The fourth round of fixtures in Isle of Man Table Tennis Association’s Welton Play Fun88-sponsored league season took place last week at the NSC Secondary Hall.

Arbory B (4), Travellers B (6)

Sam Bailey again led from the front for Arbory with three convincing wins over Malc Lewis, Keeran Chan and John Shooter.

Sonja Shaw had an exhausting match against Keeran which was eventually settled in favour of the Arbory counter-hitter 6-11, 14-12, 13-11, 10-12, 11-8.

Dan Levine took a game from Lewis but was unable to add a further point for Arbory. Shooter notched up two points, as did Lewis, and they combined superbly to take the doubles against Bailey and Shaw in the fourth end to secure the overall match win.

Peel A (0), Arbory A (10)

Peel found it tough against a very strong Arbory team who look to be title contenders this season.

Victory was wrapped up early for Messrs Tamarov, Magnall and Lanin with time to spare, without a single game dropped in the singles matches.

In the doubles, Peel fared a little better, with Maggie Mulhern and John Taylor Burt combining really well to push Tamarov and Magnall all the way to a fifth set after being 2-1 up.

Desmond’s Douglas (0), Ramsey A (10)

It was a similar story for Desmond’s who were up against one of the other ‘top three’, represented by Adam Teare, Becky Bayley and Chris Holmes.

The away team was ruthless in that no match went beyond three ends, even in the doubles. Having said that, Desmond's were without two of their regular players and they will be hoping for better next week.

Tower A (2), Travellers A (8)

Standing in for Travellers’ Liam Chan, Charlie Callow performed really well, taking two excellent wins in this tie.

He firstly swept past Ken Mitchell in swash-buckling style, alternating between forehand and backhand attacks with ease. He then nabbed a further point by pegging back Jakk Limungkoon from 6-10 in the fifth end to take the match 13-11.

Dave Parsons had the measure of him though, opting to steer away from the youngster’s backhand and crafting a brilliant 3-0 win.

He added a second point for the home side in an extremely tight five-set win over old foe Malcolm Cummings. Scott Lewis extended his unbeaten run, blasting past the forlorn Tower trio.

Tower B (5), Travellers C (5)

This was an enthralling contest between similarly matched teams.

Travellers welcomed back Paul Mathieson-Nelson after his knee surgery and he eased back into it with superb victories over Steve Curtis and Simon Radcliffe, both in four ends.

But he met his match when pitched against Lee Alexander, who is gaining confidence each week. Alexander grafted hard to take the match 11-4, 13-15, 11-6, 10-12, 11-8, yet Mathieson-Nelson will be philosophical in defeat so soon after his return.

Dave Buck added a valuable two points with excellent wins over Curtis and Radcliffe. Buck and Mathieson-Nelson then combined efficiently to take the doubles from Alexander and Radcliffe in the fifth end to claim the draw.

Ramsey C (5), Travellers D (5)

This was a close tussle between familiar old foes. Darren Shaw continued his good run with three excellent wins over experienced hands Maurice Campbell, Margaret Forsyth and Adrian Tinkler.

Shaw’s closest tussle was with Campbell, which he ended up taking 11-7 in the fifth end. He was aided by Keith Herrington who added a point with victory over Campbell and by Geoff Burchill who expertly crafted a four-set win over Forsyth.

Adrian Tinkler played well for the away team to take two points with victories over Herrington in five and Burchill in three.

The doubles was taken by Campbell and Tinkler in three straight against a disappointed Shaw and Burchill.

Travellers E (3), Arbory D (7)

The home team did well to take three points from a strong Arbory team in this tie.

Henry Weaver had a confidence-boosting four-end win over Bob Borland, while Rhys Bufton added a second point for the home side with a fantastic five-set win over Bob 13-11, 11-6, 8-11, 8-11, 12-10.

To top that, Weaver and Bufton combined superbly to take the doubles over experienced pairing Jane Kneale and Borland.

To their great credit, the boys fought back from 0-2 down to take the next three ends 11-9, 13-11, 11-6 . Mike Levine and Kneale were both unbeaten on the night though, which sealed the win for Arbory.

Travellers F (0), Arbory C (10)

Arbory C look to be a strong team in the second tier in this pre-Christmas winter section of the league.

Dave Bufton, Kevin Drewry and Liav Lanin were formidable opponents for youngsters Sydnie Weaver and Max Doyle, aided by Christine Wu. Sydnie did push Liav to a fourth end, but was edged out 10-12 to narrowly lose the match.

Ramsey D (0), Ramsey B (10)

Geoff Ball, Twiki Choi and Adrian Slater also appear to be Division Two contenders.

They looked really strong in this tie and ruthlessly dismantled their D team of Adam and Teddy Clayton plus newcomer Leigh Kennaugh.

Each match was settled in three ends and Ramsey B will be keen to build on this success next week.

Tower C (10), Ballakermeen (0)

Tower C will be mightily relieved to post a win finally. The youngsters from Ballkermeen battled hard but could not rack up any points, unfortunately for them but they did manage to take a few games off their hosts.

Adi Varshney took one off Mark Webster-Smith before succumbing to his opponent’s tricky defensive strokes.

Kaishi Huang also took a game off Sam Sen, before the experienced Tower player reclaimed the initiative and pegged him back 11-6, 11-8 in the final two games.

Jesse Zhang also claimed a game off Sen but was unable to maintain the pressure, also falling in the fourth.

- Full league results and statistics at www.tabletennis365.com/IOM or follow the association on Facebook for updates each week at https://www.facebook.com/TableTennisIOM

- Practice nights continue on Friday evenings between 7.30-10pm. Please support it if you can, even if for an hour or so for a discounted fee. Newcomers to table tennis are also welcome.

It’s sad to report the premature passing of former table tennis player Tommy Cowin. Tommy was a keen and very competent player for Laxey Spinners, Travellers and Desmond's over a number of years.

The thoughts of everyone at the Isle of Man Table Tennis Association are with his family and friends.

KEN MITCHELL