0
0
Sunraysia Table Tennis Winter Pennant results round 14: –
PENNANT ONE: –
Max Miller Carpets 6 (Rick McMeekin 3, Shane Carmichael 2 Sony Sefer 1) d Fishers IGA 5 (Gavin Carmichael 2, Darren Robinson 1)
Mallee Bearings 6 (Mark Dorman, Ali Taheri 2, Graeme O’Neill 1) d Pinnacle Packers 5 (Wayne Carmichael 3, Kevin Johns 1)
Bishop Builders 6 (Shannon Bowen 3, Brodie Thomas, Arthur Paar 1) d Weightmans Packaging 5 (Mark Ljubic, Andrew Cannard 2)
PENNANT TWO: –
Tankard Dental 8 (Nicholas Dorman 3, Bernadette Fitzpatrick 2, Peter Fitzpatrick 1) d Pinnacle Packers 3 (Matt Ljubic 2, Seval Fuat 1)
Spanline 7 (Geoff Wright 3, George Papanicolaou, Arnold Jago 1) d Fishers IGA 4 (Andrew Jones, Lee Thomas 2)
PENNANT THREE: –
Weightmans Packaging 6 (Peter Kelly 3, Roy Cubit, Ben Hosking 1) d Bishop Builders 5 (Claire Ljubic, Graham Southwell 2)
Pinnacle Packers 6 (Karly Leach 3, Mick Bacon 2) d Mallee Bearings 5 (Sabrina Fitzpatrick 2, Michael Hensgen, Peter Edwards 1)
Dunkley Scales 7 (Jessica Dorman, Leonie Dunkley 3) d Fishers IGA 4 (Ryan Hensgen, Sam Hensgen, Jeff Hards 1)
Fishers IGA player of the round: Geoff Wright
The feature of all pennant one matches was that results were decided by a score line of six rubbers to five in round fourteen action of the Sunraysia Table Tennis winter pennant. With only one round to play before the finals there were significant results in shaping the final four.
PENNANT ONE:
Mallee Bearings 6 (Mark Dorman, Ali Taheri 2, Graeme O’Neill 1) d Pinnacle Packers 5 (Wayne Carmichael 3, Kevin Johns 1)
The big winners were Mallee Bearings who were just hanging on to fourth spot going into this round. With a solid 6-5 win over Pinnacle Packers who were at the head of the ladder Mallee Bearings have now cemented their spot in the top four. The decider in this match was the second doubles when Mallee Bearings pair Mark Dorman and Ali Taheri recovered from a two games to one deficit to win 11-9 in the fifth over Wayne Carmichael and Kevin Johns. This victory gave them a 5-3 lead and when Taheri accounted for Peter Midgley in straight sets he had assured his team a finals berth.
It was encouraging to see Kevin Johns take part in this match filling in for John Gray who is enjoying a rest before the finals with a tour through Europe. Kev has had health issues to battle of late and it was a highlight to see his trademark forehands and determination back on the table not to mention several of his customary nets and edges.
For the Packers Wayne Carmichael won three singles for the twelfth time in fourteen rounds and he goes into the final round leading the singles aggregate by one from Rick McMeekin.
Max Miller Carpets 6 (Rick McMeekin 3, Shane Carmichael 2 Sony Sefer 1) d Fishers IGA 5 (Gavin Carmichael 2, Darren Robinson 1)
On centre court Max Miller Carpets grabbed victory from the jaws of defeat against Fishers IGA and in doing so moved to the top of the ladder albeit by percentage from Pinnacle Packers. This was an impressive win by the Carpeters as late in the match they trailed 3-5 with the last block of three singles to be played. Earlier in the contest Fishers had moved into a potential winning position by tasting success in both doubles. The second doubles was a highlight as Ash Morrison and Gavin Carmichael for Fishers outlasted Rick McMeekin 11-9 11-7 8-11 8-11 11-9 allowing Fishers to lead 5-3 however this was where Max Miller Carpets stopped the rot. Rick McMeekin accounted for Gavin Carmichael as expected and then Carpeter’s 
Shane Carmichael recorded a first ever victory over Darren Robinson in a five set slog 9-11 11-9 6-11 11-7 11-8 a tremendous come from behind win. In the last Sony Sefer recovered from a 0-11 loss in the second against Ash Morrison to win in four and give the Carpeters a crucial win in what had been a stirring comeback.
