Successive defeats for Hares dents their bid to take Division One title to North West Leicestershire

SUCCESSIVE defeats have put a big dent in hopes that Hugglescote Hares can take the Loughborough and District Table Tennis League title to North West Leicestershire.

After taking an early lead in Division One with five wins in their first six outings, Hares have run into two Draycott sides with similar ambitions.

They had to wait until the final set of the night to pick up a point at Draycott Dinosaurs for whom Viv Rayson and Masher Portlock were in commanding form.

And they were also made to work exceptionally hard in their latest clash with Draycott Donkeys.

A close match was titled in the favour of the visitors when Georgios Gerakios ended the 100 per cent record of master veteran Maurice Newman by the fine margin of 12-10 in the fifth. Lucy Vernon also recorded a useful singles victory as Draycott won 4-2..

These two results leaves all three sides locked in a very tight battle at the top of the table.

Draycott Diamonds continue to dominate Division Two having now opened up a 12-point advantage after successive wins over Students C and Hugglescote Hares whilst dropping just a single point.

Newcomers Melbourne Swifts A are closing in on second spot after a run of four successive wins. The latest 4-2 success over Unicorn Bitterns owed much to the doubles partnership of Carl Jackson and Penny May who claimed two vital points.

It’s a battle for second spot in Division Three where Goons A are in total control having claimed 40 of the first 42 points on offer. Charnwood Blockers continue to pip Unicorn Curlews for the runners up place after Adrian Stevenson’s double ensured a 4-2 win over club mates Charnwood Drivers.

Draycott Dragons and Melbourne Swifts B are in charge of Division Four with the clash between the top two resulting in an important 5-1 win for Dragons as Dexter Fairbank and Phil Coker dominated the singles.