Three-horse race develops at the top of Halifax Table Tennis League

A THREE-HORSE race has emerged at the summit of the Halifax Table Tennis League following an enthralling start to the season.

Dicko’s Disciples lead the way after a third of the season, topping the table by a mere two sets. Their impressive 6-3 victory over Hermits saw them leapfrog Barbarians, who are second after they were overturned by the same scoreline by Woodfield Park, inspired by the prolific Shaun Ellis.

The former Halifax champions ended Ian Marshall’s unbeaten start to the season and won all three of his games. He was ably assisted by Russell Senior and Keith Skarz, who won two and one respectively.

The Disciples, fronted by Alex Shaw, have been boosted by the signing of Liam Chipman, who has returned to the sport after a near-decade absence and won an impressive 11 out of 12 so far.

In third place are Acapulco, whose captain Matthew Shaw tops the averages and the sets award after recording 26 wins from 27 outings.

Teammate Ross McFadyen has also picked up a string of impressive wins, none more so than over young superstar Abraham Sellado, who made his latest international appearance this month after being selected for England in the cadet Home Nations.

Aged just 11, Sellado and team-mate Kacper Piowar won the team event, despite playing boys four years older than them from Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Jersey.

Sellado recently won one of the biggest national under-13 events in the calendar at Cleveland

and has won 15 of his 18 matches in the league so far this season. His performances have seen him selected to play for England next January. He will travel to Hungary to take part in the Mini Cadet (U13s) European event.

He will also represent Halifax in the Senior British League next month alongside the Shaw brothers and defending backto-back Halifax champion Ben Fillingham. The quartet will head to Halton to take on Huddersfield and Scottish outfit North Ayrshire having started the season excellently.

Halifax are currently second in Division B1 after winning three of their opening four games. The team of Ellis, Richard Aitken and both Shaws defeated Archway Peterborough, Derwent and Huntingdon and lost to Orsted Grimsby.