Holders BATTS are into the final as they seek to retain the SBL Premier Cup – and British League powerhouses Ormesby will be trying to stop them.

BATTS overcame hosts North Ayrshire 4-2 in the semi-finals, while Ormesby got past Drumchapel Glasgow 4-3 as hopes of an all-Scottish final in Largs were dashed.

Watch the action from 10am on Sunday:

3rd-4th play-off: North Ayrshire v Drumchapel Glasgow
5th-6th play-off: Brighton v Ormeau
7th-8th play-off: Nottingham v Fusion
Final (1pm): BATTS v Ormesby

Semi-finals and positional play-offs

BATTS kept their hopes alive of retaining the trophy as they broke hosts North Ayrshire’s hearts. The Essex side were never behind in the 4-2 scoreline, but how different things might have been had Viktor Gorman nailed down his 2-0 advantage against Chris Doran in the first match.

As it was, the big man came back to win 3-2 – a result which he described as “robbery”, though that assessment makes light of how well he played.

Alexis Douin made it 2-0 to BATTS as he got past Martin Johnson in four, but the two beaten Ayrshire players combined to win the doubles against Douin & Josh Bennett to restore hope.

Bennett was always in control against Chris Main as he made it 3-1, but Johnson saw off a tiring Doran to again reduce the arrears – but Bennett’s second 3-0 win, this time over Gorman, put his side in the final.

Ormesby versus Drumchapel in the other semi-final went the distance, and the Scottish side landed the first blow as Victor Guang Shi came from 2-0 down to beat Graeme Barella.

That was the only time Ormesby trailed, as wins for Abraham Sellado over Danny Bajwa and Adam Webster over Martin Perry, either side of the doubles triumph for Barella & Sellado, saw Oremsby one win away from the final.

They had to wait, however, as Bajwa overcame Barella and Guang Shi beat Webster, but youngster Sellado’s win over Perry completed the victory for Ormesby.

In the play-offs for positions 5-8, Brighton defeated Fusion 4-3, while Ormeau got past Nottingham 4-1 in the other play-off.

Both sides led in the Brighton-Fusion clash, and Fusion were 3-2 ahead before Ihor Zavadskyi beat Josh Bruce and then, in a fifth, Will Bayley overcame Lorestas Trumpauskas.

Results

Semi-finals
Ormesby 4 Drumchapel Glasgow 3
Victor Guang Shi bt Graeme Barella 3-2 (6-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-6)
Abraham Sellado bt Danny Bajwa 3-1 (11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6)
Barella & Sellado bt Guang Shi & Bajwa 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-4)
Adam Webster bt Martin Perry 3-1 (11-9, 11-1, 7-11, 11-7)
Bajwa bt Barella 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-9)
Guang Shi bt Webster 3-0 (11-9, 11-9, 12-10)
Sellado bt Perry 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-4)

BATTS 4 North Ayrshire 2
Chris Doran bt Viktor Gorman 3-2 (8-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-5)
Alexis Douin bt Martin Johnson 3-1 (11-9, 11-7, 11-13, 11-9)
Johnson & Gorman bt Douin & Josh Bennett 3-1 (10-12, 11-7, 11-5, 11-7)
Bennett bt Chris Main 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-9)
Johnson bt Doran 3-0 (11-9, 11-4, 11-8)
Bennett bt Gorman 3-0 (11-9, 11-6, 11-4)

5th-8th positional play-offs
Ormeau 4 Nottingham 1
Adam Faulkner bt Howard Onweng 3-1 (11-5, 11-8, 11-13, 11-6)
Peadar Sheridan bt Joe Sawyer 3-1 (11-7, 6-11, 11-3, 11-5)
Faulkner & Sheridan bt Owen Brown & Onweng 3-2 (12-10, 11-9, 5-11, 10-12, 11-5)
Brown bt Alex Lo 3-1 (6-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-8)
Faulkner bt Sawyer 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-8)

Brighton 4 Fusion 3
Ihor Zavadskyu bt Larry Trumpauskas 3-0 (11-1, 11-5, 11-7)
Lorestas Trumpauskas bt Joseph Langham-Ferreira 3-1 (7-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-9)
Josh Bruce & Lorestas Trumpauskas bt Joseph Langham-Ferreira & Ihor Zavadski 3-1 (11-8, 11-4, 9-11, 12-10)
Will Bayley bt Josh Bruce 3-1 (11-7, 11-9, 10-12, 13-11)
Larry Trumpauskas bt Langham-Ferreira 3-1 (4-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8)
Zavadskyi bt Bruce 3-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-5)
Bayley bt Lorestas Trumpauskas 3-2 (12-10, 14-12, 5-11, 8-11, 11-5)

Quarter-finals

Hosts North Ayrshire ended league champions Brighton’s hopes of a double as they triumphed 4-2 to move into the semi-finals.

