North Cornwall Table Tennis League 2017/18 weekly round-up

By David Sillifant

BUDEHAVEN?B were finally crowned as champions of Division Two in the North Cornwall Table Tennis League last Thursday night after a thrilling 6-4 victory at nearest challengers Whitstone Wanderers.

The visitors required just three points to take the title but looked in danger of having to wait as they found themselves 4-2 down.

However, a brilliant response saw them take the doubles and then the last round of singles to take it 6-4.

For Budehaven, skipper David Sillifant won all three of his outings as well as in the doubles with Ashley Taylor, while Taylor and Nathan Jukes picked up a win apiece.

For Whitstone, Doug Genini contributed two points with Barry Stearman and Rob Woodhouse winning one each.

There were two other matches last week in Division Two, with comfortable victories for Launceston and Altarnun.

The town side won 8-2 at home to North Hill B with Stephen Parsons and Karen Horrell enjoying perfect evenings, although Horrell showed her battling qualities to come back from 2-1 down against both Trevor Luckhurst and Mike Kinger, while they also won a thriller in the doubles.

Lois Atkin picked up a rare win for Launceston but was beaten by both Luckhurst and Dave Aplin.

Altarnun cemented fifth place in the table with a 7-3 victory at Bridgerule A.

With skipper Paul Burden not playing, the trio of Alex Whitfield, Simon Holmes and Geoff Hale all beat Jay Brewer and Ray Bewes but were defeated by Alan Quilter who remarkably is the only Bridgerule player to register a point.

However, Brewer will be left gutted as Holmes fought back to take the last two games 11-9 and snatch victory.

In Division One, Helland A require six points from their final fixture at nearest challengers North Hill A tonight to take the title.

While they were easing to a 9-1 success at Crackington A, North Hill lost 6-4 at home to Budehaven A, who gave a debut to Keith Bradshaw from Sheffield, who was unbeaten in the singles.

Dave Salisbury also beat Shirley Luckhurst and Martin Hynes with Helen Murgatroyd also getting the better of the Hynes to secure victory.

For the home side, Bob Thompson picked up a brace of victories in the singles with Luckhurst beating Murgatroyd as well as combining to win the doubles.

At Crackington, it was a much more comfortable night for Helland.

The visiting trio of Ingus Abolnieks, Ritchie Bartlett and Mike Fisher all had no trouble in easing past Ross Wilmshurst and Judith Cook but found Frank Barnes a much tougher proposition.

Fresh off winning Class One of the David Viggers tournament at Budehaven, Barnes pushed each of his opponents to deciders but could only beat Fisher as Abolnieks gained a measure of revenge for his sudden-death defeat four days previously.

As things stand, Helland are 25 points ahead with North Hill having two games in-hand.

North Hill travelled to Torridge last night knowing they needed to win handsomely to give themselves a chance.

In Division Three there were just two matches.

With the title already decided, the main focus was to see who would finish bottom out of North Hill C and Budehaven F as they clashed at North Hill Village Hall.

The visitors needed a big win to put the pressure on; and although they won 3-2 there is still a four-point gap heading into the final games.

Ezra Jukes won both of his outings with his uncle, Andrew, grabbing their other point.

The home side’s tally was boosted by Jill Diggory and a win in the doubles.

Crackington C edged out Budehaven D 3-2 in another close contest.

Cayden Gill continued his excellent form for the visitors but Simon Patterson and Trevor Dean both beat John Gillin and then combined to win the doubles.

The only other match in the week saw Budehaven E advance into the quarter-finals of the Handicap Cup with a 6-0 victory over North Hill B.

They’re scheduled to take on fellow Division Three club Crackington C in the last eight later while Division One Budehaven A are also in action tonight as they welcome mid-table Altarnun from the second-tier.

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