0
0
Sunraysia Table Tennis Summer Pennant results Round 2: –
PENNANT ONE:
– Mallee Bearings 6 (Rick McMeekin 3, Jackson Tung, Bernadette Fitzpatrick 1) d Max Miller Carpets 5 (Mark Dorman, Matt Ljubic 2)
– Exposed Signage/Apparel 7 (Joel Thomas 3, Ed Hung 2, Leon Brown 1) d Tankard Dental Mark Ljubic 2, Darren Robinson 1)
– Fishers IGA 6 (Wayne Carmichael 3, Graeme O’Neill 1) d Weightmans Packaging 5 (Gavin Carmichael, Kate Carmichael 2, Matt Avers 1)
PENNANT TWO:
– Fishers IGA John Gray 3, Seval Fuat, Brendan Alderton 2) d Weightmans Packaging 2 (Lee Thomas 2)
– Mallee Bearings 7 (Reece Kurrle 3, Andrew Jones 2, Peter Edwards 1) d MJM Automotive 4 (Geoff Wright 2, Terry Martin 1)
– Mallee Meats 7 (Ashley Morrison 3, Arnold Jago 2, Cambell McKenzie 1) d Bishop Builders 4 (Peter Bishop 2, Josh Carmichael 1)
– Tankard Dental 9 (Arthur Paar 3, Tony Malycha, Glen Bell 2) d Pinnacle Packers 2 (Peter Midgley 2)
PENNANT THREE:
– Mallee Meats 8 (Sam Hensgen, Quentin Clark 3) d Fishers IGA 3 (Therese Fitzpatrick 2, Ben Hosking, 1)
– Dunkley Scales 7 (Sabrina Fitzpatrick 3, Kim Avers, Shirley Whitecross 1) d MJM Automotive 4 (Mick Bacon, John Fitzpatrick 2)
– Weightmans Packaging 8 (Huseyin Ismail 3, Karly Leach 2, Ross Douglas 1) d Tankard Dental 3 (Michael Hensgen 2, Stefan Ljubic 1)
Eddy Hung reflects after taking out ‘Hurricane Robinson’ in Rnd 2 action. Wayne was rather impressed with the resolve Eddy showed and secretly has put down Exposed Signage as early flag favourites.
PENNANT ONE:
Both Joel Thomas and Rick McMeekin have stamped their authority on the new season by again winning three singles each in round two action of the Sunraysia Table Tennis pennant. They were both able to lead their respective teams Exposed Signage/Apparel and Mallee Bearings to their first wins of the season.
– Exposed Signage/Apparel 7 (Joel Thomas 3, Ed Hung 2, Leon Brown 1) d Tankard Dental Mark Ljubic 2, Darren Robinson 1)
Joel Thomas cruised through his singles matches enabling his team Exposed Signage and Apparel to defeat Tankard Dental seven rubbers to four. Thomas received excellent support from his team mates Ed Hung and Leon Brown who won two and one singles respectively. Thomas and Hung combined in the first doubles to win in straight sets.
The second doubles was a thriller with Tankard pair Mark Ljubic and fill in Darren “ Hurricane” Robinson winning a top class match 6-11 11-9 12-14 13-11 11-9 a great tussle. This levelled the match at four rubbers all however from here Tankards could not grab a win in the final block of singles as their opponents stormed home to their first victory. Joel Thomas accounted for Mark Ljubic and then one of the matches of the night took place when
Ed Hung outlasted Darren Robinson. Robinson, on loan from the Mildura South circuit pushed hard against Hung in an entertaining match however it was Eddie who was able to win in four.
In the final match Leon “Neon” Brown scored his first singles win of the season with an 8-11 11-9 11-6 11-5 victory over Jackson Murphy.
– Mallee Bearings 6 (Rick McMeekin 3, Jackson Tung, Bernadette Fitzpatrick 1) d Max Miller Carpets 5 (Mark Dorman, Matt Ljubic 2)
On paper the match on the grand stand court between Mallee Bearings and Max Miller Carpets was always going to be close and that’s how the match panned out with fill in Bernadette Fitzpatrick for Mallee Bearings remaining calm in a tense struggle against veteran Kevin Johns when the match score stood at five rubbers all. Young Fitzpatrick as she did in the Summer Pennant grand final showed maturity beyond her years against her experienced opponent winning 11-9 11-8 5-11 11-6 in a great tussle to give her team the four points.
