0
0
ROUND 9
PENNANT ONE:
The big achiever in round nine of the Sunraysia Table Tennis pennant was the fourth victory in succession by Max Miller Carpets with their 9-2 victory over Weightmans Packaging. May has been a good month for the Carpeters.
– Max Miller Carpets 9 (Kate Carmichael 3, Liam Wood, Leon Brown 2) d Weightmans Packaging 2 (Jackson Tung 2)
After commencing the season with three straight losses they have now moved to outright second on the ladder in an outstanding team effort. The form of the Carpeters trio of Kate Carmichael, Leon Brown and Liam Wood has lifted in the past month not only in their singles play but also in the all important doubles format.
This round Kate Carmichael won three singles and took part in both doubles victories while Brown and Wood won two singles each. Wood in particular has shown marked improvement since the start of the season and his five set win over the talented Reece Kurrle was a highlight.
– Cookes Pools & Spas 6 (Joel Thomas 3, Lee Leeson, Russell Walder 1) d Regional Taxation Services 5 (Matt Ljubic, Thanh Nguyen 2)
Cookes Pools & Spas after three losses on the trot bounced back in this round to defeat Regional Taxation Services 6-5. For the victors Joel Thomas avenged an early season loss to Matt Ljubic winning in four sets, his third singles win of the night. The second doubles was crucial and it was Thomas and mother Lee Leeson who proved too steady defeating Matt Ljubic and Michael Hensgen 16-14 11-8 9-11 11-4.
At five rubbers all , Cookes Russell Walder defeated Michael Hensgen to pick up the valuable four points. Cookes now sit third on the ladder by percentage.
– Mallee Bearings 6 (Gavin Carmichael 2, Mark Dorman, Rohan Reimers 1) d Tankard Dental 5 (Wayne Carmichael 3, Jackson Murphy, Paul Kealley 1)
Ladder leaders Mallee Bearings took control early against Tankard Dental, victory in both doubles enabled the Bearings trio of Gavin Carmichael, Mark Dorman and Rohan Reimers to snatch the four points early when the score stood at 6-2.
A late rally by Tankards saw them improve the scoreline to a 5-6 defeat. In the final block of singles Wayne Carmichael outpointed brother Gavin in four sets to win his third singles while team mate Jackson Murphy outlasted Mark Dorman in a lengthy five setter. In the final singles Tankards Paul Kealley defeated the in form Rohan Reimers in four sets. The loss of both doubles was the difference here for Tankard’s.
PENNANT TWO:
In this week’s round of play, top team Weightmans Packaging easily accounted for fourth placed Cookes Pools & Spas; Mallee Meats, second on the ladder, swapped positions with third placed Max Miller Carpets after going down six rubbers to five; and fifth placed Pinnacle Packers won in a thriller against bottom side Mallee Bearings.
– Weightmans Packaging 8 (Quentin Clark 3, Andrew Jones 2, Tom Morrison 1) d Cookes Pools & Spas 3 (Ashley Morrison 2, Shaun Gifford 1)
Scoring was pretty much all one way traffic in this match, Weightmans Packaging cleaning up in all facets of the game.
Cookes Pools & Spas were without their regular number two Josh Arnold, replaced by Shaun Gifford for this encounter.
Three of the first four rubbers went to Weightmans, Andrew Jones facing off against his opposite number Gifford, and winning in four sets, Quentin Clark downing Ryan Hensgen in straight sets, and Jones and Clark taking the first doubles against Ashley Morrison and Hensgen in four sets. The only opposition to the Weightmans juggernaut was Cookes Pools & Spas captain Ashley Morrison accounting for his son Tom in four sets.
Cookes Pools & Spas picked up their second rubber in the first game of the second round of singles, Ashley Morrison wearing Andrew Jones down in five sets.
Weightmans Packaging then went on the tear, winning the next five rubbers – Clark defeating Gifford in straight sets; in the battle of the number three’s, Tom Morrison too good for Ryan Hensgen with an 11-2, 11-5, 15-13 score; the second doubles went to the best doubles pair in the competition, Quentin Clark and Tom Morrison, this week they recorded a four set victory against Ashley Morrison and Shaun Gifford; Quentin Clark on fire against his opposite number Ashley Morrison, after dropping the first set 7-11, Clark too good in the next three winning them 11-8, 11-9 13-11; and Jones picked up his second victory against Ryan Hensgen, Hensgen retiring in the third set after being two sets to love down.
Shaun Gifford put a belated stop to the avalanche of scoring, easily accounting for Tom Morrison in straight sets.
