As the Christmas half-way break is upon us in the Reading and District Table Tennis league, Kingfisher A are top having played an extra match, this week sweeping aside their E team 10-0 with Dmitry Khakhamov, Ross Saxby and Martin Adams remaining unbeaten. Sonning Common and Peppard A also beat their understrength B team 9-1 where their only defeat was Daniel Artene getting the better of Jason Roberts as Ian Cole and Ed Lush excelled.
Tidmarsh A collected seven useful points for Christmas as Antony Baker picked up a maximum away to Sonning Sports A. Graham Diplock provided some resistance for the hosts as he pipped both Lee Calcutt and Rob McMillan, who also won his other two, both in tight five setters. At strugglers Tilehurst RBL A, Kingfisher C captain Phil Mead remained unbeaten and was ably supported by Harry Yeates who picked up two more but could not overcome Keith Winter who picked up two plus the doubles, 6-4 being the final result in favour of Kingfisher.
The competitive nature of division 2 was highlighted as all three matches played this week all resulted as 5-5 draws. Springfield A’s Skipper Jason King returned after a few weeks out to record a very good maximum against Our Lady of Peace A which included wins in five against Dave Godfrey and Alistair Richardson. Springfield’s Rob Wilkie did well to recover from 2-1 down to beat Darek Kaminski in five.
Tidmarsh C hosted Kingfisher H and this match saw a fine three straight maximum for Tidmarsh’s Sayali Bendkhale. The set of the night saw Tidmarsh Captain Richard Hudson edge out Kingfisher Captain Stephen Leggett 13-11 in the fifth. Kingfisher G hosted Tilehurst Royal British Legion B in yet another hard -fought match. Four sets went to five with the Tilehurst team winning all of them, the pick of which was CJ Choong beating Ian Clothier 12-10 in the fifth.
In Division 3 OLOP C is sitting comfortably at the top of the table nine points clear of the chasers Sonning Common and Peppard D, who secured a dominant 8-2 victory over Tilehurst Methodists A. Jeremy Willis and Anthony Reeve were unstoppable, both securing trebles, while David Riddle added a point. Phil Jones and Michael Williams each managed a win for Tilehurst. Tuesday’s first match saw Sonning Sports B edge out Tidmarsh D 6-4. Brett Hastings starred with a treble, while Tim Challender and Harry Brough contributed key wins. Dave Edwards provided strong resistance for Tidmarsh D with two victories. OLOP C defeated their D team clubmates 7-3. Graham Stark shone with a treble, supported by Daniel Dzieciol and Mark Carless. Patrick McIntosh fought hard for OLOP D with two wins, but it wasn’t enough to prevent defeat.
In division 4, Springfield B kept their unbeaten record awith an 8-2 win over their C team. Marcello Caramma and Ludovic Couillard scored maximums and added the doubles.
Kingfisher K scored an impressive win, also 8-2, over Tilehurst RBL C. Walter Aldridge‘s maximum combined with two each from Emrah Bulut and Houron Tsun did the damage although Paul Treadgold provided some resistance in collecting the two points for Tilehurst.
Finally, Sonning Common and Peppard F hosted Sonning Sports D. Two wins for Alistair Scott, a win for Graham Paddick plus the doubles was not enough though as Sports ran out 6-4 winners, largely thanks to Peter Evans’ excellent maximum but was well supported by Michael Byrne’s two wins and Mo Cole adding an extra point for the victory.
By Martin Adams
