CRACKINGTON B and Bridgerule A guaranteed their passage into the quarter-finals of the Handicap Cup in the North Cornwall Table Tennis League last week.

The ties between Budehaven A and North Hill C, Helland B and Whitstone Wanderers, Torridge and Altarnun and Budehaven E and North Hill B were all rearranged while Launceston failed to show for their clash at Crackington C, although the reasons behind that are still being discussed.

While Budehaven B were already through after Budehaven B conceded a week in advance, they were joined by fellow Division?Two sides Crackington B and Bridgerule A, who won final set deciders against Helland A and Budehaven D respectively.

The Handicap Cup is played under different rules to normal league matches with each individual matches played as a best of three games with the first to 21 being the winner, while there are also no doubles.

Unlike in league matches, where games must be won by two clear points, if it gets to 20-20, there is a sudden death point.

Players are also given a head start on their opponents, meaning that in theory, a player in Division Three could beat the best player in the top division due to being given a significant head start, which in some cases can be up to over and above 15.

Mid-table Division Two side Crackington B found themselves up against Division?One leaders Helland A and got themselves into leads of 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2 before Helland fought back to force a decider, which saw home skipper Keiron Chatterjea square off with opposite number Mike Fisher.

Given a 12-0 advantage, both men traded sets before Chatterjea won 21-12 in the final game to set up a quarter-final with Division Two leaders Budehaven B.

Despite being given the biggest handicap, Ritchie Bartlett won all three of his outings for the visitors while Chatterjea and Ross Paynter kept their cool for Crackington.

There was a remarkable game at?Budehaven?Leisure Centre as Bridgerule A got the better of Budehaven D by the same scoreline.

With the match at 4-4, home captain John Gillin took on Ray Bewes with each of the three games haveing to be decided by sudden death points.

Alan Quilter was the key for Bridgerule in winning all three encounters with Bewes and Audrey Bewes picking up their other points.

Cayden Gill was Bude’s most successful player with two wins.

The first league matches of 2018 were also played in Division Two.

Bridgerule A were back in action less than 24 hours later on Friday night but were thrashed 9-1 by local rivals Whitstone Wanderers with Barry?Stearman and Rob Woodhouse picking up three victories apiece as well as winning the doubles together.

As usual, Alan Quilter picked up Bridgerule’s point as their tough season continues.

There was a much closer affair at Altarnun as they were held to a 5-5 draw by North Hill B, who were boosted by the inclusion of David Wilson who made his debut in place of David Aplin.

Wilson won all three of his outings including a final-game thriller with Paul Burden, while Trevor Luckhurst returned to form with two good wins over Simon Holmes and Geoff Hale, who both beat Michael Kinger to go alongside Burden’s two wins and their success in the doubles.

The week’s other match saw North Hill C reach the last four of the Division Three Knockout Cup with a 3-2 victory over Helland C.

All four players involved won a singles match, but in the end, John?Parker and Jill Diggory’s 13-11 victory in the final game of the doubles saw them edge home.

To find out the latest scores, fixtures, results, player averages and more, visit www.tabletennis365.com/NorthCornwall