Earlier the Carpeters had taken a four rubbers to three lead courtesy of good play by both Mark Dorman and Matt Ljubic who won two singles each as well as combining to win the first doubles in a lengthy five setter against Rick McMeekin and Jackson Tung. The second doubles would prove to be vital and when McMeekin combined with Fitzpatrick to defeat Dorman and Johns in straight sets and level the match at four rubbers all. McMeekin then won his third singles of the night when he accounted for Mark Dorman in straight sets. 
Carpeters Matt Ljubic then defeated Jackson Tung in four sets to again level the match however this then allowed Fitzpatrick to calmly grab the points for Mallee Bearings with her excellent win against Kevin Johns.
The remaining match in pennant one has been delayed to a later date. The season now takes a two week break for school holidays. After two rounds the indications are that a close season is looming.
– Fishers IGA 6 (Wayne Carmichael 3, Graeme O’Neill 1) d Weightmans Packaging 5 (Gavin Carmichael, Kate Carmichael 2, Matt Avers 1)
In an ominous sign for the opposition teams Wayne Carmichael made a successful return to table tennis after a recent hip operation in round two of the Sunraysia Table Tennis pennant one competition.
Although he was troubled briefly in his first singles match against the fast improving youngster Matt Avers, Carmichael eased his way to three singles wins as well as partnering team mates Leslie Ncube and Graeme O’Neill respectively to record two solid wins in the all-important doubles.
Carmichael’s team Fishers IGA grabbed the points 6-5 in a great battle with opponents Weightmans Packaging and Fishers are now the only undefeated team in an even start to the season. Weightmans tried hard with both Kate and Gavin Carmichael winning two singles each while team mate Matt Avers scored an excellent five set win against new recruit Leslie Ncube. Avers won 11-8 5-11 9-11 11-5 11-2.
Later at five rubbers all veteran Graeme O’Neill looked down and out against Avers when he trailed late in the second after losing the first, however he rattled off six points in succession to steal the second. O’Neill won the third comfortably before Avers levelled at two games all. O’Neill started the fifth well and maintained a lead to win 11-13 12-10 11-5 6-11 11-6 giving Fishers the narrowest of wins.
PENNANT TWO: –
Fishers IGA, Mallee Bearings and Mallee Meats take another win, while Pinnacle Packers and Weightmans Packaging lose again.
– Fishers IGA John Gray 3, Seval Fuat, Brendan Alderton 2) d Weightmans Packaging 2 (Lee Thomas 2)
Fishers IGA took a big win over Weightmans Packaging in this game.
Fishers captain John Gray took three wins, and teammates Seval Fuat and Brendan Alderton two each.
Even at this early point in the season, Gray is looking like the man to beat. 
Gray hardly got warmed up in his singles matches – he defeated Connor Lavery 5, 5 and 5. In the second round, against Andrew Alderton it was 2, 7 and 3. Lee Thomas did keep him honest in their match, but even so it was over in four sets 11-7, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8.
Fuat and Brendan Alderton both took two wins, both at the expense of Lavery and Brendan’s brother, Andrew. Fuat had to work – against Lavery he led 11-6, 11-3 until Lavery made a real game of it. Although Seval took the match in four, Lavery was starting to work his opponent out – those last two sets giving the win to Fuat 9-11, 11-9. And Seval’s game against Andrew Alderton was a bigger ask – Seval only squeaked home in the fifth 13-11.
Brendan and Andrew probably know each other’s games’ inside out, the win going to Brendan 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-5. But Brendan certainly does not know Connor Lavery’s game, and had to fight hard for the last rubber up for grabs. Alderton led 11-4, 11-9, only for Lavery to bounce back 11-7, 11-8 to even the score. The fifth set was very close, but Alderton took the win 12-10.
Fishers proved too strong in the doubles too: Gray and Fuat downing Thomas and Lavery in five in the first, and Gray and Brendan Alderton also in five against Thomas and Andrew Alderton.
Only Lee Thomas gave the scorer any work for her side: she defeated Fuat and Brendan Alderton, in three and four sets respectively.
Final scores: 9 rubbers to 2 and 28 games to 17.
– Mallee Bearings 7 (Reece Kurrle 3, Andrew Jones 2, Peter Edwards 1) d MJM Automotive 4 (Geoff Wright 2, Terry Martin 1)
It seems Mallee Bearings may have lost captain Sony Sefer for the majority of the season with work commitments, but this did not stop Reece Kurrle (now promoted to captain status), fill-in Andrew Jones and Peter Edwards from winning here.