Viktor Gorman (pictured above) was the key man for the Scottish side on home territory in Largs as he bookended the quarter-final tie with a couple of wins, and teamed up with Martin Johnson to take the doubles.

Gorman’s opening win over Joseph Langham-Ferreira was answered by Ihor Zavadskyi’s defeat of Johnson to leave the tie at 1-1.

North Ayrshire hit the front again in the doubles, but Will Bayley levelled with victory over Chris Main, yelling “that’s massive” as he took match point.

Every match had been decide in four, and that theme continued as Johnson defeated Langham-Ferreira, but Gorman then hustled Bayley off the table in three nicely controlled games to seal a semi-final place for North Ayrshire.

Drumchapel Glasgow were first into the semi-finals as they sunk a young Ormeau side 4-1. Danny Bajwa won twice, defeating Alex Lo in three straight in match 2 and then clinching the victory by overcoming Adam Faulkner in four games in match 5.

Victor Guang Shi had set them on their way by defeating Faulkner in four games in the first match, and he and Bajwa also combined to take the doubles against Faulkner and Peadar Sheridan.

That put Drumchapel 3-0 up, but they had to wait for the victory as Sheridan, the European No 4 at Under-13s, defeated ‘Paralympian-in-waiting’ Martin Perry in three.

Like Ormeau, Ormesby were fielding a side without the mainstays of their league team. But, unlike Ormeau, they managed to make it through – against Championship runners-up Nottingham, playing here in place of TableTennisDaily.

It was a 4-0 scoreline, though that obscures a close tie in which two matches went the distance and it was so nearly 1-1 after match 2.

Abraham Sellado saved three match points in that match, against Joe Sawyer, winning the fourth 14-12 and then going on to blitz through the fifth 11-1.

That made it 2-0 after Graeme Barella’s opening four-game win over Howard Onweng, and it was 3-0 after the doubles, though it again went to five as Nottingham’s Sawyer & Owen Brown twice came back from a game down to level before Barella & Adam Webster claimed the fifth.

It was left to Webster to defeat Brown in four to clinch the tie for Ormesby.

BATTS won the inaugural cup last season on home turf and they started their defence with a 4-1 win over Fusion – though, again, it was closer than the scoreline suggests.

Chris Doran won a double, including getting his side off to a winning start in the fifth against Shaquille Webb-Dixon. Josh Bennett made it 2-0, recovering from 2-1 down to see off Larry Trumpauskas 11-9 in the decider.

Josh Bruce & Lorestas Trumpauskas brought the south Londoners back into it in the doubles, defeating Alexis Douin & Bennett in four, but wins for Douin over Lorestas Trumpauskas and Doran over Larry Trumpauskas sent BATTS into the semi-finals.

Results

Drumchapel Glasgow 4 Ormeau 1
Victor Guang Shi bt Adam Faulkner 3-1 (12-10, 11-8, 9-11, 11-4)
Danny Bajwa bt Alex Lo 3-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-7)
Bajwa & Guang Shi bt Faulkner & Peadar Sheridan 3-0 (11-3, 11-9, 11-9)
Sheridan bt Martin Perry 3-0 (11-4. 11-7, 11-5)
Bajwa bt Faulkner 3-1 (5-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-4)

Ormesby 4 Nottingham 0
Graeme Barella bt Howard Onweng 3-1 (11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9)
Abraham Sellado bt Joe Sawyer 3-2 (11-7, 9-11, 4-11, 14-12, 11-1)
Barella & Adam Webster bt Sawyer & Owen Brown 3-2 (11-7, 5-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-7)
Webster bt Brown 3-1 (11-13, 11-9, 13-11, 11-7)

BATTS 4 Fusion 1
Chris Doran bt Shaquille Webb-Dixon 3-2 (9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6)
Josh Bennett bt Larry Trumpauskas 3-2 (9-11, 11-6, 10-12, 11-5, 11-9)
Josh Bruce & Lorestas Trumpauskas bt Alexis Douin & Bennett 3-1 (8-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-6)
Douin bt Lorestas Trumpauskas 3-0 (11-9, 11-9, 11-7)
Doran bt Larry Trumpauskas 3-1 (11-4, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9)

North Ayrshire 4 Brighton 2
Viktor Gorman bt Joseph Langham-Ferreira 3-1 (8-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-3)
Ihor Zavadskyi bt Martin Johnson 3-1 (3-11, 11-4, 11-4, 12-10)
Gorman & Johnson bt Langham-Ferreira & Zavadskyi 3-1 (11-5, 11-7, 8-11, 11-5)
Will Bayley bt Chris Main 3-1 (9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9)
Johnson bt Langham-Ferreira 3-1 (7-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-8)
Gorman bt Bayley 3-0 (11-5, 11-3, 11-5)