Quentin Clark continued his outstanding season, again picking up three singles wins and now moving to within four games of ladder leader Morrison. After missing the first two weeks of competition, Clark has been in great form, having been defeated only once in singles play.
With Jones picking up two wins, Tom Morrison one, and both doubles going their way, Weightmans Packaging ran out easy eight rubbers to three winners.
Final scores: 8 rubbers to 3 and 27 games to 13.
– Max Miller Carpets 6 (Daniel Jansen 3, Jeremy Corrin 2, John Fitzpatrick 1) d Mallee Meats 5 (Kevin Johns 2, James Jarvis 1)
In losing the first three rubbers, Mallee Meats got off to a horror start in this match, and although they came close, could not do enough to defeat the Jeremy Corrin led Max Miller Carpets side.
John Fitzpatrick sprang the first surprise with a straight sets victory over Terry Martin in the first rubber. This was to be the start of a night to forget for Martin, as things only got worse, he failed to win any singles rubbers, the only consolation for him was victory in the first doubles with his captain Kevin Johns.
Max Miller Carpets captain Jeremy Corrin won the second rubber against Mallee Meats number three James Jarvis in four sets; then Daniel Jansen completed the trifecta, defeating Johns in four sets 12-10, 4-11, 11-6, 13-11.
Max Miller Carpets kept the momentum in their favour, winning two of the three singles rubbers in the second round of singles – Corrin downing Martin in straight sets and Jansen a four set win against Jarvis.
Johns defeated Fitzpatrick in straight sets to give his side their second rubber of the night, but Mallee Meats needed everything to go right for them to win the contest. That meant winning the remaining four rubbers.
Mallee Meats started well, Johns and Jarvis too good for the solid pairing of Corrin and Fitzpatrick, the Mallee Meats pair winning 12-10, 12-10, 11-6; Johns accounted for Corrin in three sets, but then Daniel Jansen, having his best night of the season snuffed out any chance of a Mallee Meats win with a four set win against the luckless Martin.
John Fitzpatrick won the first set against his opposite number James Jarvis 11-7, but Jarvis regrouped and took the next three 6, 5 and 9, to make this a “respectable” six rubbers to five loss.
Max Miller Carpets number two Daniel Jansen was the star of the night with three singles wins, his captain Jeremy Corrin took two, and John Fitzpatrick with that first up win against Terry Martin contributed one.
Both doubles rubbers went to the Mallee Meats, and these wins kept them firmly in the contest. Johns won two singles, and Jarvis one.
Final scores: 6 rubbers to 5 and 19 games all.
– Pinnacle Packers 6 (Peter Midgley 2, Jordan Cole, Peter Fitzpatrick 1) d Mallee Bearings 5 (Marcus Cimino, Jamie Kealley 2, Stephan Ljubic 1)
The third match featured the two bottom sides, Pinnacle Packers in fifth spot with three wins, and Mallee Bearings in sixth with two wins.
Mallee Bearings were without their regular number three David Sergi, replaced by the impressive Stefan Ljubic. Pinnacle Packers were in a bit more trouble with two players missing, number two Zac Galbraith and number three Furqaan Ahmad, these two having Jordan Cole and Peter Fitzpatrick play for them.
Mallee Bearings did in this match to Pinnacle Packers, what Max Miller Carpets did to Mallee Meats in their match, in that they won the first three singles rubbers. Ljubic defeated Cole in four sets, Cole playing his first match of the year. Whilst Cole took the first set 11-7, Ljubic showed his superior match fitness in the next three, taking them 2, 9 and 8.
Mallee Bearings captain Jamie Kealley easily accounted for Peter Fitzpatrick, winning in three sets, and then Marcus Cimino would not let Peter Midgley get into any rhythm at all, defeating the Pinnacle Packers captain 11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 9-11, 11-8.
As in the previous match, the side under the pump picked up their first win in the next rubber, the doubles. Despite never having played together before, Midgley and Cole teamed up superbly to outlast Kealley and Cimino in another five set contest, winning 5-11, 11-5, 12-10, 13-15, 11-9.
And once again, in a duplicate copy of the previous match, the side with the upper hand took two of the next three singles rubbers, this time Kealley defeating Cole in four, and Cimino much too good for Fitzpatrick. Midgley won in straight sets against Ljubic.
For Pinnacle Packers to win this match, everything needed to go right for them (where have I heard that before?), and this time, the side which had the slim chance to win, did.
