Milton Keynes Topspin 1-9 Leighton Buzzard Van Hire

League

Premier Division

Wednesday 16 November 2022

 
Played on loan
 
Played on loan
Lowri Hurd played on loan from Milton Keynes Pumas in Division One.
Date Wednesday 16 November 2022
Start time 19:30
Competition League
Division Premier Division
Venue Milton Keynes Table Tennis Centre
Season 2022-2023
Games played 36
Points played 613
Published 03/02/2025 11:29 by David Wackrill.
JUST ‘A BREEZE’ FOR FABRICE

My Topspin team were delighted to give a debut to 14 year old Welsh International cadet Lowri Hurd, playing up from Div 1 side Pumas in place of Topspin regular Mervyn Kelly, now at the start of his Antipodean adventure. As we only have 3 players registered, we will be badly needing adequate cover over the next few weeks and Lowri more than fulfilled that role in this match. No such problems for our opponents, of course, who turned up with the multinational line-up of Biao Wang, Hakan Karaagac and Fabrice Spelta selected from their own vast squad.

Not much joy here for Topspin regulars Russell Penn and myself though, as our team continued the run of 1-9 reversals.

On the plus side however, Lowri did well in logging our only singles win, though it might have been more as she has shown some good progress in her weekend tournament play recently and came into this match full of confidence. Perhaps there was a certain irony in Hakan being her first victim as she has replaced him in the Pumas squad this season after Hakan transferred to Van Hire. A terrific power hitting performance ensued rewarded in a straight games victory. This set up the doubles contest nicely with Lowri providing a much-needed boost to our chances. A rare win looked to be on the cards when we took a 2-1 game lead, but the new Lowri /Russell pairing flattered to deceive as they failed to thwart a Van Hire recovery.

All downhill from then on with the last 6 sets lost with no deciding games needed anywhere. Biao was his usual imperial self, Hakan got his mojo back and Fabrice turned on the style to the nth degree with some classy, accurate striking for his first hat-trick of the year.

Man of the match : Fabrice Spelta