Individual battles provide interest as top teams prevail
The focus was on individual battles when the third round of Marlborough senior interclub table tennis was played on Thursday, with the leading teams scoring comfortable wins.
Three Lions beat Winning Colours 9-3, although the final score does not reflect the closeness of the matches as three of the winning side’s points came in the fifth set.
The improving Josh Sim started things off with an 11-9, 11-8, 6-11, 10-12, 13-11 win over Simon Bishell while Jason Kennedy had a good night, beating both John Diamanti and David Foley.
Alex Kennedy kept his unbeaten record, but only just, as he saved match points before finally getting home 9-11, 14-12, 11-9, 7-11, 14-12 against Diamanti. All six players managed to win a single, an uncommon occurence.
Warriors had their third big win of the season, beating Cowdrey’s Honour 10-2. Matt Willis was in great touch, winning his three singles included victory over Megan Stratford.
Willis showed good tactical awareness, his strong backhand play neutralising Stratford’s strong attacking game.
Stratford, a former New Zealand junior rep, was playing her first inter-club match of the season and impressed with wins over Kylie Hurren and Ken Thompsett.
Arawa beat GX3 10-2 with Jeremy Phipps getting his team off to a winning start, downing Marion Wood 5-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9 in a tight match. Jeff Sawyer was unbeaten for Arawa.
In his first match, his defensive play just held off the attacking skills of Jacqui Wood to win in four.
Wood, with her all-round topspin game, came back from two sets down in her matches against Phipps and Warren Haszard to win them in five sets.
In partnership with her daughter Vanessa, Wood came close to a third point as they lost narrowly to Haszard and Phipps. Wairau Valley beat Koromiko 11-1, David Smith getting Koromiko on the board with an 11-9, 11-9, 7-11, 14-12 win over Steve Rowsell.
Dennis Burkhart and Ross Ward couldn’t quite get a point for Pride of Flaxbourne aginst MOM, but they came close with four matches going past the third set.