Sajiv’s superb day brings one title as he goes close in another two

Lillington Free Church’s Nikit Sajiv had a long but successful day at the 4-star tournament in Grantham on Saturday.
Lillington Free Churchs Nikit SajivLillington Free Churchs Nikit Sajiv
Lillington Free Churchs Nikit Sajiv

Entering three events, Sajiv reached one semi-final and two finals – in

one of which he was victorious.

In the Junior Boys Singles, Sajiv won his group defeating Barney Mindlin of Middlesex 3-2, Theo Bishop of Lancashire 3-0 and Oliver Osborne, again 3-0.

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Receiving a bye in round one of the knockouts he proceeded to beat Sam Flaum of Hertfordshire in straight games in the quarter-final before losing out to Daniel Hearne-Potton of Cambridgeshire in 5, the England number 38 Junior.

In the Junior Boys Banded Singles, which excludes the top-ranked juniors who have entered the tournament, he comfortably won his group sweeping aside Emanuel Naleppa of Notts and Benjamin Grieve of Gloucestershire.

Joseph Cooper of Nottingham fell in round one.

Mihnea Dascalu of Middlesex was his victim in the quarters and Rohan Johar of Yorkshire was defeated in the semis.

This led to a final clash against Rowan Jones of Derbyshire, ranked number 50 England junior as opposed to Sajiv’s 75 ranking.

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As with every match in this event, the outcome was a 3-0 win for Sajiv.

In the Cadets Boys Singles, Dan Jones of Staffordshire, Mitchell Lee of Notts and Anish Johar of Yorkshire were all beaten 3-0 in the group.

Ralph Pattison of Essex suffered the same fate in round one as did Sam Cooper of Derbyshire in the quarter-finals.

In the semi-final Sajiv, ranked 22 England cadet, beat James Hamblett of Hertfordshire the England number 19 Cadet in straight games.

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However, his fine run eventually came to an end in the final where he was beaten 3-0 by Louie Evans of Wales.

The bottom side in Division One, Free Church D, put up a brave fight when visiting Wellesbourne, going down 7-3, writes Phil John.

James Robertson secured an admirable hat-trick and with Livvy Fletcher losing 12-10 in the fifth to John Price and Tom Hunt falling to Gary Stewart 11-9 in the 5th the match could easily have ended in stalemate.

As it was Alan Cotton, Price and Stewart all won twice and Cotton and Stewart took the doubles.

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County Council B beat Free Church C 8-2 thanks to a treble from Nilton Green and braces from Simon Griew and reserve, Chris Maiden, Griew and Green pocketing the doubles. Jeff Harris had a memorable win over Griew and Sam Wiggins beat Maiden.

The promotion picture is developing into a three-team race in Division Two.

St Georges A overcame Free Church F 9-1 to go joint top of the table. Damon Fenton and Earl Sweeney bagged triples, Matt Jordan won twice and joined Sweeney to win the doubles but fell to Lewis Singleton.

Georges were joined at the top by Millennium A who collected all 10 points from Snitterfield courtesy of Jack Garner, Peter Harris and Jack Shardlow.

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County Council A, with a match in hand, look dangerous in third. At the other end of the table Nomads Enigmas are out of the relegation spots after two vital wins.

First they edged bottom side County Council C 6-4 with twosomes from Bobby Lee, Malc Macfarlane and Steve Proctor and they then had an even better result, 7-3, against Rugby B. Macfarlane and Proctor were unbeaten and Brandon Tedd won a single.

Eathorpe A hammered Free Church F 9-1. Alex Boyd and Walter Warburton held maximums and Brian Hobill won two.

St Georges D maintained their quest for the Division Three title with a crushing 10-0 win over County Council D.

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Tracey Fletcher, Richard Grover and Jerry Simmons were in no mood to squander points. However, Colebridge B stay top after an 8-2 win at Free Church J. Michael Credland was a hat-trick star, and Mike Evetts and Dean Hicks gave good support by landing the doubles and winning twice.