As he did last round, Kurrle took three singles wins – against Ajay Chowdhry in three, Terry Martin in four and opposite number Geoff Wright in an interesting five setter. Only the final set was close (11-9), the other sets being won with a bit of a margin.
Fill-in Jones slipped seamlessly into the side, and produced two wins; easily defeating Terry Martin and Ajay Chowdhry, both in three.
Number three Peter Edwards also took a win, this too over Chowdhry in the final rubber in four sets.
Not much to cheer about on the MJM Automotive side: captain Geoff Wright accounted for Andrew Jones in four sets and Peter Edwards in two. Number two Terry Martin took just the one win, against Edwards.
The doubles were shared: Wright and Martin took the first against Kurrle and Edwards in four sets. The second went to the victors: Kurrle and Jones much too good for Wright and Chowdhry, winning in straight sets.
Final scores: 7 rubbers to 4 and 23 games to 16.
– Mallee Meats 7 (Ashley Morrison 3, Arnold Jago 2, Cambell McKenzie 1) d Bishop Builders 4 (Peter Bishop 2, Josh Carmichael 1)
Mallee Meats notched up their second win, with once against captain Ashley Morrison taking three, Arnold Jago two and Cambell McKenzie one singles win.
The difference this time was that the team also picked one of the doubles: Morrison and McKenzie taking the second in four sets against Peter Bishop and Jeremy Corrin 12-10, 4-11, 11-9, 11-9.
Morrison dropped only one set in singles play, this to Josh Carmichael, and with this performance he now sits atop the aggregate, tied with John Gray and Reece Kurrle.
Arnold Jago had to work for his wins – five sets against Josh Carmichael, after being two sets to love down !! He didn’t let Jeremy Corrin get away from him though. He fought a tough match with Corrin, winning 11-7, 11-13, 11-3, 13-11.
McKenzie is holding his own in this grade, too. He had a much easier win over Corrin in the first rubber 11-7, 5-11, 11-4, 11-6.
Peter Bishop took singles for his side, Josh Carmichael one, and Bishop and Carmichael took the first doubles against Morrison and Jago in five 11-8, 3-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-8.
Final scores: 7 rubbers to 4 and 25 games to 18.
– Tankard Dental 9 (Arthur Paar 3, Tony Malycha, Glen Bell 2) d Pinnacle Packers 2 (Peter Midgley 2)
Tankard Dental had a disappointing start to the season with a 7-4 loss in round one. This win put the smile back on their faces.
Tankard’s number three Rod Healy was unable to play, but he was replaced by evergreen Glen Bell. After the results in this game, Glen will probably be looking for more chances to play this season.
Bell whizzed through Pinnacle Packers number two Peter Fitzpatrick in three sets to start the night in the best way for Tankard Dental. He finished off the match in the same way, defeating Colin Moore in the final rubber 5, 5 and 6.
In between these matches, Tankard Dental captain Arthur Paar racked up three wins, and number two Tony Malycha two.
Paar defeated Moore in three, gave himself some more table-time in his match with Fitzpatrick, then saw off Pinnacle Packers number one Peter Midgley in five 12-10, 6-11, 11-5, 3-11, 11-5.
Malycha played well for his two wins, defeating Moore in three and Fitzpatrick in four.
To re-inforce their dominance, Tankards took both doubles. Paar and Malycha ran through Peters Midgley and Fitzpatrick 9, 8 and 5, however Paar and Bell had a bit more trouble against Midgley and Moore. They led two sets to love, only for the Pinnacle Packers to find a bit of form and level at two sets all. They regrouped, however and took the fifth 11-8.
Only Peter Midgley looked like troubling the opposition, but even he could only take two singles, against Malycha in three, and Bell, playing as well as ever, in four.
Final scores: 9 rubbers to 2 and 28 games to 13.
PENNANT THREE:
Wins to Mallee Meats and Dunkley Scales see these two teams at the head of the ladder, but Mallee Meats ahead on percentage, and Weightmans Packaging, after losing in the first round, take a good win here.
– Mallee Meats 8 (Sam Hensgen, Quentin Clark 3) d Fishers IGA 3 (Therese Fitzpatrick 2, Ben Hosking, 1)
Mallee Meats scored their second 8-3 win of the season in this match against Fishers IGA.
