Division 1 Roundup - Week 7
Previously Premier Teams Take Over at Top
As the season reaches the one third point, and each team has played each other team once in Division 1, the two teams that dropped down from the Premier are now a few points clear of the rest, after both recorded comfortable wins this week, whilst the last unbeaten team record went, in odd fashion. Week 7 saw the biggest scoreline in the Division remain at 8-2, but it was matched in three of the four fixtures, whilst the final one was a very unusual 4-1 win!!
The oddity was the match between Chackmore Hasbeens and Leighton Buzzard Avengers, in which both teams only had two players, meaning only five sets (and five points) were available, hence the final strange scoreline of 4-1. On the night it was the home team, Hasbeens, who won four of the five possible sets, with Bub Burman winning his two singles and Andy Whitehead winning one singles, plus Bub/Andy pairing up for their sixth doubles win out of seven, against the Avengers duo of Mateusz Browarnik and Steve Jordan. The solitary win for Avengers was scored by Mateusz, although Steve only narrowly lost out to Andy, at deuce in the fifth. Thus ended the final unbeaten team record in the Division for Avengers, and the result sees them drop from second place to third, now six points adrift of the promotion spots. Despite only taking four points from their win, Hasbeens managed to move up from fifth to fourth, now four points behind Avengers. Had one of the two teams been able to field a third player, even if their reserve was unable to win any on the night, it would have meant an extra three points for their team! As it was, both teams effectively lost out against the other teams.
Leaders, Milton Keynes Sasaki, only had two of their regular players, Michael Wilkins and William Kit Liang, but called in Paul Tompkins to substitute for them. However, their opponents, fourth placed Milton Keynes Pumas, were another team who only fielded two players, Andy Smith and Adam Snowdon. Although Andy and Adam each beat Paul, neither was able to defeat Michael or William, although they went close, with Michael being pushed to five games by both Puma players, and William taken to deuce in the fifth by Adam. The Pumas pair of Adam/Andy grabbed the first leg in the doubles against Michael/William, but lost out in four legs, meaning Pumas are still without a doubles win this season. Sasaki extend their lead at the top to three points, whilst Pumas drop from fourth to fifth, now a point behind Hasbeens.
Milton Keynes Phoenix continued their fine recent form against clubmates, sixth placed Milton Keynes Sharks, despatching them 8-2 to move up to second in the table, three points behind Sasaki. Once again, it was three singles wins apiece for Alan Bolding and Mervyn Phillips, plus a brace for Ivor Howard. The doubles eluded them once again, however, as despite Ivor/Mervyn being 2-0 up against Sarah/Rupert, they lost out in five games. For Sharks, the one singles success came when Sarah Hudson beat Ivor Howard, but neither Abhay Tijare nor Rupert Greyling were able to win a singles, although Rupert pushed Alan to 11-8 in the decider. The doubles win was the fifth in seven attempts for Sharks, and meant they were 2-2 after the doubles, but that was as good as it got on the night. The loss for Sharks means they are now joint sixth in the table, at the one third point of the season.
The final match of the week (first chronologically), was eighth placed Mursley Hawks taking on seventh placed Leighton Buzzard Spitfires, the two teams who had come up from Division 2, and both seeking a first win in this Division. Things started the better for Spitfires, as Filip Simek took a first ever win against Martin Johnson in three tight games, and then Andy King beat Ian Spanswick three straight. Hawks captain, David Bartlett, came to the rescue with a battling four games win over Barry Hammond, and then David teamed up with Ian, to level things at 2-2 with a fine doubles win over Andy and Filip. From there, however, Spitfires outflew the Hawks, to record a big 8-2 win, despite stout resistance from Ian and David in particular, with David twice losing out in close five gamers, 7-11 to Andy and 10-12 to Filip. The win moves Spitfires up to equal sixth with Sharks, and now eleven points clear of the struggling Hawks.
Next week returns to a repeat of the opening week of fixtures, but with venues reversed, with the top two teams playing each other, as Sasaki entertain Phoenix, with both teams on a run of four wins in a row. On the same night, it is fifth versus third, as Pumas host Avengers, and also fourth placed Hasbeens taking on equal sixth placed Spitfires. Meanwhile, fellow equal sixth placed Sharks host bottom team Hawks in the remaining match of the week.
Player of the Week : Andy King.