North Cornwall Table Tennis League 2019/20 (week six) round-up

NORTH Hill A continued to lay down a marker for the rest of the season as they beat former champions Helland 9-1 last Thursday night.

In a brilliant contest, which saw six of the ten matches go the distance, it was the home trio of Martin Hynes, Shirley Luckhurst and Iain Oxenhame who held their nerve the better.

The first two matches saw comfortable wins for Hynes and Luckhurst before Oxenhame fought back from 2-1 down to beat Ritchie Bartlett.

After Luckhurst defeated Ingus Abolnieks, Bartlett edged out Hynes 11-9 in the fifth to get Helland on the board.

The next four points on offer saw home wins by the narrowest of margins with Oxenhame winning both of his singles 11-9 in the decider, while the doubles was won in sudden death.

Hynes beat fellow skipper Mike Fisher in the night’s final match to move to within 11 points of champions Torridge with two games in-hand.

Torridge bounced back from their 6-4 defeat at North Hill by whitewashing Whitstone Wanderers at North Tamerton Village Hall.

Peter Freeburn, Steve Cragg and David Streak each managed to win all their contests in straight ends.

Budehaven B are up to third with a 10-0 victory over Budehaven C. Robin Worden and Tim Orchard won a couple of ends each but Ashley Taylor, David Ewen and David Sillifant just had enough to clinch the crucial points.

Crackington A are up to fifth after a 7-3 victory at Budehaven D.

Frank Barnes claimed a treble for the visitors with Ross Wilmshurst and Paul Seez bagging a brace, although Wilmshurst had to fight back from 2-1 down to get the better of Chris Mill.

Gary Bickle beat both Wilmshurst and Seez either side of combining to win the doubles with Anthony Ward.

In Division Two, leaders Crackington B extended their advantage at the top of the pile with an 8-2 victory over two-man Launceston at Crackington Institute.

Although David Hughes beat both Keiron Chatterjea and Zach Parker, the home side won the other five matches with Judith Cook undefeated all evening and Chatterjea and Parker beating Stephen Parsons in four ends.

Second-placed Altarnun A were held to a 5-5 home draw by neighbours North Hill A.

Paul Burden fought back from 2-1 down to defeat Adrian Davis in the opening match before going on to record a treble, while team-mates Geoff Hale and Alex Whitfield both contributed with victories over Michael Kinger.

However the fourth-placed visitors secured a share of the spoils as Davis and Trevor Luckhurst both won twice as well as securing the doubles in the decider.

Budehaven E are level on points with Altarnun after an 8-2 victory over Bridgerule at Budehaven Sports Hall.

The star of the show was Ian Westaway who won all three including defeating Alan Quilter, who secured both of the visitors’ points.

Roy Stubbs and Ian Edwards weighed in with a double apiece as the newly-formed team eye up a title push in the coming weeks.

Crackington C bounced back to form with a 7-3 win at their North Hill counterparts.

David Aplin won all three for the hosts, but James Ellis, Trevor Dean and Simon Patterson succeeded in the rest of the singles as well as in the doubles.

Budehaven G are the new leaders in Division Three after a 5-0 victory over winless Bridgerule C.

David Scott and Robert Clarke-Feltham proved too strong, not dropping an end.

They are just one point ahead of Bridgerule B who recorded a 3-2 victory at Budehaven H.

Marcus Dymond won two five-setters, including coming back from 2-0 down against Alex Worth while Mike Cawsey also won a decider against Finlay McKinnon.

Worth did beat Cawsey in four before the doubles went the way of the hosts.

In the battle of the undefeated sides, it was last year’s runners-up Altarnun B who emerged victorious, thrashing Budehaven F 4-1.

Malcolm Tulip edged a close contest 13-11 against Ezra Jukes in the fifth although Jukes responded by beating Mike Tremeer.

Both Altarnun players beat Phil Hawken before Tulip and William Salt won the doubles.

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