Brighton showed they are set to compete for the upper spots of the SBL Premier Division as they ended Ormesby’s three-game unbeaten run on Saturday. 

Coming into the tie buoyed by the signing of national champion Tom Jarvis, they put on a brilliant show for the healthy crowd in Ormesby. Jarvis, who has returned to play in the SBL after almost a decade, did not disappoint as he put in a player of the match performance to help the south-coast side overcome last season’s runners up.

It wasn’t plain sailing for Brighton however, with the scoreline level at 2-2 after the opening four matches. David McBeath and Jose Enio Mendes won their singles ties in four and five respectively. 

Jarvis then got the better of his England teammate McBeath in what was a hotly anticipated encounter. He wrapped up the win in four.

What followed was some incredibly tense play, with the overall victory on the line. Alex Naumi and Jose Enio Mendes shared five sets, including two that ran to 16-18. Naumi took the lead before Mendes fought back to make it 2-1. Naumi was able to close out the victory, with the final two sets going his way 11-8, 18-16.

Radoslav and David Andersson also needed five to find a winner, Andersson eventually coming through 11-6, 5-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-2. The hard-fought win was Brighton’s third of the season, and Ormesby’s first dropped points.

Elsewhere on Saturday TableTennisDaily (TTD) produced another battling performance to pick up their second win of the season against North Ayrshire.

The opening matches were shared as Callum Evans beat Martin Johnson before Hugo Torngren overcame Umair Mauthoor to level before the doubles. Johnson then teamed up with Colin Dalgleish to make the scoreline 2-1 as they beat the Evans and Tom Maynard pairing in four.

It was at this point the home side turned on the pressure, putting the game out of sight as they put together three wins in a row to ensure they would take the overall victory. It was Maynard who picked up the player of the match award as he beat Dalgleish in three and Johnson in four, but equally as impressive was how Callum Evans held on to crucial points as he beat Hugo Torngren 12-10, 12-10, 11-8.

The win moved TTD above their Scottish opponents to fifth in the table. 

Drumchapel Glasgow were unable to pick up their first victory of the campaign as they were beaten 5-2 by BATTS. Danny Bajwa was the standout performer in defeat for Drumchapel Glasgow, but he was unable to stop the trio of Christopher Doran, Joe Ferguson and Josh Bennett.

Ferguson, player of the match, won both his singles matches, as did Doran. Bennett beat Chris Wheeler to make it a real team effort. 

BATTS weren’t able to replicate the same dominance on Sunday when they travelled to Ormeau. The home-side ran out comfortable 6-1 winners, with only Bennett able to pick up a win for BATTS. Damien Provost and Daniel Berzosa were in particularly fine form, dropping just one set between them in five matches. 

Regardless of the defeat, BATTS will be pleased to be sitting fourth in the table, with three strong victories so far this season. 

Ormeau had overcome Fusion the day before to ensure they remained well placed to defend their crown. Provost and Berzosa once again won both their singles ties, as well as combining in the doubles to give the Belfast-side a 5-2 win.

Robert Pelc and Shaquille Webb Dixon picked up a couple of hard-fought wins for Fusion.

The weekend’s results mean that four teams have now won three of their four games, each sitting on ten points. The next round of the SBL Premier Division takes place on Saturday 13th January when all eight teams will be in action. Brighton and Ormeau will face each other in what is sure to be a thrilling encounter and Ormesby will travel to North Ayrshire. Fusion will host Drumchapel Glasgow and TableTennisDaily will visit BATTS in a mid-table clash. 

Don’t forget that you can watch all matches again on TTE.TV.

