South Devon and Torbay Table Tennis League: Champions celebrate as they start campaign with 9-1 victory

Last season’s South Devon and Torbay Table Tennis League champions, NA Buzzards, started their campaign at Halwell with a 9-1 win over Halwell B, writes TONY HALSE.

Herbie Sage and Kevin Nicholls were both unbeaten, Rod Sugden denying the whitewash in an excellent five setter with Sonja Ryland.

Halwell A didn’t fare any better as they went down to a similar scoreline against NA Eagles - Halwell’s Chris Dunn collecting their solitary point with a 13-11 win in the fifth against Tim Burridge, Mark Burridge and Ian Callard with maximums for the Eagles.

Dan Webster-Hall and Bob Parkins both had maximums for NA Condors who just eased past a battling Brixham Sharks 6-4.

In Division Two, Brixham Gulls' first match ended in a narrow 6-4 victory over Dawlish Aces, Alan Maynard collecting a maximum for the Gulls.

Taverners, looking for a better season this time out, didn’t go too well at Torre, losing 9-1 to Torre Titans. The Titans’ Ed Crawford and Rhys Lush were unbeaten, Chris Garner just lost out in five to Martin Dilkes.

A Stuart Shipley maximum helped Torbay Academy 2 to an impressive 8-2 victory over Brixham Trawlers.

Two Newton Abbot sides couldn’t be separated as the Raptors and Owls played out a 5-5 draw, Matt Cyron was undefeated for the Owls.

The Division Three encounter between NA Kestrels and The Grove always looked like a draw as the lead changed four times in the match. Five sets went to a fifth game decider the other five were all comfortable three straight wins. David Pearson recorded a maximum for The Grove but had to work for it, coming back from 10-7 down in the fifth against Andy Millman.

In another very close encounter, Torbay Academy 3 and 5 could not be separated as they played out a 5-5 draw, Will Whittington was undefeated for Torquay Academy 5.

In another close encounter, NA Harriers just edged past Torre Vikings 6-4.

In an all-Torbay Academy encounter in Division Four, the experienced Torquay Academy 6 side whitewashed the newcomers to the league, Academy 7. Jean Neafcy, Jerry Hollings and Ann-Marie Gibbs bounced back from their first match defeat with a comprehensive victory just dropping one game in the doubles.

A Derek Stratton maximum helped his NA Kites to a 6-4 victory over the Dawlish Doubtfuls.

RESULTS

Division 1: Halwell B 1 (Sugden 1, Wadling 0, Dyson 0), NA Buzzards 9 (Sage 3, Nicholls 3, Ryland 2, Dbls)

NA Eagles 9 (M Burridge 3, Callard 3, T Burridge 2, Dbls), Halwell A 1 (Dunn 1, Smith 0, Mercer 0)

NA Condors 6 (Webster-Hall 3, Parkins 3, Thompson 0), Brixham Sharks 4 (Banham 1, Harper 1, Maynard 1, Dbls)

Division 2: Dawlish Aces 4 (Davies 2, Bellham 1, Girling 0, Dbls), Brixham Gulls 6 (Maynard 3, Edwards 2, Pack 1)

Torre Titans 9 (Crawford 3, Lush 3, Garner 2, Dbls), Taverners 1 (Dilkes 1, Harrop 0, Read 0)

Torbay Academy (2) 8 (S Shipley 3, N Shipley 2, Hoare 2, Dbls), Brixham Trawlers 2 (Johns 1, Saxby 1, Williamson 0)

NA Raptors 5 (Hine 2, Moffatt 2, Darch 0, Dbls), NA Owls 5 (M Cyron 3, Sage 1, W Cyron 1)

Division 3: NA Kestrels 5 (Millman 2, Freeman 2, Shears 0, Dbls), The Grove 5 (Pearson 3, Bowerman 1, Cornish 1)

Torbay Academy (3) 5 (Whittington 3, Damanskas 2, Collins 0), Torbay Academy (5) 5 (Mitranescu 2, Ichim 1, Payne 1, Dbls)

NA Harriers 6 (Fabian 2, Haslam 2, Copley 1, Dbls 1), Torre Vikings 4 (Holtham 2, Russell 2, Excell 0)

Division 4: Torbay Academy (6) 10 (Neafcy 3, Gibbs 3, Hollings 3, Dbls), Torbay Academy (7) 0 (Frost 0, Rodmell 0, Bednarkiewicz 0)

Dawlish Doubtfuls 4 (S Grim 1, M Grim 0, Ryan 0, Awarded 3), NA Kites 6 (Stratton 3, Northcott 2, Dbls).