MALLEE Bearings and Regional Taxation Services advanced to Wednesday night’s Sunraysia Table Tennis Summer Pennant grand final after strong performances in the knockout semi-finals.
Mallee Bearings, with Wayne Carmichael again in excellent form, overcame a strong start to account for Max Miller Carpets 6-3. The Carpeters won two of the first three singles in three sets courtesy of Liam Wood and skipper Arhuang Lau, however from that point the Bearings’ trio took control to win five of the next six matches.
Bearings’ skipper Carmichael was on fire, breezing through victories in his three singles including a 15-8, 15-12 win over the talented Lau.
Both doubles were controlled by Carmichael when he teamed up with Reece Kurrle and Quentin Clark respectively.
Despite going down, the Carpeters’ trio of Lau, Liam Wood and Ed Hung should be satisfied with their season.
In the other semi-final, Regional Taxation Services reversed a recent loss to Cookes Pools & Spas to win 6-4 in a hard-fought match.
Three matches were decided in three sets and they were all won narrowly by RTS. For the victors, Jackson Tung won three singles including a top class victory over Kate Carmichael, who earlier in the week had taken out the prestigious Super 8s singles crown, the first female to do so.
Tung took the first game before Carmichael fought back to level at one-all. In the deciding set, Tung was able to maintain a narrow lead going on to win 15-10, 12-15, 15-11 to take his team to within one victory from a grand final berth.
In the next match, Cookes Jackson Murphy was out of the blocks early and with some outstanding forehands took the first set 15-7 against Leon Brown. But Brown steadied to win the following two games and take his team to the grand final. Brown had offered great support to his captain Tung by winning two singles and together they won the first doubles 15-9, 8-15, 15-13 over Kate Carmichael and Murphy.
The grand final should be tight as head-to-head results are one each with a 6-5 scoreline each time. Ladder leader Mallee Bearings scored their win in round 6 when number two Reece Kurrle won three singles. Could he be the key?
Semi-final results:
PENNANT 1: Mallee Bearings 6 (Wayne Carmichael 3, Reece Kurrle 1) d Max Miller Carpets 3 (Arhuang Lau 2, Liam Wood 1); Regional Taxation Services 6 (Jackson Tung 3, Leon Brown 2) d Cookes Pools & Spas 4 (Kate Carmichael 2, Jackson Murphy 1). Mallee Bearings v Regional Taxation Services in the grand final.
PENNANT 2: Pinnacle Packers 6 (Daniel Jansen 2, Rasin Bhuiyan, David Sergi 1) d Max Miller Carpets 3 (Jamie Kealley 2, Jordan Cole 1); Weightman’s Packaging 6 (Jeremy Corrin 3, Shaun Gifford 2) d Mallee Meats 3 (Terry Martin, Tom Morrison 1). Pinnacle Packers v Weightman’s Packaging in the grand final.
PENNANT 3: Exposed Signage/Apparel 6 (Nhat Dat 2, Steve Parker, Wendy Simpson 1) d Mallee Meats 3 (Riley Clemence 2, Koby Grace 1); Weightman’s Packaging 6 (Karly Leach 2, Glenn Leeson, Dianne Hannig 1) d Sammy’s Slammers 2 (Nick Kiapekos, Leo Parker 1); Exposed Signage/Apparel v Weightman’s Packaging in the grand final.
PENNANT 4: Dunkley Scales 9 (Katrina Clifford, Brandt Dolic 3, Oliver Bremner 1) d Mallee Meats 2 (Maria Starikov, Selma Mayne 1); Tankard Dental 6 (Nathan Beard 2, Curtis Crabtree, Derek Hung 1) d Weightman’s Packaging 2 (Tom Gilmour 2); Dunkley Scales v Tankard Dental in the grand final.