Photo credit: Chris Rayner

Results

TableTennisDaily 4 North Ayrshire 3

Callum Evans (TTD) bt Martin Johnson (NATTC) 3-1 (8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-4)

Hugo Torngren (NATTC) bt Umair Mauthoor (TTD) 3-1 (11-13, 11-9, 11-9, 11-1)

Martin Johnson/Colin Dalgleish (NATTC) bt Callum Evans/Tom Maynard (TTD) 3-1 (11-8, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9)

Tom Maynard (TTD) bt Colin Dalgleish (NATTC) 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-7)

Callum Evans (TTD) bt Hugo Torngren (NATTC) 3-0 (12-10, 12-10, 11-8)

Tom Maynard (TTD) bt Martin Johnson (NATTC) 3-1 (9-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-3)

Colin Dalgleish (NATTC) bt Umair Mauthoor (TTD) 3-1 (11-7, 11-6, 3-11, 11-9)

Ormeau 5 Fusion 2

Damien Provost (ORM) bt Shaquille Webb Dixon (FUS) 3-1 (9-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-6) 

Daniel Berzosa (ORM) bt Lorestas Trumpauskas (FUS) 3-1 (5-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-8) 

Damien Provost/Daniel Berzosa (ORM) bt Lorestas Trumpauskas/Shaquille Webb Dixon (FUS) 3-0 (11-4, 11-3, 11-8)

Robert Pelc (FUS) bt James Skelton (ORM) 3-2 (9-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7)

Damien Provost (ORM) bt Lorestas Trumpauskas (FUS) 3-0 (11-0, 11-0, 11-0)

Shaquille Webb Dixon (FUS) bt James Skelton (ORM) 3-1 (10-12, 11-3, 11-6, 11-7)

Daniel Berzosa (ORM) bt Robert Pelc (FUS) 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-4)

Ormesby 2 Brighton TTC 5

David McBeath (ORMS) bt Alex Naumi (BRI) 3-1 (6-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-3)

Tom Jarvis (BRI) bt Radoslav Kamberov (ORMS) 3-0 (15-13, 11-9, 11-6)

Tom Jarvis/ Alex Naumi (BRI) bt David McBeath/Jose Enio Mendes (ORMS) 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 12-10)

Jose Enio Mendes (ORMS) bt David Andersson (BRI) 3-2 (9-11, 12-14, 11-7, 11-8, 11-3)

Tom Jarvis (BRI) bt David McBeath (ORMS) 3-1 (11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-4)

Alex Naumi (BRI) bt Jose Enio Mendes (ORMS) 3-2 (18-16, 1-11, 7-11, 11-8, 18-16)

David Andersson (BRI) bt Radoslav Kamberov (ORMS) 3-2 (11-6, 5-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-2)

Drumchapel Glasgow 2 BATTS 5

Danny Bajwa (DRUM) bt Josh Bennett (BAT) 3-0 (12-10, 11-8, 11-8)

Chris Doran (BAT) bt Xinlang Sun (DRUM) 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-5)

Danny Bajwa/Xinlang Sun (DRUM) bt Josh Bennett/Joe Ferguson (BAT) 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-4)

Joe Ferguson (BAT) bt Chris Wheeler (DRUM) 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-3)

Chris Doran (BAT) bt Danny Bajwa (DRUM) 3-2 (6-11, 11-7, 12-10, 9-11, 11-7)

Josh Bennett (BAT) bt Chris Wheeler (DRUM) 3-1 (9-11, 11-2, 11-4, 11-5)

Joe Ferguson (BAT) bt Xinlang Sun (DRUM) 3-1 (7-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-8)

Ormeau 6 BATTS 1

Damien Provost (ORM) bt Joe Ferguson (BAT) 3-0 (11-6, 12-10, 11-4)

Daniel Berzosa (ORM) bt Christopher Doran (BAT) 3-1 (11-4, 11-7, 6-11, 11-5)

Damien Provost/Daniel Berzosa (ORM) bt Joe Ferguson/Josh Bennett (BAT) 3-0 (11-4, 11-6, 13–11)

Josh Bennett (BAT) bt James Skelton (ORM) 3-1 (11-5, 11-4, 6-11, 11-9)

Damie Provost (ORM) bt Christopher Doran (BAT) 3-0 (11-0, 11-0, 11-0)

James Skelton (ORM) bt Joe Ferguson (BAT) 3-1 (11-5, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9)

Daniel Berzosa (ORM) bt Josh Bennett (BAT) 3-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-9)