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Sunraysia Table Tennis Winter Pennant results Preliminary Finals: –
PENNANT ONE:
– Pinnacle Packers 6 (Shannon Bowen 3, Shane Carmichael 2) d Mallee Bearings 4 (Wayne Carmichael 2, Jackson Murphy 1)
Grand Final: Weightmans Packaging vs. Pinnacle Packers
PENNANT TWO:
– Fishers IGA 6 (Sony Sefer 2, Colin Moore, Seval Fuat 1) d Mallee Bearings 5 (Ashley Morrison 3, Trevor Gebert 2)
Grand Final: Spanline vs. Fishers IGA
PENNANT THREE:
– Weightmans Packaging 6 (Darren Greaves, Lachlan Kelly 2 d Fishers IGA 4 (Peter Kelly 3, Vaughan Waters 1)
Grand Final: Max Miller Carpets vs. Weightmans Packaging
PENNANT FOUR:
– Mallee Bearings 6 (Leonie Dunkley, Ellie Midgley 2) d Fishers IGA 2 (Ryan Hensgen, Helen Frania 1)
Grand Final: Max Miller Carpets vs. Mallee Bearings
PENNANT ONE
Pinnacle Packers have continued their amazing late season run with a strong 6-4 victory over Mallee Bearings to advance to the Sunraysia Table Tennis pennant one grand final. Their grand final opponents Weightmans Packaging are in for a tough contest and this match will go right to the wire with respective skippers Mark Dorman for Weightmans and Pinnacle Packers skipper Shannon Bowen being the keys to their team’s chances to be 2012 premiers.
Grand Final: Weightmans Packaging vs. Pinnacle Packers
– Pinnacle Packers 6 (Shannon Bowen 3, Shane Carmichael 2) d Mallee Bearings 4 (Wayne Carmichael 2, Jackson Murphy 1)
In the preliminary final Packers Shannon Bowen continued his amazing singles run again winning three singles. His 11-7 8-11 11-7 10-12 16-14 victory over aggregate winner Wayne Carmichael was a major blow for Mallee Bearings. 
Bowen is now undefeated in his past eighteen singles matches and if he can maintain this form for one more match his team are a chance. Bowen received good support from team mate Shane Carmichael who won two singles. He defeated Ed Hung in four sets in the first match of the night to give his team a good start and then with the Packers leading 5-4 Carmichael defeated Jackson Murphy 4-11 11-9 12-10 13-11 to take his team to the grand final. Carmichael had lost earlier encounters with both these players but timed his run well in these two matches.
Earlier in the knock out final Mallee Bearings youngster Jackson Murphy had taken his team to a four rubbers to three lead and seemingly in a reasonably strong position when he defeated the experienced Kevin Johns in four sets. From this point the Packers won the second doubles courtesy of the in form Bowen and Kevin Johns when they defeated Wayne Carmichael and Murphy 11-7 6-11 11-9 13-11.
With the score now at four rubbers all Bowen accounted for Wayne Carmichael in a lengthy five setter, his second victory over Carmichael in the past three weeks,
and when Shane Carmichael defeated Murphy it was all over and Pinnacle Packers had made a Lazarus like recovery to come from the bottom of the ladder only two weeks ago to now playing off in the grand final.
Ladder leaders Weightmans Packaging deserve flag favouritism however Pinnacle Packers have peaked at the perfect time and now all is set for a thrilling finale to the season.
PENNANT TWO
– Fishers IGA 6 (Sony Sefer 2, Colin Moore, Seval Fuat 1) d Mallee Bearings 5 (Ashley Morrison 3, Trevor Gebert 2)
Grand Final: Spanline vs. Fishers IGA
FISHERS IGA v. MALLEE BEARINGS
Fishers IGA earned the right to play Spanline in the 2012 Sunraysia Table Tennis Association Pennant Grand Final after a keenly contested Preliminary Final with Mallee Bearings. A good all round team performance, which included victories in both doubles, brought victory to the Fishers trio of Sony Sefer, Seval Fuat and Colin Moore in the very last rubber of the match.
