Table tennis league focuses on cup

Star Paving Services North Norfolk Table Tennis LeagueTHE quarter-finals of the Handicap Singles Cup took place this week, as Crosscourt's Peter Triston, Will De Neve and Anne Armitage hosted Delta's Jack Morton, Jamie Carter and Tom Baldock-Yaxley.

Star Paving Services North Norfolk Table Tennis League

THE quarter-finals of the Handicap Singles Cup took place this week, as Crosscourt's Peter Triston, Will De Neve and Anne Armitage hosted Delta's Jack Morton, Jamie Carter and Tom Baldock-Yaxley.

Morton (+4) won the opener for Delta as he took both sets from Triston 21-15, but then six sets later De Neve had taken a brace and Armitage (+6) had defeated Baldock-Yaxley as Crosscourts moved 3-1 ahead. And that became 4-1 as despite Baldock-Yaxley winning 11 points in a row at one stage, Triston came through 21-12 21-19. However the next six sets all went to the visitors, straight set wins for Carter (+2) and Morton (+5) against Armitage and Baldock-Yaxley producing a great effort to defeat De Neve (+8) 21-19 21-20.

The deciding match was between two players on the same handicap and saw Carter defeat Triston 21-19 21-16 - from 1-4 down; the Deltas won 5-4.

At North Walsham, Cobras' James Baldock-Yaxley, Alex Spragg and Adam Brown hosted Specials' John Miller, Hugh Rout and Ray Howe. Baldock-Yaxley excelled in the fast opening attacking game as he defeated Miller (+6) 21-19 21-12 and Spragg (+4) put Cobras 2-0 up with a comfortable 21-7 21-10 victory against Rout.

However, two games later the Specials had levelled , Brown not able to take advantage of his eight point start as Howe won 21-15 21-20 and Miller in front all the way as he won an evenly matched handicapped game in two close sets against Spragg.

The next game also started on even terms and saw Baldock-Yaxley take the first set 21-19 from Howe. The Cobra then had three match-points (with the sudden death) at 20-18 in the second, but luck helped the Specials edge it 21-20 and Howe chopped away to win 21-16 in the decider as he moved Specials 3-2 up.

Brown (+6) easily levelled with a 21-11 21-9 victory against Rout and Spragg (+6) moved Cobras back ahead as he won both of his sets against Howe 21-14. Miller came back strong from a set down against Brown (+2) as he forced the deciding match, but Baldock-Yaxley ended the evening in style for Cobras against Rout (+2) his 21-11 21-15 win sending them through to the semi-finals.

At Trunch, Seal's Mike Toye, Ray Amo and Peter Betts hosted Beta's Matt Robinson, Simon Halliday and Philip Stone. Robinson won several cheap points on serve against Toye (+4), who was mis-firing at times as the Beta won the opener in straight.

Amo (+4) then took on Halliday, the Seals' hitting was very accurate while the Beta lost a lot on his serves as Amo levelled 21-14 21-15. Betts and Stone started on scratch and were evenly matched for the first two dozen points - the Beta had won their two league meetings this season but this time it was Betts who was much the stronger player as he won 21-17 21-12.

Amo(+6)'s excellent form continued as he defeated Robinson in two sets, before Stone pulled one back for Beta with a 21-14 8-21 21-12 win against Toye (+2). Betts then made the score 4-2 in Seal's favour with a 21-12 21-13 win against Halliday (+2) and then Amo (+6) secured their place in the semis with a 19-21 21-14 21-16 win against Stone.

The two dead rubbers were played out with wins for Betts and Toye against Robinson and Halliday respectively completing Seals' 7-2 win.

The final quarter-final saw Goblin's Chris Pooley, Jonathan and Simeon Care host Barracudas' Rod Hill, Nigel Pegg and John Barron. The opener between Pooley (+6) and Hill was all signature, but errors from Pooley let Hill in to win in three. However with Jonathan Care (+2) outwitting Barron and Simeon smashing his way to victory against both Pegg and Hill, Goblins soon found themselves 3-1 ahead. Pooley (+13) returned well on both wings against Barron to move his team one win from victory and a comfortable 5-1 win for the Goblins had a tense conclusion. Jonathan Care played catch-up well especially in the deciding set as he defeated Pegg (+12) 21-17 18-21 21-20.

There was also another league game this week as Specials hosted an Alpha team who needed to win to claim third place in the first division.

Dennis Elliott took a maximum for the visitors, including a win in five against Rout, and Ivan Hewitt defeated Miller in four, but there was no joy for Dave Johns who lost 13-11 in the fifth against Miller. Rout and Howe won the doubles in four against Elliott and Hewitt to seal Specials' 6-4 win. A win for Specials in the last first division match of the season would see them leapfrog Alpha in fourth and 8-2 or better would see them also pass Sharks in third - that's easier said than done though as it is against Outlaws!

The players of the week are Will De Neve and Tom Baldock-Yaxley (great game from both players), James Baldock-Yaxley (played so well), Ray Amo (reactions), Simeon Care (consistency), Dennis Elliott (maximum) and birthday boy Ray Howe!

Results. Handicap Singles Cup quarter-finals: Cobras 5, Specials 4; Goblins 5, Barracudas 1; Seals 7, Beta 2; Crosscourts 4, Delta 5.

First Division: Specials 6, Alpha 4.

Handicap Singles Cup semi-final draw: Cobras v Goblins, Delta v Seals.