Bishop Builders 6 (Shannon Bowen 3, Brodie Thomas, Arthur Paar 1) d Weightmans Packaging 5 (Mark Ljubic, Andrew Cannard 2)
In the remaining match on the stage court Bishop Builders ended Weightmans Packaging finals chances with an exciting 6-5 win. Shannon Bowen for the Builders showed the way with three singles wins. Bowen remained cool in the highlight match against opposing skipper Mark Ljubic recovering from two match points in the fourth to win in a tremendous five set struggle 10-12 11-4 7-11 14-12 11-7. 
Earlier Bowen survived in another five set tussle this time with Andrew Cannard. A slip up by Bowen would have seen Weightmans take the points and still have an opportunity to make the four with one round to play but alas it was not to be despite leading 3-1 and 4-2 at different stages during the contest.
Great to see Brodie Thomas making a return to the STTA and he showed he had not lost much touch when he filled in for the injured Jackson Tung. A real highlight was when Brodie played Mark Ljubic in front of his adoring entourage who applauded loudly each time he won a point. Great to see the crowd amongst the action!!!
PENNANT TWO:
Tankard Dental dominated Pinnacle Packers in an 8-3 win, and Spanline was too good against a depleted Fishers IGA side.
Tankard Dental 8 (Nicholas Dorman 3, Bernadette Fitzpatrick 2, Peter Fitzpatrick 1) d Pinnacle Packers 3 (Matt Ljubic 2, Seval Fuat 1)
Tankard Dental racked up their fourteenth win from fourteen starts in this match against Pinnacle Packers.
Only Matt Ljubic with two wins, and Seval Fuat with one, could stop the avalanche of rubbers going to the Tankard end of the table.
Tankard Dental captain Nicholas Dorman once again took three wins, his only real opposition coming in his match against Matt Ljubic. Starting nervously, he dropped the first set to Ljubic 6-11, played little better in the second, but was able to take it 11-8, then settled into his game taking the third and fourth comfortably 4 and 5.
Bernadette Fitzpatrick backed up her captain with two wins, and Peter Fitzpatrick chipped in with one.
This Tankard side has been strong in doubles all year, and this game was no exception, Dorman and Peter Fitzpatrick taking the first one in four sets, and Dorman and Bernadette surprisingly needing only three against Ljubic and Fuat.
Clearly the side to beat in the finals, Tankard stormed home in this game, taking the last four rubbers, when leading 4-3.
Final scores: 8 rubbers to 3 and 27 games to 12.
Spanline 7 (Geoff Wright 3, George Papanicolaou, Arnold Jago 1) d Fishers IGA 4 (Andrew Jones, Lee Thomas 2)
Spanline have been denied wins this year, when it seemed at times that the game was theirs. This week they took a well deserved victory against Fishers IGA.
Fishers were without two regular players, and had the services of former Pennant One player, Lee Thomas, along with past Pennant Two player Karina Sullivan.
But the stand-out player was Spanline number three Geoff Wright. 
Wright took no prisoners, defeating opposing captain Andrew Jones in four sets, and then straight sets wins against Thomas and Sullivan. He also paired with captain Arnold Jago to take a close five set win in the first doubles against Jones and Thomas. It’s hard to see Geoff staying at number three for too much longer !!
Wright’s captain Arnold Jago could only manage one win, against Sullivan, as did number George Papanicolaou.
Significantly, Fishers took both doubles, to give the team a confidence boosting 7 rubbers to 4 win.
For Fishers, both Andrew Jones and Lee Thomas took two wins; both wins against Jago and Papanicolaou, but they were no match for the hard-hitting Geoff Wright.
Final scores: 7 rubbers to 4 and 24 games to 15.
PENNANT THREE:
Upsets were the order of things for this round of play in Round 14. Wooden Spooners Dunkley Scales trounced Fishes IGA, who sit second on the ladder; and Pinnacle Packers, fifth on the ladder, after a great start in this match, were too goodand won 6-5 against ladder leaders Mallee Bearings.
Weightmans Packaging 6 (Peter Kelly 3, Roy Cubit, Ben Hosking 1) d Bishop Builders 5 (Claire Ljubic, Graham Southwell 2)
In the last few round of this Winter Pennant, Bishop Builders have looked threatening. After picking up a couple of wins, it appeared they might steal third spot from their opponents in this game, Weightmans Packaging. But how quickly things turn around !! With a loss here and the team immediately below them, Pinnacle Packers winning, putting those two teams equal on points, Bishop Builders could miss out on the finals altogether !!
