The new Fun88-sponsored Isle of Man Table Tennis Association league season began at the NSC last week.

Division One

Travellers A (9), Tower B (0)

The reigning champions Travellers A, picked up exactly where they left off last season, and dished out a sound beating to newly promoted Tower B.

The familiar trio of Scott Lewis, Liam Chan and Malcolm Cummings were dominant in their matches, with only Paul Callow managing to nab a game off Cummings, and Steve Curtis teasing one off Chan.

Arbory A (6), Tower A (3)

Arbory now have two teams in the top flight. Jason Quirk and Mike Tamarov were joined by Sonja Shaw who was making her debut in Division One.

Quirk was dominant in his matches with no games dropped. Tamarov won all three of his but was pushed hard by Ken Mitchell, winning in four, before Dave Parsons took him all the way to a fifth game.

Sonja wasn’t able to collect any points but gained a good insight into the standard of play.

Travellers B (6), Strathallan (3)

John Shooter was untroubled for the home side, beating Andy Patterson in three ends.

He was pushed hard by an impressive Wayne Taylor who battled his way back into the match by taking games three and four, before Shooter stepped up a gear and blasted his way to victory in the fifth end.

Andy Horne made a rare appearance for Strathy, but he was unable to dent the progress of the Travellers trio of John and Will Shooter and Malc Lewis.

Malc took five games to edge out Andy, but had a torrid time against Taylor, losing in three.

He pushed Patterson hard, before losing 8-11 in the fourth end. Will had a particularly impressive win against Patterson in four close ends, and then against Horne whom he beat 11-7 in the fifth end. Taylor was in excellent form in his opening week, adding a second win on the night by beating Will in fine style 11-9, 11-6, 11-8.

Ramsey A (9), Arbory B (0)

Ramsey look like they will give Strathallan a good run for their money this season, with three formidable island players as their first picks - Adam Teare, Duncan Alexander and Becky Taylor.

In their opening tie against Arbory B, Adam firstly swept aside Dan Levine in three ends, then defeated John Magnall in four.

Adam then quashed the ambition of youth by soundly beating the current young hope of island table tennis, Amit Lanin, in four ends.

Meanwhile, Alexander didn't have things quite his own way against Magnall, but managed to pip John 12/10 in the final end.

Taylor is improving every season and she got off to a good start with impressive wins against Amit, edging him out 11/8 in the 5th, and Levine in three ends. She took the honours 11/9 in the fifth end against a battling Magnall to the applause of the remaining spectators.

Division Two

JRTE A (3), Travellers C (6)

Last season’s Division Three champions, Tower House, have changed their name to JRTE Marketing and bolstered their A team by adding the very experienced Darren Smethurst who returns after several years out of the sport.

He had a tough opener against Keeran Chan but pulled through 11/8, 12/10, 12/10 to his credit.

He then overwhelmed young Luke Begley who was making his Division Two debut.

He was stopped in his tracks, however, by a determined Paul Mathieson-Nelson who was also making a comeback after knee surgery.

Mathieson-Nelson did extremely well, beating Smethurst in straight ends, picking up where he left off prior to his injury with a 100% win rate.

Smethurt’s teammate Paul Mitchinson managed to beat Begley in three ends, but could make no impression against either Mathieson-Nelson or Chan, losing both in straight ends. JRTE’s third player Cameron Millar found the going tough, losing to Mathieson-Nelson, Chan and Begley in straight ends.

Ramsey B (4), Arbory D (5)

Tim Baker has decided to bolster the Ramsey B team this season, which I’m sure was welcome news to them.

He was pushed hard by a determined Mike Levine in his first match and narrowly lost out 7/11 in the final end.

He had an easier time against rising star Liav Lanin, but pushed past him in three.

Malcolm Lambert was next up and a tough opponent for Baker on paper, but the latter was able to take the match in four ends.

Adrian Slater was next for the home side, and he was able to defeat Lanin in three ends, albeit the youngster made him play for it.

Adrian took a game off Lambert but the Arbory player was too strong for him, taking the match 11/5 in the fourth.

Wilma Dalugdugan was Ramsey’s third player. She made a good start against Lambert, taking the first game 11/9, but was pegged back, losing the next three, and the match. She had a closer game against Mike Levine, but ultimately lost out narrowly in four.

Desmonds A (7), Arbory C (2)

Brandon Montgomery was in fine form for the home side, racking up three points by beating Rob Wright and Kevin Drewry in straight ends.

He needed five ends to dispose of a battling Dave Bufton however, albeit it was 11/4 in the fifth.

Neil Ronan was also in good form for Desmonds, and while he pushed past Wright in straight ends, he needed four ends to get past Drewry, and like Montgomery he needed five ends to pip Bufton in a topsy-turvy scoreline.

Russ Kent, who was unusually subdued, only managed one win against Wright in three ends.

Drewry managed to close him out 11/7 in the fourth, while Bufton beat him comprehensively in straight ends.

Peel A (9), Ramsey C (0)

Peel A will be strong contenders this season in Division Two, only losing out narrowly on promotion last season.

A 9-0 scoreline was a great start to their campaign.

Jon Taylor-Burt was solid as ever, winning all his matches in straight ends, and was ably assisted by Stu Perry and Ken Hegarty.

Only two matches went to four ends - Perry conceded a game against Martyn Howard, as did Hegarty.

Division Three

Travellers F (2), Ramsey D (3)

It’s a new look for Division Three this season, with Junior Development players being integrated into some new Travellers sides.

Sydnie Weaver had an excellent win 3-1 against Pat Helliwell, and followed that up with another good win against Tony Sewell.

Her team-mate Megan Corris took Tony to a fifth end but was pipped 11/6 by the Ramsey player.

It was a similar story against Helliwell, but this time she was defeated in three ends. The doubles went to Sewell and Helliwell in straight ends.

Travellers D (4), JRTE Marketing B (1)

Maurice Campbell and Jackie Gill combined well to take four points in this tie against Steven Carridge and Gary Skillicorn.

There was consolation for JRTE when Carridge pipped Gill 12/10 in the fifth.

Travellers E (3), Travellers G (2)

Youngsters Henry Weaver and Eben Moore look to be a strong team in Division Threee this season, playing for Travellers E.

So, too are Max Doyle, Rhys Bufton and Tom Taylor Burt for the G team.

Rhys pulled off a tremendous opening win against Eben, winning 13/11 in the fourth end.

He was pegged back, however, by Henry, who prevailed 11/8, 11/6, 11/7.

Tom added a valuable point for the G team by beating Eben 3/1. Henry then eased his way past young Max with a win in three ends.

Doubles was taken by Henry and Eben in a very exciting final match against Tom and Max - 11/9, 10/12, 12/10, 12/10.