DESPITE a two-week school holiday break players came back in good form for round five of the Sunraysia Table Tennis Association pennant.
This round featured the clash of the two top teams, Choices Flooring Mildura and Mallee Bearings.
Both number one players Joel Thomas and Wayne Carmichael were undefeated in the singles aggregate; however, the unavailable Carmichael was replaced in the Choices line-up by Shannon Bowen.
Leon Brown and teammate Bowen defeated respective opponents Liam Wood and Daniel Jansen to give Choices a good start.
Joel Thomas then, as expected, defeated Ed Hung.
The all-important first doubles was an outstanding match in which it was the Bearings duo of Thomas and Wood who outlasted Bowen and Brown to win 11-8 12-14 11-9 6-16 16-14 in a thriller.
The second block of three singles was without surprises and now the second doubles was vital to both teams.
Thomas and Jansen for Mallee Bearings won the first game against Bowen and Hung, this was a tight affair the whole way and in the end the Choices pair of Bowen and Hung prevailed in another doubles thriller 11-9 in the fifth.
Choices Flooring Mildura now took a 5-3 lead.
Thomas arrested the position with a straight-sets win over Bowen and then it was Wood who defeated Ed Hung 11-9 in the fifth to level the match at five rubbers all.
Brown then capped off a good night by winning his second singles 11-9 11-9 13-11 against the hardworking Jansen. Victory had come despite Thomas winning his three singles for Mallee Bearings and remaining undefeated in 15 singles matches over the season.
Tankard Dental extracted their third victory on the trot to move to second place on the ladder.
Despite losing comfortably in his singles clash against opposing number one Kate Carmichael, Reece Kurrle enjoyed a successful night, winning the remaining two singles as well as matching up with team mates Thanh Nguyenn and Paul Kealley to win both doubles.
Nguyen again won two singles while Kealley won one and went oh so close against Casper McCarthy.
Kealley held five match points in the fifth set before McCarthy closed out the match 2-11 11-8 11-9 8-11 15-13.
For Cookes Pools and Spas, Kate Carmichael won three singles but the doubles was the issue.
The highlight of this round was the first victory by Regional Taxation Services, who were able to defeat Weightmans Packaging 7-4 in a solid team effort.
For the victors Rohan Reimers continued his consistent season by winning two singles, as did skipper Andrew Cannard, playing a key role given that he also participated in both close five-set doubles victories.
New player Edi Re also played his part, defeating Lee Leeson in four sets and partnering Cannard in the important second doubles victory.
For Weightmans Jackson Tung won three singles and his match against Andrew Cannard was a highlight with many fine rallies.
Tung won 9-11 11-7 11-9 7-11 11-7.
Sunraysia Table Tennis 2024 Winter Pennant results Round 5
PENNANT 1
Tankard Dental 7 (Reece Kurrle, Thanh Nguyen 2, Paul Kealley 1) d Cookes Pools & Spas 4 (Kate Carmichael 3, Casper McCarthy 1);
Choices Flooring Mildura 6 (Shannon Bowen 3, Leon Brown 2, Ed Hung 1) d Mallee Bearings 5 (Joel Thomas 3, Liam Wood 1);
Regional Taxation Services 7 (Andrew Cannard, Rohan Reimers 2, Edi Re 1) d Weightmans Packaging 4 (Jackson Tung 3, Dylan Wood 1)
PENNANT 2
Pinnacle Packers 6 (Peter Midgley 3, Andrew Jones, John Fitzpatrick 1) d Cookes Pools & Spas 5 (Tom Morrison 2, Michael Hensgen, Marcus Cimino 1);
Weightmans Packaging 5 (Quentin Clark 3, Riley Clemence 1) d Choices Flooring Mildura 4 (Jason Gifkins, Harry Gujral 2);
Mallee Bearings 6 (Jamie Kealley 3, Sony Sefer, Luca Capizzoto 1) d Mallee Meats 5 (Ashley Morrison 2, Josh Arnold, David Sergi 1)
PENNANT 3
Regional Taxation Services 9 (Peter Fitzpatrick, Sabrina Fitzpatrick 3, Sam Campbell 1) d Mallee Meats 2 (Karly Leach, Glenn Leeson 1);
Sammy’s Slammers 6 (James Jarvis 3, Nhat Dat, Hayden Wilson 1) d Exposed Signage/Apparel 5 (Marita Grace, Nick Kiapekos 2)
PENNANT 4
Tankard Dental 9 (Koby Grace, Mark Ljubic 3, Conner Burnett 1) d Dunkley Scales 2 (Tom Gilmour, Deegan Kerslake 1);
Weightmans Packaging 6 (Curtis Crabtree 3, Gary Leach, Raj Gujral 1) d Mallee Meats 5 (Maria Starikov, Jenny Leach 2)
