Flavels bolster promotion hopes in Leamington Table Tennis League

In Division 2 Flavels continued their quest for promotion with a 7-3 conquest of Eathorpe A. Trevor Bradley and Shivam Kapur were responsible for all of the victors’ points with Marius Morariu, Kieran Podbury and Pete Titmas replying for the villagers.

Eathorpe B went down by the same score to Whitnash A. Andy Coonan recorded a maximum for Whitnash, Richard Smith chipped in with two and the doubles with Coonan with Dennis Woodhead posting a single against Chris Atkins whom he beat in 5. Mark Bastick won two for Eathorpe and Ben James collected the other point.

Eathorpe B also turned out against a strong Warwick University trio of Pranav Gudipati, Alexander Nicholas and George Thorn. The students collared all 10 points.

Alexander Nicholas also won his three when facing Rugby C. Atakan Oktar joined him to win the doubles 11-8 in the 5th but the University could not get over the winning line as Daryl Burgess, Marina Ndumnego and Peter Ratcliffe all secured braces.

Whitnash B look a good bet for promotion in Division 3 and walloped WCC Dinos 10-0. Cristian Balta, Len Coonan and Paras Tejani were always in command.

Moreton Morell Tennis Court Club won 7-3 at home to Ashorne B. Kannan Nithi and Doug Holden were unbeaten in singles and doubles. Jim Goodwin, Martin Hamer and William Little all beat Andrew Hamilton who was unfortunate to lose 9-11 in the 5th to Little.

In Division B Radford C went to Ashorne C and came away with all 5 points, thanks to Diosdado Alferez and Charles Brookes.

The Radford duo inflicted the same scoreline on FISSC though the doubles went to 11-9 in the 5th against Malcolm McCulloch and Neil Mudie.

In Division D Eathorpe G powered to a 4-1 win against Free Church P. Dave Hawker won two and Richard Freeman one, losing to Dhiren Modi. Church debutant Paul Emberson can be pleased with taking both of the strong Eathorpe pair to 5.

Meanwhile,

Lillington Free Church table-tennis club sent a team to compete in the final round of matches of Division 2 of the Junior Boys British League over the weekend.

The team comprised Rex Wong, Starry Sheung and Daniel Stone and the League was held at the Derby Arena. It was to prove a frustrating couple of days for the Church youngsters.

Their first match pitted them against Grantham whom they beat 4-2. Rex won both of his singles and his team-mates chipped in with one apiece. However, in their next match against Fusion of London, Stone lost 10-12 in the 5th to Aniket Bhanshali and Sheung lost narrowly in 5 to Frederic Wilke. What could have been a win turned into a 2-4 loss. History repeated itself in the third match against Cippenham of Enfield when Sheung and Stone both suffered 9-11 in the 5th losses to return another 2-4 defeat.

With the wind taken out of their sails Church went into the second day to face leaders Woodford Wells from Essex and were brushed aside 0-6, though two legs went to 5. Finally, composure was restored and Draycott were dispatched 4-2 to lift Lillington into joint second with Draycott who hail from Derby.

Church did not enter a Girls team in the British League this season but loaned Susie Swan to Birmingham Academy where she competed in Division 4. Susie’s wins included a success against Daisy Watson of Ellenborough Girls of Slough. Overall a 38% average was returned.

The Leamington & District Table-tennis Association, which administers the local League, is anxious to promote table-tennis across all ages.

In particular one of the Committee members, Stuart Ayres, organises a social group aimed at retired pensioners. The group meets at St Nicholas Sports Centre, in Warwick on a Tuesday morning between 9.30 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. Most prominence is given to doubles play at a standard above Beginners level. The majority of members are in their 60s and 70s but there are older members in the group.

If anyone wants to try the group out, the first session is free. Prospective members should report to the Reception Desk where they will be guided to the Sports Hall.

Younger players can get details of local clubs who cater for both social players and those who wish to play competitively. We are especially keen to recruit girls and boys of primary school age.

The Association’s Development officer is Phil John who can be contacted at: [email protected]