Free Church A beat title rivals to extend their lead in Leamington Table Tennis League

Lee Dorning completed a hat-trick, Sam Weaving added two, losing to Mark Jackson, and Rex Wong matched him but lost to Andy Woodcock. Dorning and Wong demonstrated what a strong doubles pairing they have become.

St Georges A in 4th took full advantage by crushing Free Church C 10-0, Tony Deren, Damon Fenton and Laurence Sweeney the unstoppable trio. It was good to see WCC Bats player Simon Griew returning to competition after a long lay off.

However, his lack of sharpness perhaps showed as he lost all 3 singles in 5, something that will no doubt be remedied in weeks to come. Bats lost 4-6 to Colebridge A. Nilton Green won two, Martin Hunter one and Griew reminded everyone of what a tricky combination he forms with Green when taking the doubles.

In reply Craig Allen, Michael Browne and Michael Rinnhofer all posted braces. Third placed Rugby A were surprisingly held to a draw by 9th placed Wellesbourne. Pete Barrow’s two included a 13-11 in the 5th win over Rugby’s Ryan Lines. Alan Cotton and Steve Cull won singles and Barrow and Cull notched the doubles. Matt Outhwaite was a triple winner in reply and Lines won two.

In Division 2 Warwick University A played two matches on successive nights using 6 of their squad in the process. They fell 2-8 to Eathorpe for whom Pete Titmas and Walter Warburton were unbeaten. Elliot Hey contributed 2 but lost to George Thorn. Thorn and Atakan Oktar won the doubles for the students.

Three more students travelled to Colebridge B and forced a draw. Pranav Gudipati and Izzy Khan won twice and Alexander Nicholas one. The points were shared with twosomes from Dean Hicks and Jason Rainey, the duo also winning the doubles.

Leaders Nomads Aces overcame Free Church E 8-2. Roald Myers won his three and Paul Rowan and Tony Thomas supplied two points apiece, both losing to Stefan Birca. Myers and Rowan grabbed the doubles. Second placed Free Church D fell at home to WCC Coots 4-6.

Four matches went to 5 with Church dipping out in 3 of them. Owain Jones (2) and Anthony Smith (2) were the Church winners and Mark Freeman (2), Arun Jogi (2) and Cliff Jackson (1) scored for Coots with Jackson and Jogi the victors in the doubles.

The slip by Church allowed Flavels to replace them in second after they beat Whitnash A 6-4. Shivam Kapur’s treble included an 11-9 in the 5th win over Richard Smith. Luke Hobbins won twice and Sam Bradley was unlucky to go down in 5 to Dennis Woodhead. Trevor Bradley joined Kapur for the doubles. Andy Coonan (2), Smith (1) and Woodhead (1) kept the match competitive.

With matches in hand, WCC Bears cannot be written out of the promotion picture. They defeated Rugby C 6-4. Chris Hughes posted a maximum, Paul Calloway and Phil Paine supplied singles and Calloway and Hughes took the crucial doubles. Rugby responded through Daryl Burgess and Marina Ndumnego who both won twice.

It proved to be a hotly contested Division 3 derby at Lillington Free Church when G entertained F. The rapidly improving G skipper, Radu Draghici, took a maximum and Michael Khovanov got G to 4 points. However, the pair lost the doubles deuce in the 5th to Morgan Page and Nick Newman, giving F the edge 6-4 as Page (2) Newman (2) and Cherry Matthews (1) saw F home.

Leaders Rugby D overcame Moreton Morrell Tennis Court Club 6-4 in a match which featured two players named Pablo!! Pablo Caldas, Dave Cox and Chris Maddox all won two for the leaders but none could defeat the Division’s top player, Kannan Nithi who won his three and steered Pablo Smith to the doubles.

WCC Dinos had one of their best showings of the season when taking 4 points off Free Church H.

Another side near the foot of the table, Ashorne A, also took 4 good points against higher opposition in the form of Nomads Codgers.

Elsewhere, Lillington Free Church sent two under 15 teams to compete on Day 2 of the National Cadet League at Wellingborough and both sides improved noticeably from Day 1.

The A team of Toby John (on loan from Eathorpe), Toby Roe and Shivam Gupta lost their first three matches. Woodford Wells 2 from Essex downed them 4-2 with John and Roe winning the two singles. A 1-5 defeat to Nottingham 3 followed, John gaining the consolation and then a strong Knighton Park team from Leicester overcame them by the same score, John again providing the consolation.

This meant Church had to win their last two matches to avoid relegation and they did it in style.

Highfield C of Wellingborough were beaten 4-2, John and Roe sharing the points and Kidlington Forum D were swept aside 5-1, John (2), Roe (2) and Gupta (1) to give Church a 7 point cushion over the bottom two.

The B team competed in Division 4 which used a different playing format. They began the day against Highfield D whom they beat 7-2.

Next up were Corby who were beaten 8-1. Eshan Dhesi-Dabb and Tudor Draghici won triples and Pretorious a brace. Finally, they faced the other unbeaten side, Kidlington Forum D who were cast aside 8-1.

The B side topped the division and will compete in Division 3 on Days 3 and 4.