Fishers jumped to an early three rubbers to one lead, and the pressure was then on the Mallee Bearings team to play catch-up for the rest of the evening.
Ashley Morrison started the night well for the Bearings side, in a four set match win against his opposite number Seval Fuat. Fuat took the first 11-9, but from then on Morrison was in command 11-6, 11-9, 11-8. The two number three’s then played off, Peter Fitzpatrick starting confidently, to take the first set 11-4, but his opponent Colin Moore thereafter took control, winning the last three 11-6, 11-5, 11-8. Sony Sefer took early control of his match in the next rubber against Mallee Bearings number one Trevor Gebert, and dictated terms throughout, winning 11-7, 11-5, 11-8. The first doubles between the Fishers pair of Sefer and Fuat struck the third blow defeating Morrison and Gebert. The Fishers pair took the first set 11-7, Morrison and Gebert fought hard to take the second 14-12, but after that Sefer and Fuat hit their stride and took the third and fourth 11-5, 11-4.
Mallee Bearings then set about trying to repair the damage. Morrison returned immediately to the table to take a straight sets win over Colin Moore. Moore was playing well, and although this was over in three sets, he made Morrison earn the win, particularly in the first two sets. Morrison won 11-9, 11-9, 11-5.
Gebert followed this up with a five set win against Seval Fuat. Fuat led the match after three sets 6-11, 11-9, 11-8 and was posing Gebert problems. However, Gebert stuck to his game of top spin drives, and it bore fruit in the last two sets which he took to take the match, 11-8, 11-4.
This made the score three rubbers all, and Mallee Bearings were back in the hunt.
An easy victory by Sefer over Fitzpatrick, gave the lead immediately back to Fishers, ahead of the second doubles, which saw Sefer and Moore team up against Morrison and Fitzpatrick. This was a most important match in view of the scoreline, and Mallee Bearings found themselves in the same position as the week prior at this stage of the contest. A win for the Bearings side would level the score at four all, and the possibility of wins to Morrison and Gebert in the final round of singles would clinch the match. A loss in this doubles match however would see a five rubbers to three scoreline in Fishers favour. Even if both Morrison and Gebert then won their final singles matches against the Fishers pair of Sefer and Moore, the last match of the night saw Fuat and Fitzpatrick do battle. 
Everyone knew that barring Seval forgetting how to play table tennis, he would win that match. So, the doubles had a lot riding on it, and the players played accordingly. Sets alternated, Fishers taking the first and third 11-7, 11-9, Mallee Bearings taking the second and fourth 11-9, 11-7. Morrison and Fitzpatrick held match point in the fifth set, only for a wayward shot from Fitzpatrick go wide and Fishers levelled at 10 all. Fishers closed out the match 12-10 to the bitter disappointment of the Mallee Bearings side. Their chance of victory in this match effectively ended there, because the last three singles went as expected, with wins to Gebert over Moore 11-5, 11-8, 11-9, Morrison over Sefer 11-8, 11-7, 11-7, and Fuat over Fitzpatrick.
A good win to Fishers in the end, and it may be enough to prepare them for next week’s Grand Final against those old fellas from Spanline, whom they are yet to beat in four encounters.
PENNANT THREE
– Weightmans Packaging 6 (Darren Greaves, Lachlan Kelly 2 d Fishers IGA 4 (Peter Kelly 3, Vaughan Waters 1)
Grand Final: Max Miller Carpets vs. Weightmans Packaging
WEIGHTMANS PACKAGING v. FISHERS IGA
Weightmans Packaging go into the 2012 Pennant Three Grand Final after a good team performance in the Preliminary Final saw them defeat Fishers IGA.
The match was even up to three all, each win by one team being matched by a win by the other, but at three all Weightmans skipped away to lead five rubbers to three, and Fishers simply did not have the firepower to catch up.
Fishers took the first rubber of the night, Vaughan Waters defeating Jeremy Corrin in five sets. This was to be Waters only singles win of the night, and Corrin was destined to not win any. 
