Brighton TTC, BATTS, Drumchapel Glasgow, Ormesby, Fusion and North Ayrshire are set to embark on ten rounds of thrilling table tennis as they play for the SBCL Premier Division crown. The teams will be competing in the new look British Clubs Leagues, a bold new look for the British League. The Senior British Clubs League Premier Division is the top tier of the home countries’ table tennis competition

How to follow the SBCL Premier Division

Follow all the latest news, views, previews and reports on the SBCL Premier Division on the British Clubs Leagues Instagram and Facebook channels.

Follow the action LIVE this weekend – choose your match below:

Brighton will begin the defence of their Premier Division title with a tricky opener against North Ayrshire (NATTC). The south-coast side will welcome NATTC who comfortably topped the lower division last season.

The visitors will rely on an experienced squad of Viktor Gorman, Colin Dalgleish, Chris Main & Martin Johnson throughout the season. Although Jamie Johnson, number one Scottish junior last year and younger brother of Martin, will start this weekend.

Elsewhere BATTS will travel to Fusion for their first ties of the season.

The visitors’ team consists of newly-crowned U21 National Cup Champion Ralph Pattison, current England number six Chris Doran and England number 10 Josh Bennett. Bennet may have claim to the most interesting off-season, he’s back into action fresh from a visit to New York where he worked on a film about the ping pong hustler Marty Reisman in the company of Timothée Chalamet.

Fusion are fielding Larry Trumpauskas, Shaquille Webb Dixon and Tianyi Yu. The fixture promises to be a close affair, with both teams eager to get their campaigns off to a winning start.

Ormesby, who pushed Brighton all the way last season and will be looking to go one better than their second-placed finish this year. Their trio of Enio Mendes, Sam Mabey and Ben Piggott welcome Drumchapel Glasgow to the north east. 

David McBeath is once again registered as their number one player, but misses this round playing in the Major League Table Tennis competition in the USA. He is expected to be available for their next fixture against BATTS on the 19th October.

Joe Mulhern, Danny Bajwa, Victor Guang Shi will make the trip from Glasgow, with Mulhern, 14, playing his first Premier Division match away from home. Ahead of the tie, the player who started with the club at just six years-old said:

“Ormesby is a venue I know well as I have played there before so I’m not expecting any surprises. Hopefully I will get my first Prem victory and get Drum off to a good start.”

The first five rounds of the season will be played in 2024, with weekend fixtures scheduled across October, November and December. You can find results league tables and match statistics on TT Leagues. 

Fixtures

Saturday 5th October (All times BST)

Brighton TTC v North Ayrshire – 11:30

Ormesby v Drumchapel Glasgow – 14:00

Fusion v BATTS – 14:00