AFTER remaining undefeated for the first six rounds, Weightman’s Packaging have faltered in round 7 of the Sunraysia Table Tennis pennant.
Tankard Dental had been languishing on the bottom of the ladder after losing their previous three contests, however an excellent team performance by Rohan Reimers, Paul Kealley and Jamie Kealley – who each won two singles – helped knocked off the top team.
Reimers and Jamie Kealley recovered in the second doubles from a 1-2 game deficit against experienced pair Wayne Carmichael and Lee Leeson to win 11-8 5-11 8-11 11-5 11-9, to give Tankards a solid 7-4 victory.
For the winning team, 15-year-old Jamie Kealley continued his consistent form and is the leading No.3 player in the competition, while skipper Rohan Reimers showed his best results for some time.
Mallee Bearings received a scare from Cookes Pools & Spas before holding on to win 6-5 and retain second place on the ladder by percentage.
Cookes fill-in Edi Re caused an upset early and gave his side a big chance when he played superbly to defeat Bearings skipper Jackson Tung in straight sets in an excellent match of hard hitting and great defence.
Earlier, Tung was running second on the singles aggregate, while Re played as a No.3 in the recent winter pennant.
Re has improved immensely and this can partly be attributed to his solid practice over the past few months, during which Tung has been his hitting partner.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Tung, who went on to win two singles and partner teammates Liam Wood and Tom Morrison to success in both doubles.
In a strange twist both Wood and Morrison would defeat Re in their singles to ensure victory for their team.
For Cookes, Mark Dorman continued his consistency by winning two singles and he is equal third on the singles aggregate.
After back-to-back losses, Regional Taxation Services bounced back to defeat Choices Flooring Mildura 7-4.
The Choices team were on a two-match winning streak after a slow start to the season, however Regional Taxation Services raced to a 7-2 lead before Choices won the last two singles in five sets to gain some respectability on the scoreboard.
Kate Carmichael led her team well, winning three singles and a brace of doubles with teammates Thanh Nguyen and fill-in Marcus Cimino.
Nguyen was the star, in the first game defeating No.3 Daniel Jansen in a tough three-setter before he caused the biggest upset in this match by defeating opposing skipper Reece Kurrle, 11-5 9-11 11-5 11-7, an outstanding display of concentration against his hard-hitting opponent.
Nguyen partnered Carmichael in the first doubles against talented pair Kurrle and Leon Brown.
After being a close hard-fought match for the first four games, Nguyen and Carmichael dominated the fifth, winning 11-2.
In his final singles Nguyen took the table against Brown in a marathon match.
Late in the fifth Nguyen held three match points before Brown was able to steady and win 12-10 6-11 11-9 10-12 13-11.
For Choices Flooring, Brown had fought hard to win two singles to be the best performer for his team.
Round 7 results:
PENNANT 1:
Mallee Bearings 6 (Jackson Tung, Liam Wood 2 Tom Morrison 1) d Cookes Pools & Spas 5 (Mark Dorman 2, Ed Hung, Edi Re 1);
Regional Taxation Services 7 (Kate Carmichael 3, Thanh Nguyen 2) d Choices Flooring Mildura 4 (Leon Brown 2, Daniel Jansen, Reece Kurrle 1);
Tankard Dental 7 (Rohan Reimers, Paul Kealley, Jamie Kealley 2) d Weightman’s Packaging 4 (Wayne Carmichael 3)
PENNANT 2:
Pinnacle Packers 6 (Rasin Bhuiyan 3, David Sergi, Therese Fitzpatrick 1) d Weightman’s Packaging 5 (Josh Arnold, Harry Gujral 2);
Mallee Meats 7 (John Fitzpatrick 3, Mark Cleary 2) d Cookes Pools & Spas 4 (Ashley Morrison 2, David Sergi, Nhat Dat 1)
PENNANT 3:
Dunkley Scales 7 (Koby Grace, Hayden Wilson, Ildi Healy 2) d Exposed Signage/Apparel 4 (Steve Parker 3);
Mallee Meats 7 (Karly Leach 3, Curtis Crabtree, Jenny Leach 1) d Sammy’s Slammers 4 (Sam Campbell, Deegan Kerslake 2);
Weightman’s Packaging 8 (Nick Kiapekos 3, Maria Starikov 2, Gary Leach 1) d Regional Taxation Services 3 (Tom Gilmour 2, Hwak Beh 1)
LADDER
Weightman’s Packaging 24
Mallee Bearings 16
Regional Taxation Services 16
Tankard Dental 12
Cookes Pools & Spas 8
Choices Flooring Mildura 8
