0
0
Sunraysia Table Tennis Winter Pennant results Semi Finals: –
PENNANT ONE:
– Elimination final: Exposed Signage/Apparel 6 (Joel Thomas 3, Ed Hung 1) d Mallee Bearings 4 (Rick McMeekin 2, Michael Hogarth, Jackson Tung 1)
– Second Semi-final: Weightmans Packaging 6 (Gavin Carmichael, Kate Carmichael 2, Matt Avers 1) d Fishers IGA 4 (Wayne Carmichael 3)
– Fishers IGA play Exposed Signage/Apparel in the preliminary final
PENNANT TWO:
– Elimination final: Tankard Dental 6 (Tony Malycha, Rod Healy 2, Arthur Paar 1) d Mallee Bearings 4 (Andrew Jones 2, Reece Kurrle 1)
– Second semi-final: Fishers IGA 6 ( John Gray 2, Seval Fuat, Brendan Alderton 1) d Weightmans Packaging 2 (Connor Lavery 2)
– Weightmans Packaging play Tankard Dental in the preliminary final
PENNANT THREE:
– Elimination final; Weightmans Packaging 6 (Karly Leach, Huseyin Ismail 2) d MJM Automotive 3 (John Fitzpatrick 2, Mick Bacon 1); Second Semi-final
– Fishers IGA 6 (Kerry Wallace 3, Lachlan Prothero 1) d Mallee Meats 3 (Quentin Clark 2, Sam Hensgen 1)
– Mallee Meats play Weightmans Packaging in the preliminary final
He may be talking cliches for the next two weeks but one thing is for certain, Gavin Carmichaels Weightmans Packaging fired the first shot by making the Grand Final and earning a week off. The omen may have already played out as a misprint in the Sunny Daily during the week had stated : ‘Weightmans wins Premiership’ …. but of course the story went on to say that they had in fact won the minor premiership. Still we cannot help but wonder whether Richie will break his Winter Premiership drought in the fortnight. Experience will tell us that Richie will be keeping a lid on it!
PENNANT ONE:
Finals Fever is here!
Ladder leaders Weightmans Packaging have advanced to the Sunraysia Table Tennis winter pennant grand final with a six rubbers to four victory over second placed Fishers IGA on the grand stand court.
Going into the second semi-final Weightmans held a two wins to one win loss ratio and sat only one win ahead on the ladder indicating the closeness of these two teams.
– Second Semi-final: Weightmans Packaging 6 (Gavin Carmichael, Kate Carmichael 2, Matt Avers 1) d Fishers IGA 4 (Wayne Carmichael 3)
Weightmans started well grabbing an early ascendancy taking a four rubbers to one lead before Fishers were able to steady. In the first match of the night Weightmans
youngster 14 year old Matt Avers defeated fellow lefty Shane Carmichael in four sets, Gavin Carmichael then defeated Leslie Ncube in straight sets to give Weightmans a two rubber lead.
Wayne Carmichael then opened Fishers account defeating Kate Carmichael in three, taking no mercy on his niece, and then in a crunch match Weightmans pair father and daughter Gavin and Kate Carmichael were able to defeat Wayne and Leslie Ncube 11-6 12-10 11-7. The next match featured Gavin Carmichael up against Shane Carmichael with Gavin winning 11-5 14-12 12-10 to give Weightmans a 4-1 lead.
From this point Fishers clawed their way back winning three of the next four rubbers, 
Wayne Carmichael had played a big part in the revival winning three singles and partnering Shane Carmichael in the second doubles to defeat Gavin Carmichael and Matt Avers 7-11 14-12 11-5 11-5.
With her team leading five rubbers to four and under pressure Weightmans Kate Carmichael then stayed calm to control the match against Shane Carmichael, who although defeated had retrieved well, and advance her team to the 2015 grand final by winning in four sets to claim her second singles for the match. She had played well as apart from her singles the first doubles success was crucial in the result.
– Elimination final: Exposed Signage/Apparel 6 (Joel Thomas 3, Ed Hung 1) d Mallee Bearings 4 (Rick McMeekin 2, Michael Hogarth, Jackson Tung 1)
Third placed Mallee Bearings were favoured to advance against fourth placed Exposed Signage/Apparel given they were four wins ahead on the ladder. However with Joel Thomas at the table the opposition would be wary and in this match Thomas was on fire leading his team to a sensational six rubbers to four win to keep their season alive.
