THE highlight of round fifteen matches of the Sunraysia Table Tennis winter pennant was the singles match between father Paul Kealley against his son Jamie when ladder leader Regional Taxation Services met fourth placed Cooke’s Pools and Spas.
The two Kealleys stepped up to the table at a time when Cooke’s trailed 4-5 and when Paul won the first game and then the third his teammates were thinking, could they level at five rubbers all and potentially cause a boil over by defeating the ladder leader.
Both players possess powerful forehands, Paul a leftie and Jamie a right hander.
Spectators witnessed an outstanding match with both players retrieving some ferocious forehands.
Seventeen-year-old Jamie has had a very consistent season, however stumbled against his father when they last met. This time it proved to be a different result.
Despite Paul having his chances in the fourth it was Jamie that held his nerve winning 7-11, 11-9, 8-11, 12-10, 13-11 , what a win.
With this victory Jamie banked the four points for RTS and they now sit at the head of the ladder sixteen points clear of second place.
As they have done several times this season the RTS trio of Matt Ljubic, Jamie Kealley and Thanh Nguyen won three, two and one singles respectively. They are certainly hot favourites to go all the way this season.
Mallee Bearings ensured they retained second place on the ladder with a solid 7-4 victory over fifth team Tankard Dental.
Losing both doubles was costly for Tankards while Bearings skipper Arhuang Lau again showed excellent form winning three singles including a straight sets victory over Kate Carmichael.
The highlight match in this contest was a five-setter won by Tankard fill in Edi Re over the experienced Mark Dorman.
It was no surprise when Dorman took a two games to one lead, however Re who has shown a big improvement since he began last season was able to level at two games all.
He then was able to grab the initiative in the fifth and maintain the edge to go on and win 7-11, 9-11, 3-11, 11-7, 11-5.
With a further 7-4 result, third placed Weightmans Packaging proved too consistent for sixth placed Choices Flooring Mildura who battled hard but could not match Weightmans strong finish.
With the scores at four rubbers all the Choices combination of Wayne Carmichael and fill in Marcus Cimino had just defeated Weightmans pair Shannon Bowen and Lee Leeson in four sets to give the Choices trio a chance of victory.
Weightmans then ignited when skipper Shannon Bowen started strongly against aggregate leader Wayne Carmichael and closed this match out in three sets.
This was Bowen’s best win for the season and the fourth occasion he has won three singles.
Buoyed by Bowen’s excellent win Weightmans went on to win the remaining two singles in a strong finish.
With one round to play before the finals is he peaking just at the right time?
Bowen’s teammates Reece Kurrle and Lee Leeson showed good support winning two and one singles respectively.
Despite his singles loss to Bowen, Wayne Carmichael looks set to win the singles aggregate for the umpteenth time as he leads Matt Ljubic by three with one round to play.Sunraysia Table Tennis 2025 Winter Pennant results Round 15: –
PENNANT ONE: – Weightmans Packaging 7 (Shannon Bowen 3, Reece Kurrle 2, Lee Leeson 1) d Choices Flooring Mildura 4 (Wayne Carmichael 2, Marcus Cimino 1); Regional Taxation Services 7 (Matt Ljubic 3, Jamie Kealley 2, Thanh Nguyen 1) d Cookes Pools & Spas 4 (Jackson Tung 2, Paul Kealley 1); Mallee Bearings 7 (Arhuang (Wong) Lau 3, Mark Dorman, Lee Leeson 1) d Tankard Dental 4 (Kate Carmichael, Edi Re 2)
PENNANT TWO: – Mallee Meats 7 (Harry Gujral 3, Jason Gifkins 2, James Jarvis 1) d Choices Flooring Mildura 4 (Ashley Morrison 2, Sony Sefer 1); Weightmans Packaging 7 (John Fitzpatrick 3, Sony Sefer, Therese Fitzpatrick 1) d Cookes Pools & Spas 4 (Duy Truong, Michael Tan 2)
PENNANT THREE: – Weightmans Packaging 6 (Steve Parker 3, Nhat Dat 2) d Regional Taxation Services 5 (Sam Campbell 2, Sabrina Fitzpatrick, Hayden Wilson 1); Exposed Signage/Apparel 6 (Karly Leach 3, Deegan Kerslake 2) d Sammy’s Slammers 5 (Sam Campbell 2, Ryan Hensgen, Yen Hwak 1)
PENNANT FOUR: – Tankard Dental 6 (Leanne Wilson 3, Helen Wall 1) d Dunkley Scales 5 (Maria Starikov, Wendy Simpson 2, Jake Hines 1); Weightmans Packaging 9 (Eddy Parker 3, Tom Gilmour, Glenn Leeson 2) d Mallee Bearings 2 (Curtis Crabtree 2)LADDERS ROUND 15
PENANNT 1
Regional Taxation Services 52
Mallee Bearings 36
Weightmans Packaging 32
Cookes Pools & Spas 32
Tankard Dental 16
Choices Flooring Mildura 12
PENANNT 2
Mallee Meats 36
Choices Flooring Mildura 28
Weightmans Packaging 28
Cookes Pools & Spas 16
Pinnacle Packers 12
PENNANT 3
Weightmans Packaging 52
Exposed Signage/Apparel 44
Regional Taxation Services 20
Sammy’s Slammers 04
PENNANT 4
Tankard Dental 52
Weightmans Packaging 44
Mallee Meats 16
Dunkley Scales 08
For further information on Table Tennis contact Gavin Carmichael 0408 237 907.
