0
0
Sunraysia Table Tennis Winter Pennant results round 4: –
PENNANT ONE: –
– Max Miller Carpets 6 (Rick McMeekin 3, Shane Carmichael, Sony Sefer 1) d Fishers IGA 5 (Gavin Carmichael, Jackson Tung 2)
– Weightmans Packaging 7 (Mark Ljubic, Andrew Cannard 3) d Bishop Builders (Jackson Tung, Stuart Kilmister, Arthur Paar 1)
– Pinnacle Packers 8 (Wayne Carmichael 3, John Gray 2m Peter Midgley 1) d Mallee Bearings 3 Mark Dorman 2, Graeme O’Neill 1)
PENNANT TWO: –
– Pinnacle Packers 6 (Seval Fuat 3, Matt Ljubic 2) d Fishers IGA 5 (Andrew Jones 2, David Balshaw, Lachlan Kelly 1)
– Tankard Dental 7 (Nicholas Dorman 3, Bernadette Fitzpatrick, Peter Fitzpatrick 1) d Spanline 4 (Arnold Jago 2, George Papanicolaou, Geoff Wright 1)
PENNANT THREE: –
– Mallee Bearings 6 (Sabrina Fitzpatrick, Roy Cubit 2, Peter Edwards 1) d Pinnacle Packers 5 (Jeremy Corrin, Karly Leach 2)
– Weightmans Packaging 8 (Glen Bell 3, Peter Mikhaeil 2, Ben Hosking 1) d Bishop Builders 3 (Graham Southwell 2, Sosefa Fevaleaki 1)
– Fishers IGA 7 (Cole Keegan, John Cubit 2, Helen Frania 1) d Dunkley Scales 4 (Jessica Dorman 3, Leonie Dunkley 1)
Arthur Paar & Peter Bishop exchanging some friendly advice during Rnd 4 action. Peter is looking at a six week layoff after falling off a ladder. Arthur was all too ready to come in as a replacement.
PENNANT ONE:
– Weightmans Packaging 7 (Mark Ljubic, Andrew Cannard 3) d Bishop Builders (Jackson Tung, Stuart Kilmister, Arthur Paar 1)
Despite being winless after the first two rounds of the Sunraysia Table Tennis winter competition Weightmans Packaging have bounced back and with successive wins over the past two rounds they have moved to third place on the ladder. In round four matches they proved too good for Bishop Builders winning 7-4.
For the victors skipper Mark Ljubic and Andrew Cannard were both in good touch winning three singles each. Included in Ljubic’s singles victories was his fourth five set victory from four starts when he outlasted Jackson Tung 11-8 7-11 11-8 7-11 11-6.
As well as their success in singles Ljubic and Cannard combined in the first doubles to defeat Tung and fill in Stuart Kilmister in a five set tussle 7-11 11-4 6-11 11-5 11-8 to maintain their undefeated run in this format of the game.
– Max Miller Carpets 6 (Rick McMeekin 3, Shane Carmichael, Sony Sefer 1) d Fishers IGA 5 (Gavin Carmichael, Jackson Tung 2)
Ladder leaders Max Miller Carpets kept their unbeaten run intact when they outlasted Fishers IGA 6-5 in what was a thriller.
At five rubbers all Carpeters Sony Sefer finished just in front of Fishers Ashley Morrison in what was a long five set contest. Morrison held the edge early but it was Sefer that took the match 9-11 11-9 11-5 8-11 11-9 in a tight finish.
Earlier Carpeters skipper Rick McMeekin continued his good form winning three singles including a four set victory over opposing number one Gavin Carmichael. McMeekin was on fire in the first two games and Carmichael had no answer. 
Carmichael fought back to take the third courtesy of some net assistance and at 8-4 up in the fourth it looked like he was manufacturing a recovery however McMeekin had other ideas and finished the match in a hurry taking the final seven points of the match to win 11-6 11-8 9-11 11-8. 
For Fishers both Carmichael and fill in Jackson Tung won two singles each while the doubles were shared. Despite the loss Fishers have held fourth position on the ladder by percentage.