Rugby C beat struggling Free Church G 7-3. Martyn Lilley won his three and Alex Bowe and Jo Outhwaite chipped in with twos. Tom Yarrow won two in reply and steered Milly Green to a doubles victory.

Rugby D pipped Nomads C 6-4. Dave Cox and Joe Mills both won twice and grabbed the doubles with Stuart Mills adding the final point. Les Hoggins and John Taylor won braces for Nomads.

Leaders Warwick University A dropped one point on their march to the Division Four title.

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Eathorpe C’s Paul Deavall had a fine win over Calvin Becker but Krzysztof Bolhuis, Aaron Yan and Becker wrapped up the other games.

Read the full table tennis round-up on our website

Rugby F contest second and also won 9-1 against Ashorne D. Alex Bowe (3), Grace Newman (3) and Dan Farrow (2) plus the doubles from Bowe and Farrow, ensured the win with Jim Jack avoiding the whitewash. Nomads Dragons are the other promotion contenders and, like their rivals, emerged as 9-1 winners against Free Church K. Janice Rowan and Mike Weaving were unbeaten and Jill Weaving won twice as well as securing the doubles with Rowan. George Barnes was the Church winner.

County Council E squeezed past their F side 6-4 despite a hat-trick from F’s Simon Chalker who also won the doubles with Eric Barthorpe. Jason Grey, Will Hung and Carl Morgan each won twice to see E home.

Free Church l have gone three points clear at the summit of Division A after eclipsing Ashorne A 5-0. Nicholas and Chris Ho won all 5 games in straight sets. Their nearest rivals, Eathorpe A had played Ashorne A the previous week but had to settle for a 3-2 win. Pete Titmas won his two and guided Luca Bloodworth to the doubles but Steve Kay and Roger Pye were both single winners. Third placed Rugby H kept in touch when taking all 5 points from FISSC A through Daryl and Matt Burgess. Snitterfield B edged Eathorpe F 3-2 thanks to Michael Klein who won two and helped RonShakesheff to the doubles. Thomas Backhouse and James Stone responded.

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St Georges E dropped a rare point in Division B when defeating Free church P 4-1. Len Coonan retained his 100% record and held the doubles with Andy Coonan who won once. Young Daniel Stone nailed the excellent consolation. Ashorne B whitewashed new side Radford who have yet to score. Steve Bolton and Mark Bridgeman showed that experience is key. Ashorne B then went on to confront Free Church P. Bridgeman won his two and Bolton won once but Stone was again in eye-catching form winning one and helping team-mate Jun Chung to an impressive doubles win. Free Church M beat Rugby J 3-2. Nick Darwen won his two and daughter Erin helped him to the doubles. Kuba Kucharczyk and Tyler Humphries replied. Free Church N enjoyed a 3-2 win over Ashorne C for whom Anthony Austin won his two. Church bounced back to take the remaining points through Alfie Ransom and Nathan Jackson.

Division C leaders Eathorpe G narrowly defeated County Council F, who sit joint second, 3-2. Richard Freeman and Dave Hawker both won singles and took the crucial doubles with Richard Haigh and Jeremy Sampson the Council scorers. FISSC B join Council in second after whitewashing Eathorpe I through Martin Hamer and Mandip Takhar. Eathorpe I had previously lost a closer match, 3-2 at home to Council F. John Gymer and David Hanson grabbed singles for the villagers but were pegged back by Bernard Hardingham’s two singles and the doubles with Jeff Millward.

Free Church O have worked their way to the top of Division D. First they beat their R team 5-0 through Jack Knowles and David Knott and then they beat second placed Eathorpe H 3-2, Knowles again unbeaten in singles and doubles with Alex O’Driscoll. Joshua Atkins and Declan Jay scored for the villagers. Free Church Q look dangerous and got home 3-2 against their S side. Sarah Costa won her two and also the doubles with David Wedgbury. Arnav Mulay replied as did Michael Khovanov who beat Wedgbury 13-11, 15-13 and 12-10 after losing the first two sets.