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Tenergy 05 FX
Tenergy 05 FX
Maze Off
British League Chaos!
The tenth round of British League Premier Division matches at the BATTS Team Peniel Table Tennis Club in Harlow will be remembered more for events off the table than for the Table Tennis. First of all, the Organisers were stunned to see that the Oxford Fireplace Centre side did not appear, seemingly without having made contact to the Organisers of the weekend or to the British League Committee at all. A level of behaviour that would be totally unacceptable in any local League let alone in the Premier Division of the British League.
However, the event was thrown into even greater chaos at 13.50 hours when the area was hit by a massive power cut and play had to be abandoned for close to two whole hours. The players held a Meeting and reluctantly agreed to abandon the day’s second round of matches and aim for a 9.00 start on the Sunday morning to catch up on the missed round of games. At 15.50 hours most of the players began to drift off home.
You can probably guess what happened next ?. At 16.00 hours the lights miraculously came back on. There was little time to decide but the big question was whether efforts should be made to reconvene and play the second round of matches or to wait for the Sunday morning. Almost everyone was in agreement to play and the departed Team Captains who had contacted by Mobile phones were able to reassemble their sides. The Organisers would like to thank all Team Captains for their assistance, patience and co-operation in difficult circumstances.
Organiser Neil Brierley made one of the best quotes - “I had been nervous having to act as Referee but was informed – don’t worry - nothing ever happens!”. Famous last words!.
The matches themselves were quite tame affairs. TTK Greenhouse I beat Urban Progress I 5-3 in the closest game of the round. With Andrew Rushton and Gareth Herbert both remaining undefeated the big question for TTK was where the fifth game would come from. The hard-hitting Alex Green came up trumps beating Egle Adomelyte decisively 3-0 whilst Niall Cameron looked sharp in defeat for Urban Progress and took games off Rushton (losing 3-2) and Herbert (losing 3-1). Costas Papantoniou also played well and he beat Alex Green 3-0.
DHS London Progress I seem rejuvenated this Season with the added competition for places generated by their new Chinese players (if it is possible to speak of the nine times Champions in such a manner !). They powered their way past Ormesby I 6-1 (with one game remaining unplayed). Hong Ming Zhang, Jiang Chang Hong and Jaing Zhi Tao all remained undefeated whilst Ormesby’s victory was a good one, with new signing Eddie Smith getting the better of Terry Young 3-1. Michael Marsden also gave it a “real go”, and his game against Jiang Chang Hong brought a massive round of applause from an appreciative crowd after he had pushed the Chinese star to five action packed ends. Almost as exciting a game as his battle at Halton Table Tennis Club with BATTS Team Peniel’s Shu Ying !.
Drumchapel Glasgow I were even more dominant against Sycamore and ran out 8-0 inners. Ryan Jenkins, Sau Ayemojuba and Craig Howieson all stayed undefeated whilst Craig Howieson led Jason Ramage 8-4 in the fifth end of an action packed encounter before the lights failed. Jason sportingly conceded the match after Glasgow had left the venue for the day, having not expected any further play to take place.
However, in this case it almost certainly is after DHS London Progress (23 points) opened up a five point lead on BATTS Team Peniel (18 points) and Drumchapel Glasgow (18 points). The battle for second place remains compelling and may well not be decided until the last weekend of the Season when BATTS Team Peniel and Drumchapel Glasgow meet.
DHS London Progress produced their best performance of the Season as they brushed aside Drumchapel Glasgow 7-1, having drawn 4-4 in the opening weekend. This time their super-charged side of Hong Ming Zhang, Jiang Chang Hong, Jason Sugrue and Zhi Tao Jaing made no mistake as they romped home. Ryan Jenkins, the Drumchapel hero against TTK could make little impression losing 10-12, 5-11, 11-13 to Jiang Chang Hong and 5-11, 10-12, 7-11 against Hong Ming Zhang. Emerging Scottish star Craig Howieson repeated his first half victory over Jason Sugrue (111-6, 11-6, 11-4) for Drumchapel’s only victory. Zhi Tao Jaing showed Jason “the way to do it”, and he retained his 100 % record with a decisive 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 victory over Craig.
Ormesby made no mistake in beating Ellenborough 6-2, with Michael Marsden (two wins, Justin Ma (one success), Nigel Eckersley (one win) and Eddie Smith (two wins) all contributing to their success. Marsden will be pleased with his 6-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-9 victory against Lorestas Trumpauskas and Lorestas will have been somewhat consoled after he had beaten Justin Ma 13-11, 13-11, 11-6. However, it was Jimmy Walsh who scored the most impressive win of all, an excellent 1-11, 13-11, 15-13, 11-8 victory against Nigel Eckersley.
The match between BATTS Team Peniel and TTK Greenhouse should have been a cracker but although it featured some excellent Table Tennis it lost some of it’s impact as a spectacle after it was started on the Saturday evening and completed on the Sunday morning {with the view of relieving fixture congestion on the Sunday). The match finished as a 4-4 draw although it is doubtful if too many people would have been able to follow the game. Whereas Andrew Rushton and Gareth Herbert picked up Mobile phone messages to return to the venue Vidal Graham was travelling home on his Motor bike and was unable to pick up his message. TTK won the Saturday games with Andrew Rushton and Gareth Herbert taking their four singles whilst BATTS Team Peniel hit back on the Sunday with Craig Bryant (one win) , Shuying Xu (one win) and Ritchie Venner (two wins) all picking up their games. Wang Zheng gave a good account of himself against both Gareth and Andrew losing 4-11, 11-8, 9-11, 5-11 to Gareth and 8-11, 15-13, 6-11, 9-11 against Andrew. The talented Shuying Xu felt the full force of Gareth Herbert’s artillery of shots and she lost 6-11, 7-11, 7-11 against the 2002 Commonwealth Games Mens Doubles Gold medallist.
The over-riding memory of the weekend - some excellent Table Tennis but shock and disbelief that a team did not turn up for a Premier Division weekend of matches, seemingly without organising their opponents or the Organisers.
Steve Kerns
British League Press Officer
Photo: Andrew Rushton
ETTA
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