Mallee Bearings actually took a two rubbers to nil lead early before their opponents steadied. 
Joel Thomas was in outstanding form winning his three singles but it was the way he controlled both doubles which was a crucial factor in the match.
Mallee Bearings knew though that they were still in the match and with Exposed Signage / Apparel leading five four Thomas’s team mate Ed Hung played Michael Hogarth. Hogarth has been in good form of late and Hung has not been as consistent however finals can be a different ball game. Hogarth took the first game however Hung struck back playing from deep in the court to win games two and three. Players from both teams were nervous as Hogarth grabbed the fourth. 
Hung played steady table tennis in the fifth and was able to maintain a narrow lead and much to the delight of his team mates Hung took the match 5-11 11-8 11-5 7-11 11-8. This was one of Hung’s best wins of the season and the timing was exactly right.
The preliminary final now beckons for Exposed Signage/ Apparel and Fishers IGA. With both Joel Thomas and Wayne Carmichael in each team this promises to go to the wire.
PENNANT TWO:
Tankard Dental regain their composure with a win in the Knock Out Semi Final against Mallee Bearings; and for Fishers IGA it is business as usual.
– Elimination final: Tankard Dental 6 (Tony Malycha, Rod Healy 2, Arthur Paar 1) d Mallee Bearings 4 (Andrew Jones 2, Reece Kurrle 1)
These two teams met in the final round of the home-and-away games last week, with victory going to Mallee Bearings in the final rubber.
That win also secured the aggregate prize for Mallee Bearings captain Reece Kurrle, and since then Kurrle has gone on to take out this year’s Super Eights Title. All encouraging stuff, but two mistakes cost the team any chance of progressing any further in this year’s finals series.
To be fair to Tony Malycha, the first mistake was not really a mistake at all,
rather Malycha simply outplayed Kurrle in the first round of singles to take an upset four set victory, and virtually set the die for the result. Kurrle took the first set of that match 11-7, but from then on Malycha dominated, finishing the match 7, 7 and 8 to make the score 2-0 at that stage.
Next up, Tankard’s Rod Healy took on Andrew Jones. These two would be the two best defenders in this pennant, so as can be imagined, not too much attacking went on !! Incredibly, this three set match took twenty eight minutes, with many rallies in excess of fifty strokes. Jones is very hard to get away, but he met his match here – Healy simply frustrated him to such an extent the last set was 11-1. This went with the first two sets of 11-4, 11-9. So, for a total of 47 points played, the average time for each rally was an amazing 36 seconds. Allowing that the average time between shots in a rally would be about one second, then each rally was about 36 shots. 
Healy was later heard to say that at times during these long rallies, he was “getting sick of it” !!
After those first three rubbers going to Tankard’s, Mallee Bearings got on the score board with Kurrle and Jones taking the first doubles against Malycha and Arthur Paar.
Malycha immediately matched that win with a three set win over Peter Edwards to put Tankard 4-1 up.
Jones and Kurrle steadied the Mallee Bearings ship, Jones too steady for Paar, winning 12-10, 11-3, 13-11, and Kurrle after a big fright, outlasted the persistent Rod Healy 8-11, 8-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-9.
That made the score a much more respectable 4-3, but Tankard Dental jumped away again when Malycha and Healy took the second doubles 11-9, 11-7, 12-10 against Kurrle and Peter Edwards.
And the second mistake?
At this point in the game, it became clear that Mallee Bearings had not really given themselves as good a chance as they deserved in this match. The score sheet was completed so that captain Reece Kurrle, the pennant’s best player, would play in the final rubber !! For his rubber to be live, Andrew Jones had to defeat Tony Malycha, which he did, and Peter Edwards had to defeat Rod Healy, which he did not.
Surely Mallee Bearings left wondering what might have been, had they at least kept the pressure on their opponents until the final rubber.
Final scores: 6 rubbers to 4.
– Second semi-final: Fishers IGA 6 ( John Gray 2, Seval Fuat, Brendan Alderton 1) d Weightmans Packaging 2 (Connor Lavery 2)
Fishers IGA cruised into this year’s Grand Final after an effortless win against Weightmans Packaging.
In a very disappointing display for Weightmans Packaging,
only Connor Lavery offered any resistance to the Fishers IGA team.