Firstly, Midgley and Fitzpatrick, remembering their times as a doubles pair from a previous year, combined in a great performance to see off
Kealley and Ljubic 17-15, 11-9, 11-9; Midgley was back to his best in the battle of the captains with a hard fought five set victory against the emerging talent that is Jamie Kealley; Jordan Cole started playing like he did at the end of 2022 and produced some memorable shots against Marcus Cimino in a four set victory which brought the scores to five rubbers all. As is often the case, the number three’s hold the fortunes of their teams in their hands, in this case Ljubic and Fitzpatrick gave their teams equal amounts of joy and grief. Fitzpatrick was steadier in the first two sets, winning them 15-13, 11-8, however Ljubic struck back in the next two 11-8, 11-5 unsettling Fitzpatrick and playing with much greater freedom. Fitzpatrick led 5-1 at the change of ends in the fifth set, with a win seemingly within his grasp comfortably. Ljubic was having none of it and fought back to seven all, Fitzpatrick went to 10-8, Ljubic took the next to make it 10-9, but Fitzpatrick crawled over the line to win 11-9.
In all probability, neither of these two side will make the finals, but this match was worthy of a final.
Final scores: 6 rubbers to 5 and 22 games all
PENNANT THREE:
The team first on the ladder played the second team this week; third played fourth; and fifth played sixth, and in each case the team higher on the ladder won. All the matches were close.
– Tankard Dental 6 (Luca Capizzoto 3, Steve Pongrac 1) d Regional Taxation Services 5 (Shaun Gifford, Leo Parker 2, Rodney Galvin 1)
Tankard Dental will thank their number two Luca Capizzoto for this win. Capizzoto was the difference between their eighth win from nine games, and fifth in a row, and defeat.
Capizzoto once again won three singles, the seventh time he has done so this season, and helped his teammates win both doubles.
Only Tankard Dental captain Steve Pongrac added to Capizzoto’s tally, a five set victory against Regional Taxation Services number three Rodney Galvin.
Capizzoto certainly did not have things all his own way either; after two sets his first match, against Regional Taxation Services captain Shaun Gifford, looked like it had got away from him. At that stage Gifford led 12-10, 11-9, but Capizzoto was undeterred and came back strongly to take the last three sets 8, 7 and 8.
He and Pongrac won the first doubles rubber after five sets. After losing the first set 6-11, the Tankard Dental pair found their form to take the next two 11-8, 11-5. Their opponents, Shaun Gifford and youngster Leo Parker were not done, taking the match to the fifth set after they took the fourth 14-12. Capizzoto and Pongrac gained the ascendency in the fifth set though, taking it 11-9.
The second doubles rubber was a straightforward three set win, Capizzoto and Steve Parker much too good for Galvin and Leo Parker.
Regional Taxation Services played well though. They won five of the nine singles rubbers, Gifford and Leo Parker two each, and Rodney Galvin. Capizzoto was the difference between the two sides, and also the fact that of the four five set contests, Regional Taxation Services could only get over the line once.
Final scores: 6 rubbers to 5 and 22 games to 21.
– Mallee Meats 7 (Michael Smyth 3, Nick Kiapekos 2) d Exposed Signage/Apparel 4 (Levi Williams 2, Damen Southgate, Riley Clemence 1)
Although they are three wins behind ladder leaders Tankard Dental, Mallee Meats find themselves in second spot, and improving every round.
Mallee Meats captain Michael Smyth is giving this side some real strength, like Capizzoto in Tankard Dental he too this week won three singles and was involved in wins in both doubles rubbers. He and Capizzoto are the form players of this grade, Capizzoto is on top the aggregate with 25 wins, Smyth second, one game behind with 24.
After losing the first rubber, Mallee Meats took the win in this match by winning seven of the next nine matches. That first rubber loss was prettty competitive too, number three Hamish Smyth putting up a great fight against Exposed Signage & Apparel number two Damen Southgate before going down in five sets.
Michael Smyth was clearly the class of the field in this match. He lost only two sets in singles play, and a further set in the two doubles rubbers he competed in.
His number two Nick Kiapekos proved a good back-up too. Kiapekos really had to work hard in his first match to get the better of young talent Riley Clemence. Kiapekos eventually took the win 15-13, 7-11, 11-7, 10-12, 13-11 in a very close match.
And speaking of Clemence, although he won but one singles rubber, he had a good night. After losing that match to Kiapekos, he disposed of his opposite number Hamish Smyth in straight sets, and then, as the match progressed, improved vastly in his loss to Michael Smyth. Riley has come a long way in his first year of competition, and the scoreline of 3-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-13 demonstrates his competiveness.
Final scores: 7 rubbers to 4 and 24 games to 18.
– Sammy’s Slammers 6 (Marita Grace 3, Nhat Dat 2, Huseyin Ismail 1) d Weightmans Packaging 5 (Sabrina Fitzpatrick, Nicole Hunt, Karly Leach 1)
Weightmans Packaging last won a match in round four, just their second win of the season. With three rubbers to go, they looked to be in the box seat to get their third win of the season, but Sammy’s Slammers came home with a wet sail, taking those three rubbers and stealing the match six rubbers to five.
