With the festivities over, players roared back into action with the return of the Fun 88-sponsored Isle of Man Table Tennis Association league at the NSC last week.
This was the 11th round of fixtures, so we are now past halfway in the season.
Division One
Arbory B (6), Tower A (3)
With Arbory B one place above Tower A, this was a must-win tie for the away team.
It was a closer affair than the score suggests with five matches going to a fifth end, of which Arbory won four.
Mike Bayley must have felt hard done by with his three matches going to a fifth, yet none went his way. Still, full credit to Arbory as this pulls them clear of the relegation zone.
John Magnall won all his three matches - in four ends against Ken Mitchell and in five against Bayley and Dave Parsons. The latter did well to claw his way back into the match against Magnall but in the end fell short by the narrowest of margins 4-11, 2-11, 11-9, 11-9, 9-11.
Amit Lanin also played well for the home side, beating Mitchell in three and pipping Bayley 11-9 in the fifth. But Parsons stopped the youngster from achieving a hat-trick with a masterful three-end win.
Dan Levine pulled off a tremendous win in five against Bayley, but fell short against Mitchell and Parsons.
Tower B (0), Arbory A (9)
Tower B are firmly rooted at the bottom of Division One, so this was another tough gig for them.
Sonja Shaw shone for Arbory, pulling off a tremendous hat-trick with wins over Simon Radcliffe, Steve Curtis and Dario Mazzotta.
Mike Tamarov and Jason Quirk were untroubled and didn’t lose a game between them. These nine points consolidate Arbory’s third place.
Travellers A (9), Strathallan (0)
Travellers A extended their lead at the top of the table to six points with this impressive trouncing of a decent Strahallan team.
Scott Lewis and Liam Chan were in typically dominant form, with none of their opponents taking them to a fourth game - truly impressive stuff.
Malcolm Cummings's match with Julian Briercliffe was the only one that bucked the trend, but Cummings used all his reserves and cunning to edge it 11-8 in the fifth end.
Ramsey A (7), Travellers B (2)
All credit to Ramsey for continuing to pressure Strathallan and it’s remarkable that they are still in touch with the leaders, albeit the margin is now six points.
Adam Teare in particular was in fine form - he defeated Malc Lewis, Will Shooter and John Shooter comfortably in three ends.
Duncan Alexander also beat Lewis, but in four close ends. His match against Will was particularly close and, with the score tied at 8-8 in the fifth end, the Ramsey player pulled out his very best serves to edge it 11-9.
Becky Taylor was also given a tough test by young Shooter but managed to pip him 11-8 in the final game. She followed that with a three-end win over Lewis, but could not make any impression against John, losing in straight ends.
Division Two
JRTE Marketing A (6), Ramsey C (3)
Darren Smethurst was invincible once again in this tie with three solid wins for JRTE.
Steven Carridge had a hard-fought win for JRTE over Darren Shaw, just edging it 11-8 in the fifth. He and Paul Mitchinson added a further three points between them to ensure the six points.
For the away team Keith Herrington did well to take wins over Mitchinson and Carridge in four ends, with Martyn Howard defeating Carridge in four.
Travellers C (5), Desmond's Douglas A (4)
Travellers was without Dave Lovelady through injury and sadly he’ll be out for the rest of the season.
It was therefore a tough assignment for them against third placed Desmond’s.
Paul Mathieson-Nelson started the new year in a positive vein, taking two points against Desmonds’ Russ Kent in three and Brandon Montgomery in five. The latter battled hard but Mathieson-Nelson used all his resolve to edge it 14-12 in the fifth.
Keeran Chan was star of the night for Travelers with three superb wins against Montgomery in four, Kent in three and Neil Ronan in the fourth.
The third member of the Travellers team was young Luke Begley and, while he played well, but was swept aside by the experienced Desmond's trio.
Arbory D (2), Peel A (7)
JP Banaag made an appearance for Arbory and bagged two superb wins against a tough Peel side.
He blasted his way past Ken Hegarty in a very close five-setter and similarly against Stu Perry, also pipping him in the fifth.
But Jon Taylor-Burt was in no mood to allow Banaag to make it three wins and thwarted him really effectively. He mixed his serves and didn’t allow any leeway, which enabled him to close out the match decisively 11-8, 11-9, 11-3.
Ramsey B (7), Arbory C (2)
Wael Kassim was once again player of the night for Ramsey, taking all three wins.
It was not plain sailing for him though: Kevin Drewry was in superb form, only falling short 9-11 in the fifth.
Kassim swept past Rob Wright in three ends before being pushed hard by Dave Bufton, but edged it 11-9 in the fourth end. Bufton made up for that by defeating Adrian Slater in five ends.
Will Dalugdugan was back in the island with a break from university and Ramsey was happy to welcome him back for a week.
His match with Bufton could not have been closer, with the latter n taking it 13-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-13, 11-9. But Dalugdugan got back on track and eased past Drewry and Wright in four ends.
Division Three
Travellers D (5), Ramsey D (0)
It was plain sailing for top-of-the-table Travellers D with Maurice Campbell and Margaret Forsyth settling all their matches in three ends against the Ramsey duo of Pat Halliwell and Tony Sewell.
This win extends Travellers’ lead at the top to 14 points and places them as firm favourites even at this early stage for promotion to Division Two.
JRTE Marketing B (1), Travellers E (4)
Henry Weaver and Eban Moore are showing strong signs of improvement each week, playing some excellent table tennis for Travellers in often tight situations.
Henry had a very close tussle with Gary Skillicorn, pulling through 11-4 in the final end, and had an even closer one with Anil Paul before edging it 11-9 in the fifth.
Paul suffered further agony at the hands of Moore who snatched victory 11-9 in the fifth. As some consolation, Paul and Skillicorn took the doubles in three ends to win their only point.
Ramsey E (5), Travellers G (0)
Teddy Clayton claimed two wins for Ramsey E, as did Ben Hulbert in this tie against youngsters Tom Taylor Burt and Max Doyle.
But it was not plain sailing for the home side, with Taylor Burt and Doyle showing signs of improvement and some good play.
- Isle of Man Table Tennis Association’s Friday evening practice sessions resumed on last week between 7-9pm. League players and newcomers are all welcome - £5 per adult or £3 per junior.
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KEN MITCHELL