Corrin played well, and actually won more points than his opponent (47 to 44), but Waters of course won the crucial points, and so the win was his 11-7, 11-9, 7-11, 4-11, 11-9. The second rubber, although four sets, was equally as hard fought. Weightmans captain Darren Greaves took the win, but certainly had to work for it. His opponent Harrison Cottrell took the first set 11-6, and then gamely hung on in the next two sets, only to lose them both 13-11. Greaves proved too strong in the fourth with a win in that set 11-5. Next Peter Kelly chalked up a second rubber for Fishers defeating Lachlan Kelly 7-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-5. But Weightmans squared things up with a win in the first doubles, Greaves and Corrin dropping only the third set in their four set win over Kelly and Cottrell 11-6, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5.
Greaves stayed at the table to give Weightmans the lead for the first time in the match, playing against Vaughan Waters. Greaves was too good, taking the rubber 11-7, 11-3, 11-6. Peter Kelly hit straight back with a straight sets win over Jeremy Corrin 11-3, 11-6, 11-7 and it was three rubbers all. Weightmans number two Lachlan Kelly had to work hard to shake off Fishers number three Harrison Cottrell in the third of the second round of singles. Cottrell led the match after three sets 11-8, 8-11, 11-9, but after that he faded, Kelly hitting the table more often with his forehand drives. He took the last two sets 11-4, 11-5.
Fishers had failed to give Weightmans much competition in the first doubles, losing in a disappointing four sets. However, this was now do-or-die stuff, Peter Kelly and Vaughan Waters were keen to avenge the earlier defeat, and to give themselves a fighting chance in the match. They duly took the first set 12-10 against the Weightmans pair of Darren Greaves and Lachlan Kelly, and fought to the bitter end in the second, only to lose it 19-17. They regrouped, held their nerve and toughed out the third 11-9. Now it was time for Weightmans to dig deep. They bounced back forcing errors from their opponents to level the match at two sets all with an 11-7 win in the fourth. The Fishers pair hung on in the fifth, but a few errors were all that Weightmans needed, and they took the set and match 11-8.
Weightmans now led five rubbers to three, but Fishers were not out of it just yet. Fishers captain Peter Kelly easily beat his opposite number Darren Greaves in straight sets (!) 11-3, 11-4, 11-7 to give his team some hope. But Lachlan Kelly was giving Vaughan Waters no chances at all, even though it was three tight sets. Kelly ran out winner in this one 11-9, 11-9, 11-7.
So, it was all over, six rubbers to four in favour of Weightmans Packaging. Greaves and Lachlan Kelly both won two singles, and their side both doubles to give them their six rubbers. For Fishers, Peter Kelly did all he could, he won three singles, and narrowly lost the vital second doubles. The other contributor for Fishers was Vaughan Waters with one rubber.
And to the Grand Final. Weightmans will play Max Miller Carpets. These two sides have met four times this year, and the honours are two wins apiece. Significantly, the Carpeters have won the last two clashes. This has coincided with their captain Matt Ljubic’s rise to the top of the aggregate ladder, where he displaced Weightmans Darren Greaves. The Carpeters Emily Carmichael is also playing consistent table tennis, and will certainly worry her opposite number Lachlan Kelly. And Karly Leach is a stubborn competitor, and will not be giving anything away easily. This is a fitting Grand Final in this grade, the teams finished first and second on the ladder and all these players are fairly evenly matched.
PENNANT FOUR
This was the match to decide who was to play in the grand final against Max Miller Carpets. Fishers had finished second on the ladder at the end of the home and away season while Mallee Bearings had finished third. Going into this match Fishers held the edge 3-2 in their head to head clashes over the season. Unfortunately Mallee Bearings skipper Claire Ljubic was unavailable due to a school excursion. Claire was replaced by Leonie Dunkley.
Grand Final: Max Miller Carpets vs. Mallee Bearings
– Mallee Bearings 6 (Leonie Dunkley, Ellie Midgley 2) d Fishers IGA 2 (Ryan Hensgen, Helen Frania 1)
Fishers were off to a good start courtesy of steady play by Helen Frania who defeated Shirley Whitecross. These two players have each won 42% of their singles throughout the season and this game was expected to be close and that it was with Helen winning 11-7 11-7 11-7. The next three matches would in the end decide the result. Amazingly they all went to five sets with both teams having their chances. 
