News From The Guildford Table Tennis Association February 2023

Published on: 22 Feb, 2023
Updated on: 21 Feb, 2023

Report by Steve Day

Starting with the Premier Division, Godalming A and Merrow B share top spot, both with 64 points.

This is despite the Merrow team losing three out of four of their January matches. Sadly, they are not so formidable without Max Flint!

These two teams are, however, closely followed by Merrow A, who have a game in hand and are only one point behind.

John Robinson.

John Robinson continued to work his magic with that extremely rare event, a three-straight win over Godalming’s Adam Laws.

As ever, Phil Snelson is producing the goods for Burymead A but he needs more support from the rest of the squad if they are going to challenge the top teams. Despite his loss to John Robinson, Adam Laws still tops the averages.

Moving on to Division One, Godalming C now head the division after beating former leaders, Challoner A, 7-2.

Adrian Cretu.

Vlad Cretu won all his three games and was ably supported by his dad, Adrian, and Emanuel Sandu. Nerves were tingling on the night as many of the games could have gone either way.

Vlad is on a great winning streak as he hasn’t lost a Division 1 game since November. Although Godalming’s lead is slim, they have a game in hand.

Aftermath A are third followed by Abinger A in fourth. Aftermath B prop up the division with a mere 40 points.

The injured Maria Hilsdon still leads the averages, followed by Dave Halfpenny, although they have played only four and five matches, respectively. Chris Pullinger of Abinger A on 85.19% is next, having played nine matches.

Division Two is next. Ash remain top with a lead of 15 points over Godalming F, despite losing 4-5 to both Godalming D and Woking A during the month.

This was the second time Woking had upset a top team during January, having already beaten second placed Godalming F, 6-3.

Mike Glenn of Woking was in good form in both matches and had a notable victory over Ash’s high flyer, Hudson Foley. Those who underestimate Mike do so at their peril, I seem to remember.

In Division Three, Bramley C, comprising Peter and Angela Coventry and Mark Lockyer, have consolidated their position at the top with a lead of fifteen points over Emmanuel.

The latter have slipped back, despite the efforts of Stephen Schofield. Robert Mitchell, of third placed Merrow F, continues his run of good form to support their promotion push. Sasan Bigdeli of Godalming G remains top of the averages having lost only four of his thirty two matches.

Merrow G lead by 3 points in Division Four with Challoner B in second place and Aftermath C in third. The latter, though, have played a game more than the top two teams.

Abinger B are in bottom place. Merrow’s Max Swindells remains at the top of the averages followed by club mates, Alex Webb and Ross Matthew.

National Cadet League, report by Adam Laws

Guildford Table Tennis Association Cadets

Guildford finished top of all three divisions in round 3 of the National Cadet League at Southampton.

Guildford A started with an 8-1 victory over Kingfisher B. Kyle Kepa and Anay Gandhi each won three and Siddie Pillai won twice.

They achieved another 8-1 win over Weymouth. This time Siddie and Kyle won twice and Charlie Everingham won twice.

In the final match against Kingfisher A, the winners of the division in the last two rounds, they began with a 3-0 lead due to one of their players falling ill.

However, it was still a close match due to their quality. Their two players, Ethan Zeng and James Darbishire, won twice each against Anay and Robert Martin, but Siddie proved to be the star – his two wins against Ethan and James secured the 5-4 win.

Guildford B won division 2 at a canter. They won 9-0, 8-1 and 9-0 against Bridport, Waterside A and Waterside B. Charlie Everingham, Seamus Walker and Robert Martin won all their matches. Alexis Solomonides won all his matches except for a 12-10 in the fifth defeat to Jack Lee.

If it’s possible, Guildford C did even better. They swept all before them with 9-0 victories against Waterside C, Dorchester and Weymouth B. Curran Kulkarni, Kayla Wong and Bianka Wong each won 9 out of 9.

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