Report For 8/12/08

Division One
Cheltenham 'Perky' against Cirencester
Cirencester 'A' played Chelsea Building Society this week where Chelsea were only able to field two players but still maintained their winning form with a narrow six games to four victory. Despite Cirencester employing all the tricks in the book, there were some excellent matches played in very good spirit. 

Cheltenham Table Tennis Club 'A' played Cirencester 'A' in a game that saw the first league appearance this year of Paul Perks. Unfortunately it would seem that Paul has started on the pies early this Christmas and lost his singles, all in tight and hard fought games. Cirencester represented by Rob Willsher, Gordon Shaw and Mike Kiff were unable to win any further games against Dave and Mike Harvey, although Mike Kiff enjoyed a titanic struggle with Mike before losing closely in the deciding game. It is not known at this stage whether Mike Kiff employed any of his tactics in order to gain an advantage?

Cirencester 'B' played Cheltenham Table Tennis Club 'B' in a match that saw a fairly heavy defeat for Cirencester by eight games to Two. Cirencester's two points were won by Peter Galea in very tight hard fought matches where it would seem he was unlucky not to win all three as the game that he lost was lost very narrowly in the fifth. Cheltenham's Nick Smale was the star of the evening wining being the only player undefeated. Nick was supported by SImon Prateen and Russell Hayward who each contributed two. Nick and Simon then combined to win the doubles.

Guy Greening
Division One Secretary

Division Two
Wizards Dismount Saracens Onslaught
Winchcombe Wizards completed only the second whitewash of the entire season so far in their 10-0 win over Cleeve Saracens B – but it was not as straightforward as the scoreline suggests. Jacqui Carver, Chris Lane and Stewart Ratcliffe all claimed maximums, but Ratcliffe in particular was fortunate to come away with three wins, only just defeating both Neil Penny and Jim Tyrrell 13-11 in the fifth set. Ratcliffe had less problem defeating Dave Foulser, winning two of his sets in the match by a scoreline of 11-0. Foulser and Penny put up a good fight in the doubles, but ultimately Lane and Ratcliffe were too strong.

The Wizards extended their lead at the top of the table with a 9-1 win over Cleeve Saracens A. Keith Ferguson dropped a rare game against Terry Sims on his way to a maximum, and Chris Lane notched up his second maximum in a week. Stewart Ratcliffe claimed a brace, although he came unstuck against Mike Dodwell, losing in straight sets, as he claimed Cleeve Saracens A’s solitary point. Dennis Wadley lost his 100% record in this match, losing to all three of the Wizards, although he had a close encounter with Lane.

Lakeside C claimed a 7-3 win over Cleeve Saracens B in a closely contested match in which no one player was able to claim a maximum. Braces for Barrie Pope, Paul Singh and Chris White assured victory for Lakeside C, and Singh was in great form once again. He was the closest to claiming the elusive maximum, but just missed out, losing 12-10 in the fifth set in his match with Dave Foulser. Mark Nally was Cleeve Saracens B’s best player, winning twice. Tony Iles will be disappointed with his three straight sets defeats.

Lakeside D earned a hard-fought 6-4 win over Tewkesbury A. However, it was Tewkesbury’s Alan Cook who was in the best form, winning all three of his games and condemning Chris Ball to his first defeat of the season. Ali Lockley chipped in with one win, her second victory over Mike Gleeson in the space of just a few weeks. Ball and Julie Taylor won twice each for Lakeside D, while Gleeson won once. Lakeside D completed the win as Ball and Taylor defeated Cook and Wayne Lippett in four sets in the doubles.

Cheltenham C raced to a 9-1 win over Tewkesbury B. Maximums for Dave Green, Martin Smith and Chris Williams came relatively easily, although Smith was pushed to five games in a close encounter with Michael Maxwell. Tewkesbury B’s point came with an impressive five-set win in the doubles for Maxwell and John Teare over Green and Williams.

Simon Lockley
Division Two Secretary

Division Three
Eagles Take The Bird
Civil Service’s new signing, Simon De Mello, made an immediate impact in his side’s 7-3 win over Cheltenham G, winning all of his singles. He was ably assisted by Rob Browning, who also won all of his sets.

Cleeve Eagles are the division’s draw specialists, their latest 5-5 encounter being against Cheltenham E. For the Eagles, Dan Crook notched up a useful win over James Bird, who just pipped Mick Holder in five tight games.

Derek Brown
Division Three Secretary