It was a fascinating week in Division 1 where 100% records tumbled and a strong new player arrived on the scene.
Clear leaders Kingfisher A scored a narrow 6-4 victory over third place Kingfisher D.
Graham Mendick scored an outstanding 3-1 win over previously unbeaten Martin Adams 12-10 11-8 5-11 11-1, who then returned the compliment in being the first to beat Ryan Chung. In being short of players and needing a couple of reserves, previously unknown Henley Business School student, Mengyao Shi, stood in for the A team to make his first appearance.
He recorded a treble with blistering forehand pace to confirm yet another win for the league favourites.
Another match with both teams in the top four took place as Our Lady of Peace A took on second place Sonning Common & Peppard A, who could only field two players.
Joined by Ian Cole and Justin Mead, Steve Murgatroyd was the only unbeaten player on the night including taking out Gary Morgan 10-12 11-9 9-11 11-6 11-8 to secure the 7-3 win. Young Theo Kniep scored an excellent maximum as his Kingfisher B side narrowly turned over Tilehurst RBL A by a 6-4 score line.
An off-colour Mike Childs could only take a single as Reading FC lost at home to Tidmarsh A 3-7.
Although no player remained unbeaten with FC’s Tom Lewis taking two as did opponents Duncan Groves, Lee Calcutt and Anthony Baker.
Reading FC now prop up the table after Sonning Common and Peppard B managed to pick up 12 points in completing a couple of rearranged matches including a 5-5 draw with Kingfisher C and 7-3 victory over Sonning Sports A.
An impressive maximum from skipper Nigel Maltby could not stop division 2 promotion contenders Sonning Common & Peppard C slipping to a 6-4 defeat against Tidmarsh B.
The standout sets were Nigel’s great three straight victory over Tidmarsh’s star player Dale Ballard and a great recovery from two down by Tidmarsh’s Barry Carter to beat Malcolm Gregory 11-8 in the fifth.
In the Kingfisher derby the F and E team’s fought out a 5-5 draw in a match where there were many very close sets.
The F teams skipper Roger Pritchard recorded a very good maximum but was pushed all the way by Luca Bianchi, just beating him 11-10 in the fifth. The F team’s Ajai Kamath had an eventful evening with all of his sets going to five, winning two of them.
There was another 5-5 draw in the match between Tilehurst RBL B and Tilehurst Meths A. Eric Van Looy, the division’s top player, got yet another maximum for the Meths team only dropping one game on the night. Jes Eassom played his first match for Meths since suffering an injury in a match in early October and he played well including beating Nick Lean 11-9 in the fifth.
In the OLOP derby the B team beat the C team 7-3 with all of the B team’s payers winning twice. Five sets went to five with the standout one being the C team’s Binit Bhaskar recovering from two down to beat Chris West in five.
After a free week for the cup matches, Division 3 continued where we left off. There were five games, including a rescheduled OLOP derby between OLOP D and OLOP E.
Tidmarsh C beat Our Lady of Peace F with a stunning 10-0 whitewash. For OLOP F, it was a bad day at the office as they struggled to win a game.
Ian Wu was the player of the match for Tidmarsh by winning all of his games without dropping a set. Tilehurst Methodists B hosted Springfield A.
Despite having a player from the lower division Tilehurst provided stiff opposition for Springfield. Unfortunately for the home team, most of the five-setter games went for Springfield and it was they who won the match 7-3. However, the match’s highlight was Tilehurst Methodists B’s incredible comeback in doubles from 2-0 down to a 3-2 victory.
In the battle between two of the divisions front runners, Pangbourne WMC won 6-4 at Tidmarsh D.
It was a close battle as four of six players won two games. Tidmarsh’s captain lost his first game in the fifth set, so this might have changed the game’s fate, but the match’s highlight was another five-setter game in doubles.
Dave and Ray would almost ruin the 100% record of Clive and Leroy in doubles but not quite. Mark Carless had his second maximum of the season as Our Lady of Peace D beat Sonning Sports B 7-3 Brett Hastings won his remaining two games to help his side to three valuable points.
In a rescheduled fixture Our Lady of Peace E beat Our Lady of Peace D 6-4, Graham Stark was the star for the F team as he won all his games and helped win the doubles to save his team from a more significant loss.
In division 4 Kingfisher J won 6-4 at Kingfisher I with new signing Chloe Kniep winning all three. Due to an error Sonning Common & Peppard F only had two players so Springfield B won 6-4.. For Sonning Mike Casserley hit a nice hat trick.
In the Tilehurst derby the Tilehurst Methodists C beat Tilehurst RBL C 6-4 with Rob James gaining a maximum.
