Stanwick inflict first defeat on Chesterwell

There was a shock in Division Three of the Wellingborough & District Table Tennis League as leaders Chesterwell D suffered their first defeat of the season as Stanwick claimed a 9-1 away win.
Hubert MalendaHubert Malenda
Hubert Malenda

Recent signing Ian Baldock and Geoff Neville were unbeaten on the night.

Daniel Mann managed to secure the single point for Chesterwell with his win over Kevin Tivey in three ends but that was as good as it got.

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Second-placed Wanderers E took full advantage and moved to within nine points of the table-toppers with a 10-0 whitewash at WDHA Knightriders.

Steve Hoole, Derek Shears and David May secured all the points in straight games.

Swati Jethwa gave Shears a fright, taking him to 13-11 in two ends and Anish Patel got close to May, showing the potential of these young players.

Higham Harriers C claimed a big 9-1 victory over Higham Band B.

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Despite fielding the same players who secured a draw in the earlier match between the two, Band could only managed one point, which came when Devlin Whitmore beat Matt Hicks in three ends.

Oli Hicks won three points with only Neil Thompson managing to take an end from him while Whitmore went close, going down 9-11, 13-15, 8-11.

Katie Hicks also secured a hat-trick and joined forces with Oli to win a hard-fought five-end doubles.

Elsewhere, Hubert Malenda and Daniel Bain registered their second hat-tricks of the season as WDHA Challengers beat Westfield E 7-3.

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Ansh Shah had to settle for a single point with victory over Nicole King.

Results: Higham Harriers C 9 (Oli Hicks 3, Matt Hicks 2, Katie Hicks 3, doubles Oli/Katie Hicks) Higham Band B 1 (Devlin Whitmore), WDHA Challengers 7 (Hubert Malenda 3, Daniel Bain 3, Ansh Shah) Westfield E 3 (Stuart Rae, Iain Rae, doubles S Rae/King),

Chesterwell D 1 (Daniel Mann) Stanwick VHTTC 9 (Ian Baldock 3, Geoff Neville 3, Kevin Tivey 2, doubles Baldock/Neville), WDHA Knightriders 0 Wanderers E 10 (Steve Hoole 3, Derek Shears 3, David May 3, doubles Hoole/May).

Wanderers B sealed their first win of the seasoN in Division One with a 6-4 success at Old Grammarians A.

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Steve Kendall cruised to a treble but this was cancelled out by Phil Laurence who again failed to register although gained legs against Paul Goodman and Bob Hickson.

Mick Ball secured his fifth win of the season against Goodman 11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6 but went down 12-10 and 11-6 in the fifth against Stewart Williams and Hickson respectively.

Needing the doubles for their first win, Williams and Goodman obliged when winning out 8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-7.

WDHA Royals claimed an impressive 7-3 victory over Chesterwell A.

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Valdy Papiernik was brought back to earth after last week’s treble, failing to register in a game which saw Ethan Ali gain his third hat-trick in seven outings.

Abin Islam went down 11-8, 12-14, 9-11, 10-12 to Mike Pond but comfortably beat Stan Galkowski and won out 11-9 in the fifth over Papiernik.

A further point for the hosts was won in the doubles with Islam and Patel winning out 11-4, 7-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-9 over Pond and Galkowski.

Ian Bird gained his fourth treble in four outings as Higham Harriers A drew 5-5 at Chesterwell B.

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Bird won with ease against Graham Ellson and Carlton Ellwood but was taken to the wire by Luke Hughes before winning out 10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 6-11, 4-11.

Ellson and Hughes both scored wins over Norman Wooster and Graham Bird but a surprise 12-10, 7-11, 11-8, 11-5 victory by Graham Bird over Ellwood saw the match dependent on the doubles where the Bird duo won out 11-7, 11-2, 3-11, 11-8 to gain a hard fought draw.

A feature of the top division has been that the leading players have been extended far more and this was a good example as St John A’s Grant Timms, after an easily won opener against Thrapston’s Alan Tyler, gained his treble when winning out 11-7 in the fifth against both Chris Warliker and Ian Donaldson.

Tyler failed to register as Jon Perkins gained only his third win of the season (11-6, 12-10, 11-6).

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With Timms surprisingly out of the doubles, Warliker and Donaldson won out 11-5, 11-9, 11-6 over Boustred and Perkins to earn a 5-5 draw.

Results: Old Grammarians A 4 (Mick Ball, Steve Kendall 3) Wanderers B 6 (Paul Goodman, Stewart Williams 2, Bob Hickson 2, doubles Goodman/Williams), WDHA Royals 7 (Ethan Ali 3, Abin Islam 2, Virat Patel, doubles Ali/Islam) Chesterwell A 3 (Mike Pond 2, Stan Galkowski), Chesterwell B 5 (Graham Ellson 2, Luke Hughes 2, Carlton Ellwood) Higham Harriers A 5 (Graham Bird, Ian Bird 3, doubles Bird/Bird), St John A 5 (Jon Perkins, Pete Boustred, Grant Timms 3) Thrapston A 5 (Chris Warliker 2, Ian Donaldson 2, doubles Warliker/Donaldson).

St John B claimed a 10-0 win at Higham Harriers B to move to within five points of Division Two leaders Westfield B.

Only three games required more than three ends and St John’s maximum men were Mike Terry, David Hatherall and Alan Hill who was making a welcome return after being unwell over the holiday break.

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Higham Band A followed up last week’s narrow loss to the leaders with a solid 8-2 win against lowly Wanderers D.

Nigel Magee and Keith Stockley led the way with maximums and Pete Martin added a further two wins.

Graham Babbage gained the visitors’ only singles win in a thrilling five-set victory over Martin and was only denied a second win due to Magee’s tremendous fightback from being 8-0 down in the deciding end and fighting back to take the game 12-10.

Babbage finally teamed up with Roger Ellingham in the doubles to secure his side’s second point of the evening with another five-set victory over Higham’s two unbeaten players.

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Maxine Shears’ seventh successive treble and doubles for Stuart and Clare Coles saw Chesterwell C maintain their fine recent form and continue to challenge for league honours with an 8-2 victory at Westfield C.

Steve Fuller put up stout resistance for the home side with a creditable double and only just failed to defeat Shears, going down 11-7 in the deciding end.

Chesterwells’ regular doubles pairing of Shears and Clare Coles secured their team’s eighth point of the night with victory in three straight sets.

There was a close match as Wanderers C claimed a 6-4 win over Old Grammarians B, who had David Bayes making his season debut despite suffering with a serious eye problem.

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Unfortunately this proved to be too much of a handicap and he finished the night pointless.

James Findlay, Maurice Jones and Carl Singh all scored good doubles for Wanderers but none of them could get the better of OGs’ Martin Rice who secured a great treble.

He then paired up with Roger Fleming to take the doubles and gain the visitors’ fourth point of the evening.

Results: Higham Band A 8 (Nigel Magee 3, Keith Stockley 3, Pete Martin 2) Wanderers D 2 (Graham Babbage, doubles Ellingham/Babbage), Higham Harriers B 0

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St John B 10 (Mike Terry 3, Alan Hill 3, David Hatherall 3, doubles Terry/Hatherall),

Westfield C 2 (Steve Fuller 2) Chesterwell C 8 (Maine Shears 3, Stuart Coles 2, Clare Coles 2, doubles Shears/C Coles), Wanderers C 6 (James Findlay 2, Maurice Jones 2, Carl Singh 2) Old Grammarians B 4 (Martin Rice 3, doubles Rice/Fleming).