Milton Keynes Topspin 7-3 Chackmore Hasbeens

 MK Topspin 7  Chackmore Hasbeens 3
 

A big improvement by Chackmore on their opening day performance against my Topspin side. The first 3 singles all went to a deciding game and with the doubles lost again the match score stood at 2-2. This could have been a lot worse as Russell Penn had beaten Sam Willett from 2-1 down in games, 10-11 down in the 4th and 6-1 down in the 5th. Sam’s chopping style was tying Russell up in knots for long spells before he eased home. However an interesting point arose when they were 2-2 in the 4th game. Russell made a double hit, immediatley verbally acknowleged the fact and Sam caught the ball. I gave the point to Russell as Sam had incorrectly stopped play. Sam queried this and I explained that accidental double hits had been allowed in the rules for 4 years now, which seem to come as news to both players. But then I changed my mind and decided to penalise Russell instead for shouting out during a rally. Following further discussion I acceded to both players request that the point be replayed.
 

Topspin took the next 5 sets though for a commanding lead, surprisingly without too much trouble. The highlight here was Russell’s hitting display against Bub Burman on his way to a maximum. He is much happier in a toe-to-toe slogging battle than dealing with backspin. Bub, having beaten Mervyn Kelly, took me out in the final set. Andy Whitehead completed the Chackmore line-up and had his moments too with some impressive hitting despite being winless.
 

So our nightmare doubles showings continues with another poor display in a straight games defeat, with Greenleys Warriors the only side with a worse record this season. If we had anywhere near last year’s wins at this stage we’d be well clear at the top by now.