Premier division round-up - Weeks 1-3
With 9 teams in the Prem this season, one team each week has no match.
Leading the way are MK Spinners with 25 points. Having struggled to beat Greenleys Warriors 6-4 in week 1, the same 3 players won 9-1 at Leighton Buzzard Generations, followed by a 10-0 win against newly promoted OU Primes. With Alan Cherry maintaining a 100% start to the season, Jecu Aurelian having lost just once, to Darren Ward in the opening match, and Gareth Jones on 5 wins out of 9, the team will be difficult to beat.
The Titans (now playing at Yardley Gobion and awaiting their new tables) are showing their pedigree with 18 points, despite having no match in week 1. They started with a 10-0 win at Greenleys Warriors, followed by their first win at the new venue, by 8-2 against LB Generations, who could only field 2 players. This match included a 5-game win, the first 2 for Adrian Piotrowski against Ian Musk, who has only lost one singles set in each of the last 2 seasons. Adrian had recovered from losing the first 2 games to take the set to a final game, winning 11-9. Nick Howard and Craig Brown each lost to Ian in 4 games.
In 3rd place on 17 points are MK Sasaki, although this may have seemed unlikely when they lost 1-9 to Greenleys Monarchs, with only Mervyn Phillips scoring by beating Dave Beddall. Week 2 saw Sasaki bounce back, with a 7-3 win against Greenleys Vanguards, with new player Tarn Gascoyne securing a maximum. Tarn repeated the feat in week 3, the team beating Greenleys Glory 9-1, with Michael Wilkins losing to team captain Lewis Copp.
Greenleys Warriors are on 12 points, having had a mixed start to the season. Having performed well in the opening match against MK Spinners, with Darren ward picking up 2 wins and Shirish Basant Rai and Adebola Odetayo one each, they were brought down to earth in week 2, when Shirish, Ade and sub Saravana Kumar from Div 1 could not stop the Titans. A better result came in week 3, with an 8-2 win against club-mates Monarchs.
Promoted OU Primes are on 11 points, starting with a draw against LB Generations, in which Nicolas Wong picked up 2 wins on his return to the league, with Andy Tan also winning 2 and Patrick Wong 1. In week 2, they beat Greenleys Glory 6-4, with Nicolas again picking up 2 wins, as did Ning He, while James Zeng secured his first win of the season. This was followed by a 10-0 loss to MK Spinners.
After matches in weeks 1 & 3, Greenleys Monarchs are also on 11 points. They opened with a 9-1 win against MK Sasaki, with Ed Simms and Martin Hall each winning 3 and Dave Beddall the player to drop a set. Following a bye in week 2, the team struggled against club-mates Warriors, needing to field a division 1 sub, Micky Lung, who was also playing in her own team’s match on a neighbouring table. Martin and Dave managed a win apiece.
Promoted Greenleys Vanguards have also only played twice, with a bye in week 3. They opened with a strong 7-3 win against club-mates Glory, with Elroy Edwards winning 3, Nayan Pattni 2 and new recruit Mateusz Browarnik 1, plus the doubles. The team struggled the following week, losing 2-7 to MK Sasaki, with Elroy winning 2 and Mateusz beating Michael Wilkins.
Greenleys Glory are on 8 points, having lost their opening 3 matches. Week one was a 3-7 loss to their colleagues the Vanguards, with Ian Mead winning 2 and Lewis Copp 1, while also pushing Elroy Edwards into a final game. Week 2 saw a 4-6 loss to OU Primes, with Dakshin Thopay scoring a maximum and Division 1 sub Ricky Jackson beating James Zeng. In their 3rd match, Glory lost heavily to MK Sasaki by 1-9, the only success being a win for Lewis against Michael Wilkins by 12-10 in the final game.
LB Generations have also managed 8 points from their 3 matches, having started with a draw against OU Primes, with Tim Cheek winning all 3 and Fabrice Spelta 1. Having to face MK Spinners and Yardley Titans so early in the season proved a problem, with only Graham Cook securing a point against Spinners by beating Gareth Jones and Ian Musk beating both Nick Howard and Craig Brown, losing 9-11 in the final game to Adrian Piotrowski.