The first featured a huge blow for Fishers when skipper Ryan Hensgen was defeated by the fast improving Ellie Midgley in a tremendous struggle. The final score line in Ellie’s favour was 11-5 5-11 5-11 12-10 11-7 and her team mates and strong supporter base realised the importance of this victory.
The third singles featured Fishers Michael Hensgen and fill in Leonie Dunkley for Mallee Bearings. Michael has improved greatly since he was a late season inclusion for Fishers and he was off to a great start in this match winning the first and third and narrowly going down in the second. He was almost over the line in three, however Leonie fought hard to stay alive and in another entertaining five setter Mallee Bearings took a two – one lead when Leonie completed a good come back to win 6-11 12-10 9-11 11-4 11-8.
The first doubles again featured excellent finals table tennis. Fishers Hensgen combination of Ryan and Michael grabbed the first game against Leonie Dunkley and Shirley Whitecross before the girls took the next two. The brothers Hensgen levelled the match taking the fourth however Mallee Bearings successfully took their third five setter in succession with Leonie and Shirley winning 9-11 11-1 11-8 9-11 11-7 taking their team to a three rubbers to one lead.
Fishers skipper Ryan Hensgen reduced the deficit when he defeated Shirley Whitecross in straight sets however Fishers come back was short lived as Leonie Dunkley fought off a spirited Helen Frania to win 19-17 11-8 11-5. When Ellie Midgley accounted for Michael Hensgen in four sets Mallee Bearings were one win away from booking a grand final berth.
Fishers needed victory in the second doubles to stay alive and their combination of Ryan Hensgen and Helen Frania took the initiative early grabbing the first two games before Mallee Bearings duo Leonie Dunkley and Ellie Midgley fought back hard to win the next three games. Their brilliant comeback to win 8-11 9-11 11-7 11-7 11-8 took their team to a 6-2 victory and a crack at Max Miller Carpets in the 2012 grand final.
This result showed the importance of doubles with Mallee Bearings winning both in five. Of the four five setters the all girl team were successful in each and this was a major factor in the result. Whilst a 6-2 score line can look one sided this was not the case and had Fishers been successful in just one of these five setters this match could quit possibly have gone down to the last.
For the victors Mallee Bearings Leonie Dunkley had been steady winning two singles and featuring in both doubles victories however team mate Ellie Midgley again displayed how her monday night training had benefitted her game as she won two singles and in particular her victory over joint aggregate winner Ryan Hensgen was a highlight and a major factor in her teams success. She could play a key role in her team’s ability to win the flag!!!
Sunraysia Table Tennis Winter Pennant results Preliminary Finals: –
PENNANT ONE:
– Pinnacle Packers 6 (Shannon Bowen 3, Shane Carmichael 2) d Mallee Bearings 4 (Wayne Carmichael 2, Jackson Murphy 1)
Grand Final: Weightmans Packaging vs. Pinnacle Packers
PENNANT TWO:
– Fishers IGA 6 (Sony Sefer 2, Colin Moore, Seval Fuat 1) d Mallee Bearings 5 (Ashley Morrison 3, Trevor Gebert 2)
Grand Final: Spanline vs. Fishers IGA
PENNANT THREE:
– Weightmans Packaging 6 (Darren Greaves, Lachlan Kelly 2 d Fishers IGA 4 (Peter Kelly 3, Vaughan Waters 1)
Grand Final: Max Miller Carpets vs. Weightmans Packaging
PENNANT FOUR:
– Mallee Bearings 6 (Leonie Dunkley, Ellie Midgley 2) d Fishers IGA 2 (Ryan Hensgen, Helen Frania 1)
Grand Final: Max Miller Carpets vs. Mallee Bearings
For further information on Table Tennis contact Gavin Carmichael 0408 237 907 or 5023 7907.
