Lillington Free Church A claimed the Division 1 title in the Leamington Table Tennis League

Lillington Free Church A claimed the Division 1 title when they completed their fixtures with a 7-3 success over St Georges B. Lee Dorning, Sam Weaving and Rex Wong all won 2 with Dorning and Wong nailing the doubles. St Georges B’s Mark Jackson recorded a magnificent treble against the Champions. Church, for whom Jack Green was the 4th and regular member of the squad, last won the crown in the 99/2000 season but made no mistake this year. Although some of the chasing teams still have matches to play, their winning margin will be in excess of 50 points. Rugby B’s Adrian Pilgrim, currently on 96%, is likely to be the Division’s top player. Dorning has 92% and Wong, who is only 16, 88%. Georges B currently sit second, 63 points adrift of Church but will almost certainly be overhauled. Favourites must be Rugby A who are 7 points adrift but with 3 matches to play.

Their latest success was a 9-1 win over WCC A. Ryan Lines (3), Matt Outhwaite (3) and Luke Smith (2) piled up the points with Taran Dhillon taking the consolation. Eleventh placed WCC A are odds on to be relegated being 9 points from safety.

They also faced basement team, Free Church C and came away with a draw. Church junior Daniel Stone won two, losing his third 13-15 in the 5th against Dhillon. Chris Blowey also won twice with Tom Hunt getting one. Dhillon (2), Chris Brewer (1) and Niall Herbert (1) plus the doubles, ensured stalemate. Rugby B and Rugby A drew their derby match. Pilgrim posted 3 for B and Tomas Jacko added two.

In response Lines won 3, Outhwaite 2 and the pair won the doubles in 4. Oxhill steered well clear of relegation when defeating 5th placed St Georges A 8-2. Tony West led the way with a hat-trick, Anthony Gorman and Jeff Rigby added braces and the latter duo took the doubles. Laurence Sweeney bagged Georges’ points.

Nomads Aces completed their season in Division 2 with a 7-3 victory over Flavels. Simon Nolan and Paul Rowan were unbeaten and Roald Myers chipped in with a single. Shivam Kapur and Trevor Bradley both accounted for Myers and pocketed the doubles.

Aces are top with 151 from 22 matches and must wait for other results. Second placed Free Church D (136 from20) overcame Eathorpe B 9-1 in what was nonetheless a very competitive match. Owain Jones and Harry Purewal won their singles and the doubles and Jeff Harris won twice, falling to impressive youngster Toby John. Flavels, in third, have 129 from 20. WCC Bears are 4th and overwhelmed Rugby C 9-1. Paul Calloway and Chris Hughes posted triples and Clive Irwin won two, losing to Marina Ndumengo.

Bears followed this up with a 7-3 win over WCC Coots. Calloway won his three, defeating Mark Freeman 12-10 in the 5th. Hughes won 2 beating both Freeman and Arun Jogi in 5. Irwin also won two beating Freeman 11-9 in the 5th but losing to Jogi 11-13 in the 5th. Freeman (1) and Jogi (1) also grabbed the doubles for Coots. Bears have 122 points but have only played 19. At present, Nolan enjoys a 92% average with Kapur on 91%.

Leaders Rugby D enjoyed a 10 point haul in Division 3 against WCC Flounders. Pablo Caldas, Dave Cox and Martyn Lilley won all their games in straight sets and have 196 points from 24 matches with two to play. Second placed Whitnash B ( 176 from 23) also faced Flounders but could only manage a draw. Steve Proctor’s appearance for Flounders made the difference as he romped to a hat-trick. Andy Caine added one and took the doubles with Proctor. Len Coonan (2), Paras Tejani (2) and Tamas Nemeth (1) responded. Third placed Nomads Codgers (153 from 26) ended their campaign with a 9-1 verdict over Ashorne A.

Les Hoggins and Kim Wong won their singles and doubles and Steve Kurle contributed two, losing to Martin Hamer. Lillington Free Church H secured all 10 points from WCC Dinos. Deva Bakthisaran, Nick Darwen and Johnson Wong moved into the top half of the table with two to play.

Free Church F’s Morgan Page was the “Player of the Match” when his team drew their derby with Free Church G. Page won his three and team-mates Cherry Matthews and Nick Newman added singles. In reply, Radu Draghici won twice and Michael Khovanov and Bethan Jones scored singles, with Jones coming from 0-2 down to beat Newman.

Draghici and Khovanov won the doubles. Free Church G also played a re-arranged match against Rugby E. Draghici and Khovanov were joined by Marc Briscoe to inflict a whitewash. Moreton Morrell Tennis Court Club beat Ashorne A 7-3. Kannan Nithi, who is top of the averages with an unblemished record, and Pablo Smith accounted for all of their points with Jim Goodwin, Martin Hamer and William Little all mustering singles. Ashorne have finished 12th of 14 but are way above the drop zone.

Ashorne B clinched the Division A title with two final wins. Rugby F were swept aside 4-1. Richard Grover won his two and the doubles with Alexandros Plianos who won one. Jo Outhwaite got the consolation. Ashorne also faced the eventual runners-up, Eathorpe E, and pipped them 3-2. Grover lost his first match of the season to cadet Toby John who won two. However, Plianos and Grover both beat Darren Hadley and captured the doubles. Ashorne finished on 37 points with Eathorpe on 31. Grover (95%) topped the averages.

With one outstanding match to play, Radford C have clinched the Division B crown after collecting all 5 points in their match against Free Church K. Charles Brookes and Diosdado Alferez are the men responsible. FISSC have finished as runners-up and their number one, Robert Bartowski, lifts the average prize with a 100% record.

The only result to hand in Division D is the derby between Free Church P and Free Church Q which resulted in a 3-2 win for P. Dhiren Modi won his two for P and guided his daughter Vishwa to the doubles. Anay Aroon and Campbell Turner both posted singles. Free Church O are guaranteed promotion in this division and a 5-0 win in their remaining match against Church Q would land them the title. Otherwise, Eathorpe G will collect. David Hawker of Eathorpe G tops the averages.