– Pinnacle Packers 8 (Wayne Carmichael 3, John Gray 2m Peter Midgley 1) d Mallee Bearings 3 Mark Dorman 2, Graeme O’Neill 1)
In the final match played on the grand stand court second placed Pinnacle Packers defeated Mallee Bearings 8-3. At one stage the score stood at three rubbers all before the Packers knuckled down to take the last five rubbers. Wayne Carmichael again held the edge in singles with his customary three singles wins while team mates John Gray and Peter Midgley won two and one singles respectively. 
After a quiet round last week Gray bounced back this round. Included in his two victories was an excellent five set tussle against Graeme O’Neill which went on and on with Gray prevailing 6-11 11-7 4-11 11-6 16-14.
The Packers won both doubles to ensure they were able to hold second position on the ladder.
PENNANT TWO:
The two teams which won last week, won again this week, thus Tankard Dental remain unbeaten at the top of the ladder, and Matt Ljubic’s Pinnacle Packers, after taking their first win last week, now seem to have found their feet.
– Tankard Dental 7 (Nicholas Dorman 3, Bernadette Fitzpatrick, Peter Fitzpatrick 1) d Spanline 4 (Arnold Jago 2, George Papanicolaou, Geoff Wright 1)
This was a match with many good matches, and although Tankard Dental won 7 rubbers to 4, Spanline were not outclassed.
Spanline’s Arnold Jago used his first match of the night against Tankard’s Peter Fitzpatrick as a warm up and gave his team the early lead. That, however, was the last time that his team were to be ahead on rubbers.
Tankard’s then ran off four straight wins.
Nicholas Dorman dropped the first set against George Papanicolaou 7-11, but then powered back to take the next three 11-6, 11-8, 11-10.
Bernadette Fitzpatrick was next, in a tough battle with Geoff Wright, filling in in the number three spot for Spanline. Geoff is a former A grade player from another association, and hasn’t played for some fifteen years, but if he goes to play for any extended time, it is doubtful he will remain in Pennant Two !! Bernadette had her hands full, and it was mainly due to Geoff’s lack of match practice that she recorded a 10-12, 11-3, 4-11, 11-9, 11-5 win.
Dorman and Peter Fitzpatrick then accounted for Jago and Wright in the first of the doubles with a controlled 11-7, 11-8, 11-4 win.
And the fourth of the four matches was the two number one’s. Dorman v. Jago. Dorman was at his best with his strong hitting and controlled serves, and gave Jago no latitude, winning easily 11-6, 11-7, 11-5.
Spanline, however, were far from out of the contest. They struck back in the next two rubbers to put themselves back in the game. 
Geoff Wright picked up the first win, in four sets over Peter Fitzpatrick 11-8, 11-9, 12-14, 12-10, and Papanicolaou outplayed Bernadette Fitzpatrick, also in four 11-9, 11-5, 6-11, 11-5.
And then to what was probably the best game of the night. In a high standard doubles match, Dorman and Bernadette Fitzpatrick saw off Jago and Wright in five enthralling sets. Four of the five sets went to 13-11, and the other 11-8. There were many long rallies with players going for broke, only to have their “winner” come back across the net. And most rallies were won with winners, not errors. The final score was 11-13, 13-11, 13-11, 8-11, 13-11 to the Tankard duo. This now gave the ladder leaders a 5-3 lead, and surely they were home …
Arnold Jago picked himself up after the disappointment of the doubles, dropping only one set to Bernadette to keep his team in the contest.
Next up was Papanicolaou and Peter Fitzpatrick. These two have played twice this season, and honours are split one each. George had already beaten Bernadette earlier in the night, and his opponent had yet to record a win. However, in a match of mainly scrappy play, Fitzpatrick mixed his game up enough to prevent Papanicolaou getting his favourite topspin forehand going to win in three tight sets 11-9, 12-10, 11-9.
