Titles were officially decided in half of the Divisions in the Doric Insurance sponsored senior leagues during the penultimate week of fixtures, with the others to be concluded on the final night of action.
Division 1
Whistlers A fulfilled their expectations as the favourites for the top flight crown, retaining the title they won last season. In doing so, Joshua Stacey, Matthew Casey and Joseph Bourgaize became the first Whistlers players to win the top flight crown in consecutive seasons since the early 90’s, with the Whistlers B sides having claimed the crown in 2019/2020 consisting of different players. For Stacey and Casey, it is their 3rd top flight crown, with each having won in 2020 and 2019 respectively, with Bourgaize making it two Division 1 crowns.
The scenario was straight forward for the champions elect as they faced title rivals Whistlers B this week, the only side who were capable of stopping them. In the end it was anti-climatic as the weakened Whistlers B side, absent of Oskar Cleal, were heavily beaten 8-2, with the title clinched as early as the 6th rubber, when the champions went 5-1 ahead. Joshua Stacey was the key player in the fixture as he defeated twin Lawrence, Mark Pipet and 2nd Division reserve Martin Sarre, for the loss of just a single set to Lawrence. Casey and Bourgaize each contributed with singles wins over Pipet and Sarre to secure the victory, albeit Bourgaize needed to withstand a fightback from Sarre, eventually winning the decisive 5th set of their clash 11-7. The doubles was won by Josh and Casey over Lawrence and Pipet in straight sets. For the defeated Whistlers side, Lawrence saved some face for his side due to his wins over Casey and Bourgaize in 4 and straight sets respectively.
Lions B had already found themselves in a position where 3rd spot had been secured, however they put in a strong performance to put bottom placed side Ravenscroft Panthers B to the sword, 8-2 the outcome. In doing so, Alex Robinson’s unbeaten evening saw him officially clinch the Division 1 averages at the first time of asking, following his return to local table tennis. With his last full league season coming over a decade ago during the 2014/2015 campaign, he has shown his quality throughout a campaign which has seen him taste singles defeat on just 3 occasions, less than half that of his closest rival, Joshua Stacey. Robinson has played with focus and determination in every match he has competed in and this fixture was no different, a trio of straight sets singles wins achieved over Andy Gill, Micah Cohen and Marli Barker. Alongside Jamie Ferbrache they have gone the entire season uneaten in doubles action, with this record continuing here courtesy of a 4 set win over Gill and Cohen. Ferbrache himself also impressed in singles action with an unbeaten evening. During his victories over the Panthers trio, he dropped just a single set to Gill in the process. 2nd Division reserve Andy Ferbrache joined the party due to his 5-set win over Barker, in a match which saw him overturn a 2-1 deficit. The whitewash was prevented due to victories for Cohen and Gill over Andy Ferbrache, albeit Gill’s win over Ferbrache came in the final game of the night and the titanic tussle was only settled 11-9 in the deciding end in favour of the Panthers man.
The clash between Lions D and Lions E ended as a 5-5 stalemate, a result which sees the sides remain in 5th and 6th spots and matches the outcome from their meeting at the start of the season. Phil Ogier was the player of the match for the D side as he was unbeaten. In singles action he defeated Jez Powell, Steve Ozanne and Mark Fenwick, dropping just a single set to Ozanne in the process, whilst in the doubles clash, he combined with Cameron Powell to overcome Ozanne and Fenwick over the full 5 sets. Cameron started the evening superbly for his side, earning a 4-set upset win over Ozanne. For the E side, all players picked up singles wins over reserve Ian Le Page, whilst Jez and Fenwick earned matching 4-set wins over Cameron.
Despite looking heavily consigned to a 7th placed finish, Lions C are surprisingly the form team of the Division, picking up their 4th consecutive 6-4 win of the season, 8th placed side Ravenscroft Panthers A the team to narrowly fall short this time. The Lions side had the luxury of calling upon former Green trophy representative Ben Foss, however in the end the outcome of the fixture was settled in the final 2 matches of the night. With honours even at 4-4, the final 2 matches saw Foss competing against junior Barnaby Groves on one table, with Paul Hainsworth playing Nye Matthew on an adjacent table. The Panthers side looked in a strong position to win both matches, with Groves leading Foss 10-8 and Matthew leading Hainsworth 9-6 in respective 5th and final sets, however the Lions players used their experience to battle through with a burst of unanswered points. Foss was the first victor as he saved both match points, winning 4 consecutive points to edge through 12-10, whilst Hainsworth won 5 in a row to seal it 11-9. The best point in this match came at 9-9 where a strong Matthew third ball forehand topspin wide crosscourt saw Hainsworth retrieve it superbly with interest, before he clinched the next point to edge the 6-4 win for his side. Hainsworth ended the match unbeaten and in doing so made it 15 consecutive singles wins, his others on the night coming in straight sets over youngsters Groves and Luke Evans. Foss was beaten in 5 sets in the match opener by Matthew, but regrouped well to defeat Evans in 4 sets, whilst the important doubles match was comfortably won by Hainsworth and Foss over Groves and Evans in straight sets. For the beaten Panthers side, all players picked up consolation wins over 2nd Division reserve Brian Ferbrache.
