THE Cippenham Table Tennis Club veteran men’s first team became Veterans’ British League Division 2B Champions at a canter.
The team won all 10 of their matches over the course of the season and with a sets aggregate of 54-6 – three of the sets lost were by reserve players called up from the second team on the final day.
Their success has earned the team promotion to Division One for next season.
The trio of Andy Trott, Martin Adams and Heri Gehlot were in imperious form throughout. They beat both Seasiders (Blackpool) and Dewsbury 6-0 and then capped off a fine day with a 5-1 victory against local rivals Ashford.
A loss for Gehlot to Steve Davis in the final encounter of the day was the only blip in an otherwise flawless performance.
Cippenham promoted both Tony Stead and Samson Bekele from the second team for one match each with Trott not available for the second day.
Stead added to his reputation with a win against John Poysden as Cippenham beat South Essex 5-1 in the morning. Bekele was not able to match this against Foresters D, but it did not stop the team from keeping up their 100 per-cent record with a 4-2 victory.
Trott finished the season unbeaten with Adams losing only once and Gehlot twice.
The second Cippenham team which consisted of Mike Rhodes and Paul Baker as well as Stead and Bekele completed the first round of matches with a 3-3 draw against Crusaders and a 5-1 victory over Ashford.
The points gained maintained fifth place in Division 4A but meant the team would play the final three matches in a group comprising the bottom four sides in the division.
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PHOTO: Sue Hayes of Cippenham Table Tennis Club recorded three wins in the final round of fixtures in Division One.
The three matches were all won easily to finish a very good weekend for the two Cippenham men’s teams.
The late Saturday match saw another 5-1 win over Ashford, and this was followed on Sunday with a 6-0 drubbing of Draycott and a 4-2 success against bottom side Archway Peterborough II.
All four Cippenham players won at least half of their matches over the course of the season – Bekele 64 per-cent, Baker 62 per-cent, Rhodes 56 per-cent and Stead 50 per-cent.
The results however were not so good for the Cippenham women’s team playing a little out of their depth in Division One.
The side of Denise Weller, Mary Heffernan and Sue Hayes suffered a 6-0 defeat to Ashford but bounced back well to gain their only point of the first stage with a 3-3 draw against Milton Keynes. All three players contributed with a win apiece in a much-improved performance.
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The division was then split with Cippenham, as the bottom team, placed in the lower half for the final three matches.
A 5-1 defeat at the hands of Irish Colleens during with Hayes scored the only point was followed on by a 6-0 loss at the hands of London-based Fusion B.
The season ended with another 3-3 draw with Milton Keynes – replicating the result against the same opponents from a day earlier. This time is was Marry Heffernan who starred for Cippenham with victories against Julie Snowdon and Sheila King while Hayes recovered from falling two-down to beat Dawn Pearce.
- AN UNDER-STRENGTH Cippenham team missing stalwart Rob Hansell fell to consecutive defeats during the latest round of matches in the Senior British League.
Zero points from the day saw Cippenham fall two places to sixth position in National Division 4B but are still well clear of the bottom. Anything other than a calamity will still see the team finish above the relegation spots when the season concludes in April.
PHOTO Young Cippenham Table Tennis Club star Shae Thakker had two wins in the latest round of matches in the Senior British League
Three wins from team captain, Martin Adams, including in the doubles in tandem with Shae Thakker, and a solitary success for Steve Munson was not enough to earn any points in the match against Horsham Spinners. The final result was a 5-4 win in the Sussex team’s favour.
Both Adams and Thakker beat Mark Collins while Thakker also beat Daniel Pound.
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