The 18th round of fixtures in the Fun 88-sponsored Isle of Man Table Tennis Association league took place last week with another round of doubles play in Divisions One and Two.

Division One

Strathallan (0), Travellers A (9)

Travellers A completely dominated this tie, with all but three matches being settled in two ends.

There was a strong challenge from Andy Patterson and Neil Quane who pushed Scott Lewis and Malcolm Cummings to a third set, before being settled 12/10 in favour of Travellers.

Wayne Taylor and Patterson also pushed the same pair to a third end, but the match was settled a little more comfortably at 11/5.

The strongest pairing was Scott Lewis and Liam Chan, but even they had a game prised off them by Taylor and Patterson before closing it out 11/8 in the third.

With three fixtures remaining, Travellers have an almost unassailable lead of 23 points at the top and are almost certain to be crowned champions again next week.

Travellers B (5), Ramsey A (4)

This was an impressive result for fourth-placed Travellers B.

Father and son combo John and Will Shooter were impregnable with three solid wins, their victories over Adam Teare and Duncan Alexander plus Becky Taylor and Teare being particularly impressive.

In contrast, their win over Alexander and Taylor was close, but they squeezed through 12/10, 9/11, 11/9.

Malc Lewis also played well with Will and they notched up a further two points for the home team.

For Ramsey A, all pairings managed to beat Lewis and John, while Teare and Alexander notched up a further point by defeating Will and Lewis in three ends.

Arbory A (9), Tower B (0)

Arbory A continued their strong surge with another drubbing for the unfortunate Tower B.

The only game won by the away side was by Simon Radcliffe and Mark Webster-Smith which gave them a glimmer of hope, before fading out against Jason Quirk and Sonja Shaw 6/11 in the third.

Tower A (5), Arbory B (4)

Six out of nine matches went to a third end in this fixture, with Tower managing to win four of them in what were extremely close matches.

Dave Parsons and Ken Mitchell took three wins against Amit Lanin and John Magnall, Lanin and Dan Levine, plus Levine and Magnall.

Mike Bayley and Parsons added a further two points with impressive wins and, while Tower will be delighted with the overall win, Arbory will perhaps feel a little hard done by.

Tower remain in the second relegation spot, while Arbory B look to be safe in sixth.

Division Two

Arbory C (4), Ramsey B (5)

Kevin Drewry and Dave Bufton combined well to take two wins in this tie against Lisa Lord and Adrian Slater plus Geoff Ball and Lord.

For the away team, Lord and Slater also achieved two wins against Rob Wright and Bufton plus Drewry and Wright. This was an extremely competitive tie, with seven out of nine matches going to a third end, albeit only one was close in the third.

Desmond’s Douglas A (8), Travellers C (1)

This was a notable victory, with Desmond’s hauling themselves back into contention for promotion.

Travellers are now without Paul Mathieson-Nelson and Dave Lovelady because of injury, but all credit to Desmond’s who seized this opportunity and delivered what must be a highly pleasing result for them.

Russ Kent and Brandon Montgomery were unbeaten against Keeran Chan and Dave Buck, Luke Begley and Chan plus Begley and Buck.

Kent paired with Neil Ronan added a further two points, only falling to Chan and Buck in three ends, before Ronan and Montgomery added another three points.

Desmond’s are now within three points of Travellers C in second spot - tantalisingly close. It will be a fascinating final three weeks for both teams.

Peel A (7), Arbory D (2)

Peel A strengthened their hold at the top of Division Two with a solid win over seventh-placed Arbory D.

Malcolm Lambert and Bob Borland thwarted their efforts somewhat by notching up a win over Maggie Mulhern and Ken Hegarty, as did Lambert paired with young Liav Lanin. Jon Taylor-Burt and Ken Hegarty were unbeaten on the night, as were Taylor-Burt and Mulhern.

Ramsey C (6), JRTE Marketing A (3)

Unfortunately, JRTE were only able to field two players for this tie so they automatically forfeited six points.

Darren Smethurst and Paul Mitchinson did well for the away side though, winning their three matches against Darren Shaw and Martyn Howard, Shaw and Geoff Burchill plus Burchill and Howard.

Division Three

Ramsey D (0), Travellers D (5)

Ramsey’s Tony Sewell and Pat Halliwell struggled to contain league leaders Travellers D, with Maurice Campbell and Margaret Forsyth triumphant in each of their matches without losing an end.

The result consolidates Travellers’ position at the top of Division Three and they are guaranteed to be promoted to Division Two next season.

Travellers E (5), JRTE Marketing B (0)

JRTE was only able to field one player, Gary Skillicorn, in this tie which meant that two of the singles matches had to be forfeited,

Sydnie Weaver stood in to play alongside Skillicorn for the doubles, but they were unable to hold off Eban Moore and Henry Winter who took the win in three ends.

Winter and Moore followed that up with solid wins in their singles against Skillicorn to take all five points.

Travellers G (2), Ramsey E (3)

Thomas Taylor-Burt and Max Doyle had a very tight and exciting contest playing for the G side against Saul and Sanshia Tumblety.

Taylor-Burt notched up two excellent wins in four close ends, while Doyle played well but was unable to add any points, with the Tumbletys victorious.

The doubles went the way of the Tumbletys in a five-game epic, finally being settled 11/8, 2/11, 12/10, 7/11, 13/11.

- Practice sessions continue each Friday 7pm-9pm. League players and newcomers are all very welcome - £5 per adult or £3 per junior.

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KEN MITCHELL