So there was the win to Tankards, with one match to play, between Dorman and Wright. Wright played as though his life depended on it. After dropping the first two sets 11-7, 13-11, Geoff found the sweet spot, and took the next two 14-12, 11-5 to take the game to the fifth set. He had his chances to win, too, but Dorman hung on for the win 12-10.
So, 7 rubbers to 4, but the game score was much closer, 24 to 19. If Wright remains in this team, it won’t be long before they record further wins.
– Pinnacle Packers 6 (Seval Fuat 3, Matt Ljubic 2) d Fishers IGA 5 (Andrew Jones 2, David Balshaw, Lachlan Kelly 1)
Pinnacle Packers only got home in the final rubber of this contest thanks to a three game haul to wily Seval Fuat.
Pinnacle Packers captain Matt Ljubic was downed in the very first game of the night by opposing captain Andrew Jones. 
Jones steadily wore Matt down with his seemingly never-ending returns from Matt’s vicious topspin, putting the pressure on Matt to win the point over and over. Ljubic did lead two sets to one, but Jones gradually got the upper hand and took the contest 8-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9, 11-5.
Seval Fuat did not give David Balshaw much match practice in their game. David, coming back after a season off, wants all the practice he can get, but Seval wrapped him up in three 11-3, 12-10, 11-4.
Lachlan Kelly hit back for Fishers IGA with a win over his opposite number Brian Hosking in an entertaining match. Kelly had the upper hand, but Hosking is improving in every game in his pennant. Kelly took the win 10-12, 11-7, 11-9, 11-9.
Pinnacle Packers levelled the match at two rubbers all with a win in the first doubles. Ljubic and Fuat, controlled this match against Jones and Kelly, winning in three sets 11-7, 11-7, 11-6.
They then took the lead, Ljubic racing through his match with Balshaw in three quick sets 11-1, 11-6, 11-3.
However, Fishers came straight back to level, Andrew Jones doing a similar demolition job on Brian Hosking 11-5, 11-5, 11-4.
Fuat then took his second win with a straight sets victory over Lachlan Kelly 11-3, 11-8, 11-8.
Once again Fishers hit back, this time in the second doubles. Jones and Balshaw won against Ljubic and Hosking with a patient display of table tennis. Not too many topspin winners here !! This 7-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-4, 11-9 win made it four rubbers apiece with three to go.
Fishers grabbed the lead again when Balshaw recorded his first singles win; against Brian Hosking. In a confidence boosting display, Balshaw won 11-5, 11-3, 11-2.
Matt Ljubic kept his team in the contest with a win in the next rubber against Lachlan Kelly. Ljubic was too good, winning 11-4, 11-7, 11-7.
And so it came down to the eleventh rubber to decide the winner. Andrew Jones and Seval Fuat. Jones took the first set 11-7, but thereafter Fuat took control and with lots of vicious spinning serves and underspin chops was too good for Jones, who did not get the opportunities to keep the ball coming back to his opponent. Seval took the last three sets 11-7, 11-9, 11-8 to wrap up the match 6 rubbers to 5 and 23 game to 16 for Pinnacle Packers in what was a tense and exciting match.
PENNANT THREE:
The three teams at the top of the ladder won their matches this week, to consolidate their respective positions. Weightmans Packaging, Mallee Bearings and Fishers IGA all have three wins from four matches, and now move one game clear of the team in fourth position, Bishop Builders.
– Weightmans Packaging 8 (Glen Bell 3, Peter Mikhaeil 2, Ben Hosking 1) d Bishop Builders 3 (Graham Southwell 2, Sosefa Fevaleaki 1)
In a great team effort, Weightmans Packaging downed Bishop Builders 8 rubbers to 3. Captain Glen Bell took three singles wins, his number Peter Mikhaeil two, and Ben Hosking one. The team took both doubles, too, to give themselves an impressive 8 rubbers to 3 win.
