen winning 8-11, 11-5, 3-11, 10-12.
Arbory F (7), Ballakermeen A (3)
Arbory F proved too strong for Ballakermeen A in a spirited fixture.
Player of the Match Malcolm Lambert spearheaded the victory with three straight-set singles wins.
Rob Wright matched Lambert’s flawless singles effort with three wins of his own, dropping only two ends along the way.
Bob Borland and Wright secured the doubles point for Arbory F 11-9, 8-11, 12-10, 11-8 against Aditya Varshney and Kaishi Huang.
Ballakermeen A responded as Jesse Zhang, Varshney, and Huang each earned a singles victory against Borland.
Ballakermeen B (2), Travellers E (8)
Travellers E put in an excellent away-style performance against Ballakermeen B.
Player of the Match Henry Weaver was in supreme form, securing a singles treble including a tense five-set battle against Alan Sefia 4-11, 3-11, 11-9, 11-9, 9-11.
His sister Sydnie, matched the treble with three singles victories, holding off Archie Gartshore 9-11, 0-11, 11-9, 11-9, 9-11 in five ends.
Max Doyle added two superb wins, while Sefia and Gartshore earned a consolation doubles victory for Balla 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-8 over Sydnie and Max.
Peel B (5), Arbory E (5)
Peel B and Arbory E played out an entertaining split draw.
Player of the Match Alin Tanase delivered a masterclass for Peel B, winning all three of his singles matches and partnering Sam Preece to take the deciding doubles set 6-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-8 against Rhys Bufton and Seth Hornby-Wheeler. Preece added a singles win over Bufton.
For Arbory E, young talents Liav Lanin and Hornby-Wheeler claimed two singles wins each, while Bufton scored a victory over Tony Fallon to earn their team a hard-earned draw.
Ramsey B (6), Travellers D (4)
Ramsey B edged a closely contested encounter against Travellers D. Player of the Match Twiki Choi led from the front, sweeping all three singles matches in straight sets and joining young Xedrel Benosa to clinch the doubles 11-5, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6 over Grant Patterson and Maurice Campbell.
Xedrel and Janus Benosa contributed one singles victory each, with Xedrel triumphing 9-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8 over Margaret Forsyth.
Patterson and Campbell scored two singles wins each for Travellers D.
The NSC secondary hall is booked on November 20 for the Cooke & Deaton coaching session at 7.30pm.
Anyone who hasn’t confirmed for that but wishes to participate, please contact Malc Lewis or let the association know via its Facebook page.