Fishers captain John Gray took two singles from two played – the first an easy three setter against opposing captain Lee Thomas 6, 4 and 4. For the second week running Thomas offered no resistance to her opposite number. Weightmans Andrew Alderton performed better against Gray – he did take a set.
With Thomas and Alderton not winning a singles between them, the doubles were the only other hope Weightmans had of getting any sort of a foot hold on the game. They certainly gave the doubles a shot, but in the event, Fishers took both. Gray and Fuat downed Thomas and Andrew Alderton 11-8, 4-11, 6-11, 12-10, 11-8 and in the second doubles Gray and Brendan Alderton squeaked home 12-10 in the fifth set against the stronger pairing of Thomas and Lavery in an entertaining game.
Final scores: 6 rubbers to 2.
PENNANT THREE:
Two games, two upsets in the Semi-Finals of Pennant Three Winter competition. Weightmans Packaging, who only made it into the final four last week, after having spent almost the entire season in fifth spot, disposed of third-placed MJM Automotive; and Mallee Meats, who have led the pennant from the first round, fell to Fishers IGA, for only their third loss of the year.
– Elimination final; Weightmans Packaging 6 (Karly Leach, Huseyin Ismail 2) d MJM Automotive 3 (John Fitzpatrick 2, Mick Bacon 1); Second Semi-final
After just making the final four in the last round of the home-and-away games, with a win against second placed Fishers IGA, Weightmans Packaging kept the winning going this week with victory over third placed MJM Automotive in the Knock Out Semi-Final.
Weightmans Packaging captain Karly Leach was playing at her best, two singles wins from two played, plus wins in both doubles.
Of course, everyone lifts their game in the finals, and it was no exception here. Although downing MJM Automotive number three Anthony Sergi in straight sets, it was no straightforward win. Leach had to work for her 11-7, 12-10, 16-14 win, and in the second block of singles when up against MJM’s captain, Mick Bacon, it was victory in five sets 4-11, 11-7, 11-8, 6-11, 11-5.
Leach was ably supported by Huseyin Ismail, who also took two singles wins, from three played. Huseyin had a real struggle against Sergi, and could have just as easily lost this encounter. He got the break in the fifth set though, to win 11-5, 6-11, 9-11, 16-14, 11-9 against a vastly improved Sergi.
Both the doubles went to Weightmans, Leach and Ismail easily defeating Bacon and John Fitzpatrick 5, 6 and 4; in the second doubles Leach and Daniel Griffiths in a close four setter against Bacon and Sergi 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9.
John Fitzpatrick was the pick of the MJM Automotive side, with two singles wins from two played. John accounted for Ismail in four sets, and then had to work harder with Griffiths, winning in five 7-11, 11-4, 11-8, 7-11, 11-3.
After the first doubles the score was 2-2, four rubbers later, Weightmans had accelerated away to a 5-3 lead, and clinched the match in the first rubber of the final round of singles.
Final scores: 6 rubbers to 3.
– Fishers IGA 6 (Kerry Wallace 3, Lachlan Prothero 1) d Mallee Meats 3 (Quentin Clark 2, Sam Hensgen 1)
Mallee Meats, in finishing on top of the ladder, lost only two of their fifteen matches this season. Tellingly, those two losses were at the hands of Fishers IGA.
Led by Kerry Wallace, Fishers IGA kept the pressure on their opponents from the start. Lachlan Prothero, subbing for Stefan Ljubic picked up the first rubber in four sets against David Sergi. Captain Wallace downed the dangerous Sam Hensgen also in four, and then the pair of them team together to take the first doubles also in four sets against Hensgen and Quentin Clark.
In the middle of that brace of three wins, Mallee Meats took just one – Clark defeating Ben Hosking.
The next four rubbers were shared two apiece. Wallace defeated Sergi and then with Hosking a three set win in the second doubles.
For Mallee Meats Clark downed a determined Prothero in four sets, and Hensgen likewise in four against Hosking.
Fishers IGA then led 5-3, and Mallee Meats could not afford a slip up.
Wallace however, was not going to give the Mallee Meats the slightest chance of claiming a win, for in the very next rubber she met opposite number Clark, and cleaned him up in three sets, 4, 9 and 1.
This was a very impressive win; Fishers now get a week’s break until the Grand Final, and Mallee Meats have to take their chances against a resurgent Weightmans Packaging.