Glen Bell was in fine form, defeating his opposing numbers two and three Graham Southwell and Sosefa Fevaleaki in three sets, and needing only a further set to dispose of the opposing captain Claire Ljubic. Bell was in control, conceding only 21 points in his first two rubbers, when it came to Ljubic, Bell conceded the first set 8-11, before reeling off the next three 13-11, 11-6, 11-3.
Mikhaeil defeated Ljubic 11-5, 7-11, 11-4, 13-11 and Fevaleaki 8-11, 11-3, 11-1, 11-9 to back his captain admirably.
Number three Ben Hosking also defeated Ljubic, in five. Hosking had to come from two sets down to do it. It was a great fight, and he took the rubber 10-12, 6-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9.
That was six rubbers for Weightmans, and they added cream to their win with two doubles wins, both in five sets. Bell and Mikaeil took the first in a see-sawing game 11-9, 9-11, 12-10, 4-11, 11-5, and later Bell and Hosking did the same against Ljubic and Fevaleaki 8-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-7, 11-4.
The surprise in this contest, really, was that Claire Ljubic was kept winless. On a night when her form seemed to desert her, Claire struggled. Of course all credit to the Weightmans trio, but Claire would have expected to have won at least one.
So it was left to her team mates to pick up games where-ever they could, and both Southwell and Fevaleaki did as best they could. Southwell won two rubbers and Fevaleaki one.
Southwell scored wins over both Mikhaeil (3-11, 12-10, 13-11, 11-8) and Hosking (4-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4), and Fevaleaki took the final rubber of the night against Ben Hosking 5-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-8 to finish a rather disappointing encounter for Bishop Builders.
Final details, Weightmans Packaging 8 rubbers to Bishop Builders 3 and 27 games to 18.
– Fishers IGA 7 (Cole Keegan, John Cubit 2, Helen Frania 1) d Dunkley Scales 4 (Jessica Dorman 3, Leonie Dunkley 1)
The Fishers IGA trio of Cole Keegan, John Cubit and Helen Frania proved too strong for the all-girl Dunkley Scales team of Jessica Dorman, Leonie Dunkley and Shirley Whitecross to keep the Dunkley squad winless in 2013.
All three Fishers players picked up singles wins, captain Cole Keegan winning two, as did John Cubit, and Helen Frania picking up her second win for the season, with a win here against Shirley Whitecross. Together with these wins, Fishers took both doubles to give them an impressive 7 rubbers to 4 win.
Keegan’s two wins came against Leonie Dunkley and Shirley Whitecross. He had a lot of trouble in taking the Dunkley match, the closest rubber of the night, and in fact, had Dunkley got the “bounce of the ball”, it could very well have gone her way. Cole, however, got the win in five sets, after leading two love; 11-7, 11-8, 10-12, 9-11, 12-10. His second win against Whitecross gave him much less angst, taking that in three 11-5, 11-3, 11-3.
John Cubit similarly defeated the same two Scalers players. He downed Whitecross also in three, and like his captain had a lot of trouble against the tenacious Leonie Dunkley. Cubit also, led Dunkley two sets to love 11-7, 11-6, and seemed to have his opponent’s measure. Dunkley, had other ideas, and kept John at the table, taking the next two sets 14-12, 12-10 to make him work for his win. He hung on in the fifth 11-8 to best his opponent. At the time he played this rubber, the scores were 5-4, and Dunkley was playing to level the score for her team.
Helen Frania picked up her win against Shirley Whitecross in the final rubber, to give her side a handsome 7 rubbers to 4 win. Helen had to work for it, Shirley keeping herself in the match, with her tidy and consistent play. Frania won 11-4, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7.
It wasn’t all bad for Dunkley Scales, though. Jessica Dorman could not be overcome in singles play, dispatching both Cole Keegan and Helen Frania in three sets, but having to “come back from the dead” in her match with John Cubit. Cubit took the first set in a tight contest 12-10, and seemed to be on the verge of running away with the match when he took the second 11-4. Dorman, however, finally found form in the third set taking that 11-7, continued on in the fourth 11-8, and “hold your breath” took the fifth 11-9.