Captain Sam Hensgen and Quentin Clark again took three singles wins, and with both doubles going to them, they ran out easy winners.
Fishers IGA, were at a disadvantage, though. With the absence of Tom Denning and Steve Tsivoglou, Therese Fitzpatrick filled in, for both !! On top of that captain Kerry Wallace was absent, and her position was covered by Ben Hosking.
Hensgens wins came fairly easily, in three sets against Ben Hosking, but Therese Fitzpatrick made him work, taking a set each time. 
Similarly, Quentin Clark had two four set wins and one three setter for his tally of three wins.
Although the first doubles also went to Mallee Meats, with a scoreline of 10-12, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, the Fishers pair fought to the end, and were a little unlucky to lose, the bounce of the ball going to their opponents.
For Fishers, their three rubbers came against Mallee Meats number three David Sergi.
Final scores: 8 rubbers to 3 and 27 games to 15.
– Weightmans Packaging 8 (Huseyin Ismail 3, Karly Leach 2, Ross Douglas 1) d Tankard Dental 3 (Michael Hensgen 2, Stefan Ljubic 1)
After a narrow loss last week, Weightmans Packaging got their season going with a strong 8-3 victory against Tankard Dental.
Playing at number two, Huseyin Ismail upstaged his captain Karly Leach by taking three singles wins. He was not really troubled in those wins, either. Weightmans Packaging Michael Hensgen took him to four sets, before losing 3-11, 7-11, 11-7, 9-11, but Stefan Ljubic and Andrew Edwards both fell in three. Ismail was too good, only conceding 11 points to the stronger Ljubic and a miserly 8 points to Edwards.
Captain Karly Leach took two wins – against Edwards, and Ljubic, both in three sets.
It certainly helped that both doubles also went to Weightmans: Leach and Ismail defeating Hensgen and Ljubic comfortably in four, and Leach and Ross Douglass only needing three sets to account for Hensgen and Edwards.
Weightmans eighth rubber came from a win by Ross Douglass in three sets over his opposite number Andrew Edwards. After showing an interest in the game for some time now, it is good to see Ross in competition.
Tankard Dental then, had a fairly quiet night. Michael Hensgen defeated opposing captain Karly Leach in three sets: after two close sets, Michael dominated in the third, winning 12-10, 12-10, 11-4. Hensgen picked up another against Douglass – Ross played competitively, going down 9, 8 and 5. Stefan Ljubic picked up the third rubber, also against Douglass.
Final scores: 8 rubbers to 3 and 24 games to 11.
– Dunkley Scales 7 (Sabrina Fitzpatrick 3, Kim Avers, Shirley Whitecross 1) d MJM Automotive 4 (Mick Bacon, John Fitzpatrick 2)
The all-girl team that is Dunkley Scales took another win in this match against MJM Automotive.
Sabrina Fitzpatrick once again led the way, with three singles wins, and guiding her teammates to wins in both doubles.
Teammates Kim Avers and Shirley Whitecross also came away with a win apiece, against Anthony Sergi. Whitecross played Sergi in the eleventh rubber, with the game score at 6-4. Sergi led two sets to one, but Shirley dug in, and her defence was virtually impregnable. Every ball sent to her end of the table came back, and Sergi had to do almost all the work. In the end, Anthony made a few more mistakes than Shirley and Whitecross took the last two sets to take a hard-fought win.
Fitzpatrick’s wins were fairly easy, 7, 5 and 6 against Sergi, 9, 8 and 6 against opposing captain Mick Bacon, but son John took a set from his mother. Sabrina won that one 11-4, 11-6, 12-14, 11-5.
For MJM Automotive, their four wins came from two wins apiece to Bacon and John Fitzpatrick. They both defeated Kim Avers and Shirley Whitecross; Bacon’s were both three setters, but young Fitzpatrick, after defeating Whitecross 2, 7 and 12-10 in the first rubber, had to work much harder against Kim Avers in the final round of singles. Fitzpatrick dominated the first two sets winning 11-4, 11-3, but lost his way. Avers was back in the match, taking the third and fourth sets 11-5, 11-9 to take the game to the decider. Fitzpatrick had to work hard to get the win, getting over the line 11-9 in the last.
Final scores: 7 rubbers to 4 and 23 games to 17.
