Survival race not over yet

With only two weeks remaining, the Ashford & District Table Tennis League Division 2 promotion slot has already gone to Brabourne & Smeeth D - but it looks like it will go into the final week before there’s any certainty at the other end of the table. Propping up the division are Ashford TT E, and they lost 20-10 in their game at midtable Pluckley.

Q Yat Chan dispatched John Clark 3-0 to get Ashford off to a flying start, but, playing up from Division 3, Joey Khoo had the unfortunate position of taking on Sam Woodcock first, losing 3-0.

The steady hand of Graham Watts secured another 3-0 victory for Pluckley over another promising junior, Aarav Verma.

In a clash between the top players, Woodcock did for

Yat Chan as he came through 3-0.

Clark got on the scoreboard, taking the first leg off Verma, before he suffered a reversal in the second. The deciding leg went the distance before Verma found that little bit extra at 12-12.

Watts was given a good game by Khoo but he won 3-0. Woodcock finished the night as player-of-the-match with a 2-1 win over Verma. The 13-11 victory in the first leg proved key as Verma eased through the second 11-3 before Woodcock regrouped to secure the deciding leg.

Yat Chan needed a third leg to beat Watts 12-10 in deuce for his second win on the night. Clark added two more points for his team, although Khoo deserved to get on the board in the 2-1 defeat.

Woodcock and Watts then combined well for a 2-1 win in the doubles over Verma and Yat Chan.

Pluckley’s victory meant Ashford were reliant on other sides to drop points if they were to make up ground.

The biggest hope for them was Brabourne & Smeeth E’s fixture with high-fliers Brabourne & Smeeth D - and they received a boost when the D team won their game also 2010.

Ashford TT E trailed by 20 points going into the final two weeks where 60 more points are on offer for each team.

Ashford TT C are not clear of danger yet, but a player-ofthe-match performance from Steve Bispham went a long way to moving them away from the relegation zone despite a 16-14 loss to Postling A. Elsewhere, Brabourne & Smeeth B are now confirmed of second place after they won their match against Ashford TT D 22-8.