Singles play resumed for Divisions One and Two in round 16 of the Fun88-sponsored Isle of Man Table Tennis Association league last week.

Division One

Arbory B (0), Travellers A (9)

Another whitewash for table-toppers Travellers A, but the result masks some very close matches and excellent play from opponents Arbory B.

John Magnall pushed Malcolm Cummings close but the Travellers player was able to squeeze through 11/9 in the final end to his great relief. Amit Lanin also pushed Cummings hard but was also eclipsed 7/11 in the fifth.

Liam Chan was also pushed hard by Magnall, but Chan’s attacking style was just too much for the more defensively-minded Magnall.

Lanin started brightly against Chan by taking the first game, but faded to lose the next two and ultimately the match.

Scott Lewis maintained his 100 percent record this season, but Dan Levine did well to take a game off him, as did Lanin. Lewis clearly has different gears though, which to his great credit he switches to when required.

This result stretches Travellers’ lead to 16 points ahead of second-placed Ramsey A.

Tower A (2), Ramsey A (7)

Tower A, sponsored by Tower Insurance, needed something from this tie to keep their remote hopes of escaping relegation alive.

Dave Parsons duly stepped up and produced two fantastic wins. Firstly, he beat Becky Taylor by coming back from 1-2 down to take the final two ends and the match. He also edged an enthralling match against Chris Holmes 11/9 in the final end.

Elsewhere, Tower’s Mike Bayley and Simon Radclife played well for Tower by taking games off Chris Holmes, but ultimately Ramsey were well in control.

For Tower, they are now eight points adrift of sixth-placed Arbory B.

Strathallan (2), Arbory A (7)

Result of the night in this tie was Sonja Shaw’s superb four-end victory over Julian Briercliffe.

Wayne Taylor and Andy Patterson avenged that defeat by both taking points against Shaw.

Other than that the tie went in favour of Arbory, with Mike Tamarov and Jason Quirk being largely untouchable when winning all their games in straight ends, albeit Taylor took a game off Quirk.

This result leaves Arbory A in third place just ahead of Travellers B, with Strathallan comfortably sitting fifth.

Tower B (0), Travellers B (9)

Another uncomfortable tie for Tower B, this time at the hands of fourth-placed Travellers B who are now pushing for third.

Sam Sen did well to take a game off Will Shooter, as did Steve Curtis against Malc Lewis, but other than that it was plain sailing for Travellers.

This result now mathematically condemns Tower B to relegation with five matches to go.

Division Two

JRTE Marketing A (4), Ramsey B (5)

Brian Crellin stepped in for JRTE and once again made a huge impact, taking his three wins without losing a game.

That said, Wael Kassim pushed him hard before losing out in a close match 9/11, 9/11, 9/11. Paul Mitchinson added a further point for the home side with an impressive victory over Geoff Ball in four ends.

Ramsey’s Adrian Slater took wins over Mitchinson and Steven Carridge in four ends, while Kassim also pitched in nicely with two good wins over Mitchinson and Carridge.

Ramsey C (4), Travellers C (5)

Keith Herrington had a very impressive win for the home side against Dave Buck which concluded 11/9 in fifth end.

He then disposed of a battling Eban Moore (who was playing up for the first time) in four ends.

But Keeran Chan was a step too far, with the Travellers C player pulling off three victories to be named player of the match. Buck added two further points to keep Travellers on course for promotion.

Arbory C (3), Peel A (6)

Peel remained on course for promotion after this result, tucked in behind Travellers C by a single point.

That said, Arbory didn’t make life easy for the westerners. Dave Bufton was the thorn in the side for Peel, pulling off a tremendous victory over Jon Taylor-Burt in three ends and Ken Hegarty in the fourth.

Kevin Drewry added to Hegarty’s woes by also defeating him in three. Other than that, Taylor-Burt and Stu Perry churned out the required points to take victory overall.

Arbory D (0), Desmond’s Douglas A (9)

Desmond's whitewash of Arbory D, achieved without dropping a set, was a hugely impressive feat and underlined that they have not given up on their promotion hopes.

Brandon Montgomery, Russ Kent and Neil Ronan proved too much for their quality opponents Liav Lanin, JP Banaag and Bob Borland.

This notable result now leaves them only seven points behind Peel with five fixtures remaining. All bets are off!

Division Three

Ramsey E (0), Travellers D (5)

Margaret Forsyth of Travellers D had to draw on her vast experience to see off young Teddy Clayton after falling behind in four extremely close games. She then gritted her teeth and took the final end 11-5 for victory.

Teddy was beaten in three by Maurice Campbell but clearly he is an improving young player.

Adam Clayton could not make any further inroads for Ramsey, which meant that Travellers sealed another 5-0 win. Division Two play is now certain for them next season.

Ramsey D (0), Travellers E (5)

Henry Weaver was in excellent form once again for Travellers E, taking his three wins with little trouble against Pat Halliwell and Tony Sewell.

Tom Taylor Burt also took two wins and, with no games lost, he then combined well with Weaver to take the doubles in four ends.

They remain comfortably in second spot in Division Three behind Travellers D.

JRTE Marketing B (2), Travellers F (3)

A superb doubles win by Rhys Bufton and Sydnie Weaver sealed a 3-2 win for Travellers F over JRTE B.

They fought back from 1-2 down against Steven Carridge and Gary Skillicorn to take the next two ends 12/10, 11/9 for a hard-earned and highly pleasing victory.

Carridge narrowly beat Sydnie 11/7 in the fifth end and did the same against Bufton 11/5 in the final end. But Bufton and Weaver were both able to defeat Skillicorn in four ends.

- Practice sessions continue each Friday 7pm-9pm. League players and newcomers are all very welcome.

- Special mention to Douglas TTC run by Wayne Taylor at Ballakermeen School each Monday evening in term time - all juniors welcome from 6-8pm. All equipment is made available for a fee of £3 per session.

KEN MITCHELL