For all that, this was a close game, and it was decided in the final rubber.
Weightmans Packiging captain, Peter Kelly led his team well, winning three singles, and one doubles. His team-mates Roy Cubit and Ben Hosking kept the score ticking over with one singles each.
Kelly was extended in two of his matches – Graham Southwell stole the first set of his match before Kelly got going, and in the final round of singles, opposing captain Claire Ljubic put up a good fight at the start and end of the match to go down 12-10, 4-11, 3-11, 12-14. Cubit and Hosking both defeated Sosefa Fevaleaki, but these two were in turn defeated by Ljubic and Southwell, to snare four rubbers for the Builders.
Ljubic and Southwell gave their side a chance in the match when they took the first doubles against their opposite numbers Kelly and Cubit. Later in the night however, Kelly and Hosking got their revenge, downing Ljubic and Fevaleaki in three easy sets.
Come the eleventh rubber, the score was 5 all and the two number three’s Hosking for Weightmans and Fevaleaki for Bishop Builders were left to determine the overall result. The match was close, and Fevaleaki almost forced his opponent to a fifth set decider. 
Hosking took the first and third sets 11-8, 11-7, and Fevaleaki took the second 11-3, and narrowly lost the fourth 12-10.
A narrow win, 6 rubbers to 5 and 21 games to 18, and Weightmans, two games clear of Bishop Builders, are now in a secure third spot on the ladder with only one round to play.
Pinnacle Packers 6 (Karly Leach 3, Mick Bacon 2) d Mallee Bearings 5 (Sabrina Fitzpatrick 2, Michael Hensgen, Peter Edwards 1)
Pinnacle Packers are in a grim fight for fourth spot on the ladder with Bishop Builders and obviously need every win they can get. With both teams at full strength here, this match proved they are genuine finals material.
Mallee Bearings captain Sabrina Fitzpatrick has had a great season, and led the aggregate for much of it, but in this match, Karly Leach took the ascendency and steered her team to this win.
Playing at number two, Leach snared three important singles wins. Against the opposing number three Peter Edwards, she terminated the match after three sets. Against Sabrina, she needed only four sets, and the hardest match was saved to last. Michael Hensgen put up a great fight to go down in 5 sets. Hensgen was up two sets to one, but could not hold on. That win, in the tenth rubber, gave the Packers the match.
Karly and her captain Mick Bacon had earlier taken the first doubles, a match in which the Mallee Bearings team of Fitzpatrick and Hensgen seemed to have the running at the end of the fourth set. Bacon and Leach took the first two close sets 15-13 and 14-12, before the Mallee Bearings duo took control of the next two, winning 11-9 in the third, and a runaway 11-1 in the fourth. Leach and Bacon recovered their composure for the fifth and made a fight of it, getting the better of their opponents to win 12-10.
The other two rubbers for the victors came from Bacon; he downed Hensgen and Edwards.
This win puts the Packers equal on 24 points with Bishop Builders in the contest for the all important fourth spot on the ladder.
Dunkley Scales 7 (Jessica Dorman, Leonie Dunkley 3) d Fishers IGA 4 (Ryan Hensgen, Sam Hensgen, Jeff Hards 1)
Dunkley Scales have up until this game only recorded two wins in this Winter Pennant. They have, however, come close to winning on many occasions. So this win is not really a surprise.
Fishers IGA were without their captain Cole Keegan and their number three Helen Frania, replaced by Ryan Hensgen and Jeff Hards respectively.
Dunkley’s captain Jessica Dorman and her number two Leonie Dunkley took advantage of Fishers weakened side, recording three wins apiece. Dorman was untroubled in her three singles, winning all in three sets. And Dunkley only dropped one set on her way to three wins, too. These two form players then teamed up in the first doubles to down Fishers’ Ryan and Sam Hensgen in four sets.
For Fishers, their three rubbers all came in a singles win over Dunkley’s Shirley Whitecross.
Final scores 7 rubbers to 4 and 23 games to 14.
Cole Keegan looks to have the aggregate tied up, he has 33 games, two games clear of second, which is now occupied by three players. Sabrina Fitzpatrick led the aggregate for much of the competition before being overhauled by Keegan. She is now in danger of losing second spot to Jessica Dorman and/or Karly Leach, both of whom had big wins this week, bagging three games apiece.
