David McBeath got the better of England colleague Liam Pitchford as the two went head-to-head in a doubles encounter in the latest round of Major League Table Tennis (MLTT).

However, Pitchford’s Florida Crocs won the overall encounter, sinking McBeath’s Texas Smash – the defending champions – 14-7 on Saturday.

Pitchford set the Crocs on their way with a 2-1 (9-11, 11-7, 11-6) win over Artur Abusev, but he and Yuan-Yu Wu were defeated in the doubles as McBeath and Hiromitsu Kasahara prevailed 2-1 (11-4, 10-12, 11-6).

A day earlier, Crocs were beaten 12-9 by Seattle Spinners as Pitchford lost 2-1 (9-11, 11-5, 11-9) to Kou Lei in the opening match.

In the doubles, Pitchford & Daniel Gonzalez, lost 2-1 (11-9, 11-5, 7-11) against Adi Sareen & Lubomir Pistej.

Texas also lost on the Friday as they went down 13-8 to Princeton Revolution, though McBeath & Kasahara beat Jinxin Wang & Kanamitsu Koyo 3-0 (11-10, 11-3, 11-6) in the doubles.

In Sunday’s matches, Texas ended on a high with an 11-10 win over Seattle, though McBeath & Kasahara missed out 3-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-8) in the doubles against Sareen & Pistej.

Crocs took on Revolution in the final match of the weekend and Pitchford & Gonzalez bt Wang & Koyo 2-1 (11-8, 11-10, 10-11).

That made the score 5-4 to Princeton, but Pitchford faced an 8-4 deficit when he was back on court to face Koyo in the final singles. His 2-1 (11-8, 8-11, 11-7) win reduced the gap to 9-6, but Princeton won the golden game, which features every player, to seal a 15-6 victory.

Pitchford did, however, create another social media sensation with one of his trademark behind-the-back shots.

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Florida are currently bottom of the four teams in the East Division, which is dominated by Carolina Gold Rush, who have won all nine matches. Florida have won four and lost five, the same record as Princeton. Chicago Wind have won six of their nine matches.

The West Division is closer, with Texas on top with five wins and four defeats, ahead of Portland Paddlers and Bay Area Blasters with three wins each and Seattle with two.

Texas are next in action over the weekend of 10-12 January, with Florida back on the table the following weekend.