Division 2
With the top flight title having been secured the prior evening, the heaviest favourites across all Divisions duly lived up to their expectations and officially secured the title. Needing to win just 3 individual matches to mathematically win the title, Whistlers D cruised to a 9-1 win over bottom placed side Whistlers E. With joint averages leaders Kay Chivers and Craig Dunning in the same team, it was always going to be difficult for anyone to topple this side, however they were held to 5-5 draws by both of their closest title rivals, Whistlers C and Lions F earlier in the season. In this fixture, Chivers and Dunning duly delivered once more, winning against Stuart Sarre, Darren Sarre and Matthew Board. Dunning however was in trouble in his clash with Stuart and trailed 2-0 before coming back excellently to win the final 3 sets 12-10, 11-7, 11-7. Keith Opie added wins over Board and Darren in straight sets, however he was beaten in straight sets by Stuart. The doubles was won by Chivers and Opie against the Sarre brothers in straight sets.
A more important clash in the Division this week saw 2nd spot decided. Lions F knew that a win over Whistlers C would put them in a strong position to pinch 2nd spot, however they narrowly fell to a 6-4 defeat, ensuring that Whistlers C will finish as runners-up, with the Lions side closely behind in 3rd. Despite the defeat, Andy Ferbrache continued his excellent run of form with an unbeaten evening of singles action. Having won his 3 over champions Whistlers D just a few weeks prior, he repeated that feat with wins over Kenedy Chepkor, Martin Sarre and Paula Le Ber. His wins over Chepkor and Sarre both came over the full 5 sets with 11-8 scores in the deciders, with him fighting back from 2-1 down to overcome Chepkor in their clash. His win over Le Ber came in straight sets. Ollie Sparkes started the evening in fine form, overcoming Sarre in 4 sets and he came very close in his clash with Le Ber, narrowly going down 14-12 in the 5th set. His other singles match saw him lose to Chepkor in straight sets, whilst all Whistlers players defeated Brian Ferbrache over 4 sets. The important doubles match was won by Chepkor and Sarre over Andy and Brian in straight sets.
Division 3
The third Division is set-up for the closest finish in recent history, with 3 sides all mathematically capable of winning the title. Whistlers F lead the way with 39 points, with Ravenscroft Panthers G and E on 38 and 37 points respectively. It is however the 3rd placed Panthers E side with the strongest games difference ratio. Whistlers F compete against the Panthers E side in the final week, with the outcome of that match crucial to the title. The Whistlers side are still favourite for the title, however should they fail to win against the Panthers E side, this would open the door for Panthers G, who will be heavy favourites against a 7th placed St Pauls B side, whom they whitewashed last time they met.
The Panthers E side would have been in pole position for the crown, however they were edged out 6-4 by the G side this week. Phil Harris and Thea Cummins each won twice in singles action for the victors, wins obtained over Steve Martin and Olivia Gilbert, whilst Mark Windsor added an important 4 sets win over Martin. The doubles proved to be the decisive factor in the outcome of the encounter and it saw Harris and Windsor prevail 12-10 in the deciding 5th end over Shaun Mosley and Gilbert. For the defeated Panthers side, averages leader Mosley was in imperious form and did not drop a set in singles action, whilst Gilbert earned herself a strong straight sets win over Windsor.
Division 4
The 4th Division title will be the final one to be concluded on Thursday evening. Ravenscroft Panthers H are heavily expected to lift the title as they hold a single point lead from Lions K, whilst their final fixture is against an 8th placed Whistlers L side that has picked up points in just 2 of their 23 matches contested this season.
They made no mistakes in their fixture this week, whitewashing bottom placed side Whistlers M. Averages leader Tom De La Rue, Jack Dorey and Theo Marsh were too strong for Dan Petty, Sabato Folmi and reserve Asher Cohen and did not drop any sets. The doubles was won by Dorey and Marsh over Petty and Cohen.
2nd position is still up for grabs however. Whilst Lions K hold a 2-point lead from Lions I, the sides are due to meet next week and the I side have a far superior games difference ratio. Thus a win for Lions I would see them pinch the runners-up spot.