Division 1 Roundup - Week 16+ (Cup Groups R3)
Six Become Three
The final week of the Challenge Cup Group matches saw six Division 1 teams in action, all with a chance of making the knockout stage (last 32) of the competition. Fortunes were mixed, with two teams winning, but the other four losing.
Group 12 featured two Division 1 teams playing each other, each having previously won once and lost once in the Group, so whichever team won on the night would definitely qualify, leaving the other team hanging on the possibility of being one of the six best third-placed teams. In the event, it was second-placed Leighton Buzzard Avengers who overcame a 20 point handicap to sixth-placed Milton Keynes Sharks, who won by 45 points. Matteusz Browarnik spearheaded the Avengers effort, winning all six of his games, whilst team mates Dave Broome and Fabrice Spelta each won four out of six. Despite being on the losing side, Derick Rodrigues comfortably took those four singles legs to elude Avengers, only narrowly losing out to Matteusz, whilst also pairing up with Rupert Greyling in the doubles to edge out Matteusz and Fabrice, however, with Rupert and Abhay Tijare unable to make any further inroads in the singles, it meant victory for Avengers by 45 points, and qualification to the knockout stages. Sharks were left in third spot, and very unluckily, ended up being the seventh-best third place team in the Groups, so missed out on qualification by a mere three points.
Group 13, the only Group of just three teams, saw Milton Keynes Phoenix take on the only Premier team in the Cup, Open University Primes, after both had lost out to the third team in the Group, meaning the match between the two was effectively a straightforward winner takes all encounter. With both teams playing off scratch, a good team effort by the Phoenix trio of Alan Bolding, Merv Phillips and Gerald Ridgway, saw them take the opening eight games, to build up a 56 point lead, and eventually take 14 of the 20 games on the night. After those first eight games, things were pretty even, with the main opposition coming from Patrick Wong, but with a few sets won to single figures by Alan and Merv, Phoenix finished 54 points to the good, to qualify in second place in their Group, also meaning that no Premier teams are left in the competition.
In Group 11, the third team to qualify for the knockout stages were Mursley Hawks, who already had two wins before the final week. Their hopes of topping the group were dashed, however, by a strong all-round performance by D2's Greenleys Princes, who had a 30 point handicap, and for whom Ricky Jackson proved especially effective, winning five of his six singles games, only dropping one game to Martin Johnson. Ricky also paired up with Anand Keshav to take the doubles against Martin and David Bartlett. For Hawks, David and Ian Spanswick were unable to claw back any further points against the Princes lineup, also including Saravana Kumar, and in the end Princes were worthy winners by 72 points, to end up top of the Group. Hawks needed to wait for other results to come in to be mathematically certain of qualification, but in the end four points was enough to qualify, and they actually ended up in second place in the Group.
Group 9 featured Chackmore Hasbeens, who'd previously won one and lost one, but, with a negative points difference, needed a win to ensure qualification, or maybe a narrow loss to still make it through as one of the best third-placed teams. Unfortunately for them, they ran into an in-form D2 Newport Pagnell Lagondas, for whom Yongwang Tian was especially impressive, winning five of his six singles, only dropping one game at deuce to Sam Willett. With Chris Horn and Tony Ardis also taking some games off Sam, Bub Burman and Andy Whitehead, Hasbeens kept falling further and further behind the target, eventually going down by 95 points, having started against a 60 point handicap. As such, Hasbeens ended up in third place in their Group, but their points difference meant they did not make it into the top six third-placed teams, so failed to qualify.
Group 10 saw Leighton Buzzard Spitfires needing a win, following losses in the opening two Group matches, to stand any chance of qualifying. Their trio of Andy King, Graham Silversides and Filip Simek were facing the high-flying D3 leaders, Greenleys Crusaders, and also a 40 point handicap. For Crusaders, Chris Shamuyarira and Micky Shun Hang Lung both gained points against their higher-ranked opponents, and Spitfires were never able to make any dent in the handicap, with Crusaders eventually going on to win by 52 points. This left Spitfires bottom of their Group, and thus another non-qualifier.
As such, three Division 1 teams move on to the last 32 of the event - Avengers, Phoenix and Hawks.
Next week it is back to League action again, with five more weeks of the League schedule still to go. The most interesting match-up appears to be second-placed Avengers taking on leaders, Sasaki, whilst third-placed Phoenix might hope to close on the top two in their match against seventh-placed Spitfires. Elsewhere, it's sixth against fourth as Sharks take on Hasbeens, and finally it's eighth against fifth, when Hawks take on Pumas.
Player of the Week : Derick Rodrigues.
Team of the Week : Milton Keynes Phoenix.