Ladder starts to settle

Table tennis winter competition continues

Table tennis winter competition continues Mount Gambier Table Tennis Club’s Winter season continued on last week, with the teams and ladders in each grade starting to really sort each other out.

Top Three’s Travis Sweet stunned Free Ballers player Leigh Barry in their A Grade clash of titans, handing Barry a rare comprehensive three-game defeat. Onlookers were treated to a jaw-dropping spectacle between Free Ballers player Justin Hutchesson and Top Three’s Ben Newman, the crowd cheering and clapping raucously as Hutchesson survived a 2-1 deficit to emerge victorious by 14 points to 12 in the deciding fifth game.

Despites Hutchesson’s heroics, Sweet’s clean sheet on the night helped his Top Three team to a comfortable 7-4 win. The second A Grade match was the battle of the cellar dwellers, Sirinat Sweet’s Wobblies taking on Scott Davies’ Wanderers with one team assured of recording their first win of the winter season. Sweet triumphed in a marathon 5-game battle against Wanderers player Kevin Patzel, inspiring her team to victory by 7 rubbers to 4. Davies shone brightly for the Wanderers, posting a clean sheet.

Mark Bachmann played supremely for I’ll Be Bach in their B1 matchup with Cameron Beal’s We Was ‘Ere. Bachmann’s team looked to have the match all but sewn up when they led by 5 rubbers to 2 before a late flurry of victories for Beal’s team squared the ledger, forcing a showdown between the two captains to decide the overall result. In one of the biggest landslides ever witnessed, Bachmann was relentless from start to finish, remarkably preventing Beal from registering a single point. I’ll Be Bach prevailed by a slender 6 rubbers to 5. David Harris-Jones similarly carried his Net Ninjas to victory over Gary Hocking’s Late For Dinner in their B1 clash, Hocking’s team skipping to an early 3-1 lead before the Ninjas reeled off 5 of the last 7 rubbers for a 6-5 win. Jedda Hardcastle and Mike Hosszu both put on a masterclass for their Jams team against Richard Van Der Linde’s Campers in their B2 clash, both keeping a clean sheet as the Jams powered to a demoralising 10-1 win. Chris McGregor’s 5-game victory over Allan Withers was the only highlight on an otherwise dark night the Campers will want to forget in a hurry. Joel Schafer’s Falcons opened up an early lead against Richard Horrigan’s Willies in their B2 match, Schafer and Dapo Olutayo both winning their respective opening singles rubbers. From there the teams were fairly even, until Nathaniel Harris-Jones and Marga Steele teamed up to win their doubles rubber over Olutayo and Deakin Lofthouse to give the Willies a slight edge. When Steele backed this up with a stirring 5-game triumph over Lofthouse, the Willies completed their comefrom-behind victory, eventually recording a 6-5 win.

JAD’s Army continued their unbeaten start to the C Grade season, proving themselves in a top-of-the-table clash with Matthew Scott’s Mixed Up.

Anneliese Holtz was a more than worthy substitute for the Army, who were without their number one player Doug Megaw for the second week in a row. Holz survived a marathon encounter against Mixed Up player Keith Pryor, Holtz prevailing in five. Scott held his own for Mixed Up, keeping his singles sheet clean on the night including an epic 5-game battle with JAD’s Army’s star Jarrah Schafer, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a 6-5 win for the Army. Mark Devaney’s Spin Craft were far too strong for Tracey Rawlings’ Beware B Nice in their C Grade match to close out the round. Devaney, Heather McGregor and John Malicdem all won their opening singles rubbers to open up a healthy advantage before Beware could get on the board through the doubles pairing of Rawlings and Ezekiel Coutts. Beware B Nice’s Lorraine Halleday posted a win over McGregor, but Spin Craft ultimately spun their way to a commanding 8-3 win.

3-rubber winners:

• A Grade: Travis Sweet (Top Three), Scott Davies (Wanderers).

• B1 Grade: Mark Bachmann (I’ll Be Bach); David Harris-Jones (Net Ninjas)

• B2 Grade: Jedda Hardcastle, Mike Hosszu (Jams)

• C Grade: Jarrah Schafer (JAD’s Army); Matthew Scott (Mixed Up).