Division 2 roundup - week 20
4 ‘away’ wins in Week 20 have helped to resolve the likely outcome at both ends of the table
In Monday’s match, the promotion hopes of Little Horwood Wooden Tops took a blow when they were beaten 4-6 by Greenleys Princes. Despite a hat-trick by Bill Higgins, Andy Hooper and Paul Reynolds could only muster a single win, by Paul in 5 games against Saravana Kumar. For Princes, Anand Kushav and Lewis Copp each beat Andy and Paul, and Saravana and Anand combined to beat Bill and Paul in a 5-game doubles.
On Wednesday, Newport Pagnell Lagondas improved their own promotion hopes at Woburn Sands, while denting those of WS Mosquitoes. The opening set was the battle of the namesakes Glenn Barcham and Glen Davison, won by Glen D for what proved to be his only win of the night. Mike Howard had a busy night for the visitors, starting out with an epic battle against Andy Jenkins, emerging the winner by 15-13 in the final game. For the home side, Rob McPheat was again in good form, winning his 3 sets, although he needed a final game win by 13-11 to beat Mike. Chris Horn for Lagondas beat Andy and Glenn, while Glen and Mike teamed up to beat Rob and Andy in the doubles, before Glen D lost to Andy. The evening ended with Mike beating Glen for his second win of the night.
On Thursday, a home defeat for bottom team Open University Shockwave, by 3-7 to Greenleys Valiants, almost certainly means that they will end in last place. The opening set was a surprise win for Charity Wong of Shockwave against Ricky Jackson, by 12-10 in the 5th game, with two other games going to deuce. Charity finished the evening with a win against Slava Vokhola, who had earlier beaten Yi Cao but lost to Yifan Liu. Ricky went on to secure a brace of wins, beating Yi and Yifan and also linked with Slava to beat Yi and Yifan in the doubles. The most successful player of the night was the Valiants’ loan player Ian Grainger who won all his 3 singles sets. Ian has now won 6 of 9 sets when playing up for the Valiants.
Lastly, on Friday leaders MK Powers secured a 6-4 win at Wing Village Hall which leaves Leighton Buzzard Van Hire in 7th place, but confirms the Powers as champions with a match to spare. Andy Pearson of the Powers scored another maximum, his 10th from 14 matches. He was ably supported by Kareem Omar, who beat Donnie MacDonald and Richard Hardy, but lost to Cristi Hulpan, who had beaten Paul Tompkins in a final game. Donnie and Richard also beat Paul, who ended without a win for only the 3rd time this season. Andy and Paul secured the doubles, beating Cristi and team captain Bernie Raffe, their 6th double success.
Powers now have 123 points and Lagondas have 111. Valiants, Mosquitoes and Wooden Tops all have 104 points, with Valiants and Mosquitoes equal in 3rd place with identical records, while Wooden Tops are in 5th, by virtue of having won fewer matches. Princes are 5 points further back in 6th place. Van Hire and Shockwave have each accumulated a respectable haul of points (80 and 75) over the season, but both teams have been unable to make headway in a very competitive division.
Performances of the week: Rob McPheat and Ian Grainger