THE top three teams defeated the lower three teams in round 12 matches of the Sunraysia Table Tennis winter pennant.
However, the closeness of the competition was evident when top team Mallee Bearings struggled to get over the line against Regional Taxation Services, who sit at the bottom of the ladder with only two wins.
Joel Thomas was the standout player, winning his 33rd singles for the season.
It is hard to see his undefeated run coming to an end in this pennant year.
Thomas also controlled the two doubles victories.
Mallee Bearings No.2 Liam Wood sealed the win by defeating the tricky Edi Re to give the Bearings trio the 6-5 victory.
For RTS, Andrew Cannard and Mark Ljubic played well to win two singles each.
Ljubic and teammate Re scored two five-set singles victories, both 11-9 in the fifth, against Liam Wood and Daniel Jansen respectively.
Third-placed Tankard Dental had their hands full with the fourth-placed Choices Flooring Mildura; however, they were able to win three of the four five-set matches to record a solid 7-4 victory.
Tankard’s skipper Reece Kurrle won three singles, including an entertaining five-set win over fill-in Mark Dorman.
Kurrle’s teammate Jackson Murphy, who was also filling in, showed good form, winning two singles, his only blemish a 9-11 loss in the fifth to Dorman.
Tankard’s No.3 won a singles and participated in the second doubles victory to continue his solid season.
For Choices, Mark Dorman played well to win two singles while Ed Hung scored a very good four-set victory over opposite number Paul Kealley.
Cookes Pools & Spas, with their fourth victory in succession, consolidated second position on the ladder with a narrow 6-5 victory over fifth-placed Weightman’s Packaging.
Going into the second doubles, Cookes trailed 3-4 and their combination of Kate Carmichael and Russell Walder knew the four points were on the line against Jackson Tung and Lee Leeson.
This was an outstanding five-setter, with Carmichael and Walder winning in five to level the match at four rubbers all.
Carmichael and Tung then faced off in an important singles and it was Tung who raced out to a 6-1 lead before Carmichael reeled him in to take the first 11-8.
As usual between these two, there were some amazing rallies, but this time it was Carmichael who won in straight sets to notch up her third singles victory of the night.
Cookes took a 5-4 lead with Weightman’s Dylan Wood up against Casper McCarthy.
This proved to be an entertaining match between these two talented youngsters and it was McCarthy who took the points 11-8, 10-12, 11-9, 11-7 to allow Cookes the four points.
LADDER
Mallee Bearings 41
Cookes Pools & Spas 27
Tankard Dental 27
Choices Flooring Mildura 23
Weightman’s Packaging 20
Regional Taxation Services 9
RESULTS round 12:
PENNANT ONE:
Cookes Pools & Spas 6 (Kate Carmichael 3, Casper McCarthy 2) d Weightman’s Packaging 5 (Jackson Tung 2, Dylan Wood, Lee Leeson 1);
Tankard Dental 7 (Reece Kurrle 3, Jackson Murphy 2, Paul Kealley 1) d Choices Flooring Mildura 4 (Mark Dorman 2, Ed Hung 1);
Mallee Bearings 6 (Joel Thomas 3, Liam Wood 1) d Regional Taxation Services 5 (Andrew Cannard, Mark Ljubic 2. Edi Re 1).
PENNANT TWO:
Choices Flooring Mildura 7 (Jason Gifkins, Kevin Johns 2, Mark Cleary 1) d Pinnacle Packers 4 (Peter Midgley, John Fitzpatrick 2);
Mallee Meats 8 (Ashley Morrison 3, Rasin Bhuiyan 2, David Sergi 1) d Weightman’s Packaging 3 (Shane Carmichael 2, Quentin Clark 1);
Cookes Pools & Spas 10 (Tom Morrison, Josh Arnold 3, Marcus Cimino 2) d Mallee Bearings 1 Rasin Bhuiyan 1).
PENNANT THREE:
Weightman’s Packaging 8 (Ryan Peterson 3, Karly Leach 2, Hamish Smyth 1) d Exposed Signage/Apparel 3 (Wendy Simpson 2, Nick Kiapekos 1);
Sammy’s Slammers 6 (James Jarvis 3, Nhat Dat 1) d Regional Taxation Services 5 (Peter Fitzpatrick, Sam Campbell 2, Ted Cleary 1).
PENNANT FOUR:
Mallee Meats 7 d (Maria Starikov 3, Jenny Leach, Jake Hines 1) d Weightman’s Packaging 4 (Gary Leach, Curtis Crabtree 2);
Dunkley Scales 8 (Tom Gilmour, Deegan Kerslake 3,) d Tankard Dental 3 (Conner Burnett, Nathan Beard, Derek Hung 1).