The fourth rubber for the Dunkley Scales team came from Leonie Dunkley when she downed Helen Frania 11-9, 11-4. 11-4.
Those four rubbers were all that Fishers IGA conceded to Dunkley Scales. Fishers took both doubles, the first in three. Keegan and Cubit defeated Dorman and Dunkley 11-7, 11-6, 12-10. The second doubles was the match of the night, going to five sets. Had the Scalers won it, it would have made the contest four rubbers apiece. Dorman and Whitecross almost pulled it off, too, but in a very tense match, Keegan and Frania got home by the skin of their teeth 11-2, 10-12, 9-11, 13-11, 13-11.
Fishers got the win, then, but Dunkley Scales were far from disgraced, the games’ score showing 23 games to 19.
– Mallee Bearings 6 (Sabrina Fitzpatrick, Roy Cubit 2, Peter Edwards 1) d Pinnacle Packers 5 (Jeremy Corrin, Karly Leach 2)
Mallee Bearings were looking defeat in the face from the end of the sixth rubber in this contest with Pinnacle Packers. But they not only looked defeat in the face, but overcame it by come back from being 5 rubbers to 1 down, to take the win 6 rubbers to 5. Indeed, the judgment of the Grading Committee was being called into question when things were at their most grim for Mallee Bearings, but funnily enough, all this evaporated when the win was secured !!
The first rubber saw Karly Leach take on one of the most improved players of 2013, Peter Edwards. Edwards really extended Leach in this five setter, and Karly had to use all her tricks to secure the win. The 11-3, 4-11, 11-7, 11-13, 11-6 win gave her team the early lead.
Sabrina Fitzpatrick, enjoying her role as captain, (and joint number one on the aggregate), immediately squared the score by defeating Quentin Clark in three 11-6, 11-9, 11-2.
Pinnacle Packers then went on a tear, winning the next four rubbers to give themselves what they must have thought to be a winning break.
Jeremy Corrin, filling in for Mick Bacon, took a hard-earned win over Roy Cubit. After being two sets to one down, Corrin fought back to win in five 11-4, 3-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7.
Next, the first doubles, Leach and Corrin, again in five sets, and again being two sets to one down, defeated Fitzpatrick and Cubit 11-9, 11-13, 5-11, 11-6, 11-9.
Karly and Sabrina remained at the table, and the two “old” adversaries locked horns once again for an enjoyable encounter. Karly got the better of Sabrina this time, winning in four 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-7.
The fourth rubber in this run of four was Corrin defeating Edwards. Corrin dropped the first set 9-11, but then wasted no time in finishing the match, winning the last three sets 11-3, 11-2, 11-3.
Mallee Bearings looked gone for all money at this stage, looking for help where-ever they could get it. Alas, nowhere to look …
Roy Cubit took a business-like win over Quentin Clark 11-7, 11-5, 12-10, Fitzpatrick and Edwards put their heads down in the second doubles, giving Leach and Clark little opportunity to assert themselves. They match was three sets also, 11-7, 11-4, 11-9 to the victors.
The next match very nearly went to the Packers to give them the win they really thought they deserved. Jeremy Corrin went toe to toe with Sabrina for four sets, then inexplicably disappeared in the fifth. Sabrina’s 11-9, 10-12, 14-12, 10-12, 11-1 win kept their hopes alive. They were 5-4 down, with two to play.
Roy Cubit was starting to get a little weary by now; he had played two five setters, and now had Karly Leach at the other end of the table. But Roy settled down to the task, took the first two sets 11-9, 11-9, and tried to close the game out in the third, but missed and Karly got a sniff taking the third 12-10. The fourth was a nervous affair, Roy knowing that if the game went to five sets, Karly would get the better of him, so he had to win it in four. And win it in four he did, taking the last also 11-9.
That made it 5 rubbers all, and the two number three’s carried the hopes of their sides on their shoulders. Edwards, however, made short work of the match, winning 11-7, 11-7, 11-4.
So Mallee Bearings got the win 6-5, and the game score 26 to 18.