Sammy’s Slammers captain Marita Grace swept all before her in the singles rubbers – four set wins over Nicole Hunt and Karly Leach and finishing off with a three set win against opposing captain Sabrina Fitzpatrick.
Nhat Dat picked up two wins, both in four sets, against Fitzpatrick and Leach. And fill-in number three Huseyin Ismael got the important eleventh rubber for Sammy’s Slammers. Playing his first match of the year, Hus was understandably a bit rusty for most of the night, but came good right at the end when the scores were locked at five all. Ismael was competitive in his first two matches, losing both in four sets, but in the eleventh rubber started playing like his old self, winning 7-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-5.
Weightmans Packaging really kept themselves in the match by winning both the doubles encounters. Fitzpatrick and Leach took a three set win gainst Grace and Dat, and later Leach and Nicole Hunt after losing the first set 12-14, came back strongly to take the next three 7, 8 and 5.
The Weightmans Packaging trio each won one singles rubber; Fitzpatrick defeated Ismael in four; Leach overcame Ismael also in four; and Hunt in four also against Dat.
Final scores: 6 rubbers to 5 and 22 games to 20.
PENNANT FOUR:
First played third this week, and second played fourth. The higher placed teams won, with second placed Dunkley Scales moving a game clear of third placed Tankard Dental.
– Weightmans Packaging 7 (Glenn Leeson 3, Chelsey Avers 2) d Tankard Dental 4 (Maria Starikov 2, Liam Nicolaou, Jenny Leach 1)
Weightmans Packaging were in control of this match throughout. After five rubbers they led four rubbers to one, and although Tankard Dental reduced the deficit a little by winning the next two, Weightmans Packaging sealed the win with wins in the next three rubbers.
Weightmans Packaging captain Glenn Leeson led from the front with three singles wins, and then he backed his good form up with wins in both doubles. Two of those singles wins came in four sets, and the other in three.
Weightmans Packaging number two Chelsea Avers continues to improve – another two game haul here gives her seven wins from her last three matches, compared to four from the previous three she played. Good signs.
Leeson and Avers proved a good combination in the doubles – winning a tight three set contest 11-8, 12-10, 11-8 against Liam Nicolaou and Maria Starikov.
Leeson and Cetty Bonaccorso were a better combination than Starikov and Jenny Leach in the second doubles. Although the Tankard Dental duo easily won the second set 11-2, that was all the winning they did in this match, Leeson and Bonaccorso taking the other sets 13-11, 11-7, 11-8.
The four sets which Tankard Dental won all came in the singles play. Captain Nicolaou successful once, defeating Bonaccorso in four sets, number two Starikov the best performed in this side with two wins – against Avers a steady four set win 12-10, 3-11, 11-6, 11-8 and later a not exactly straight forward three set win against Bonaccorso 16-14, 11-7, 11-2.
Final scores: 7 rubbers to 4 and 23 games to 16.
– Dunkley Scales 7 (Dianne Hannig 3, Katrina Clifford 2, Curtis Crabtree 1) d Mallee Meats 4 (Wendy Simpson 2, Ildi Healy 1)
Dunkley Scales captain Costa Skiadas is still out injured, but his replacement Dianne Hannig is doing a wonderful job for his team in his absence.
Hannig won her three singles rubbers in impressive fashion – all in straight sets against a side which, to be fair was also a bit undermanned.
Mallee Meats was without their numbers two and three, Keith Sharman and Sush Muthumuni both out, replaced by Ildi Healy and Tom Gilmour. Having said, that Dunkley Scales had two replacements too. Along with Hannig, Curtis Crabtree filled in for Derek Hung in the number three spot.
The Dunkley Scales trio dominated the singles matches. With Hannig leading with three wins, number Katrina Clifford shows she is growing into this competition, her first year up from the junior competition. Katrina had a great first up win against the experienced Tom Gilmour in the first rubber. Katrina kept her mind on the job to take a good five set win against Gilmor 11-7, 8-11, 3-11, 11-7, 11-4. She later accounted for Healy in straight sets.
Crabtree acquitted himself well, contributing one singles win to the tally, a five set win against the luckless Gilmour in the final rubber.
For Mallee Meats, wins came from captain Wendy Simpson (two), and Ildi Healy (one) and these two won the first doubles in straight sets against Hannig and Crabtree 14-12, 11-8, 11-3.
Final scores: 7 rubbers to 4 and 21 games to 17.
