PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Loveder
If you want to talk about statement victories, let’s talk about Brighton. The defending Senior British League Clubs Premier Division champions showcased exactly why they rule the roost after an incredible 7-0 win over BATTS, whose title hopes are in tatters after this one.
Ormesby’s loss to North Ayrshire gave Brighton an opening in this title race and how they have taken it. Hosting BATTS posed one of the biggest challenges on their way to a title defence and yet they came through it unscathed. They have regained top spot in the competition heading into the final rounds, with one roadblock left to encounter before a likely title decider with Ormesby.
After their Cleveland rivals had defeated Fusion on Saturday, the onus was on Brighton to hit back. They did. For BATTS, that’s their title hopes over. They had always appeared slim after losing to Ormesby and Brighton in the opening round, now, they’ve no chance.
Shoma Nishihara had set the tone with a 3-0 win over Chris Doran but it was the game on the next table that felt like the pivotal one. It appeared that BATTS would draw level when Haotin Chen took a two games lead over David Andersson, a set which could have changed the context of the match. But Andersson stormed back to win the next three ends and ensure that rather than the match being evenly poised, it was advantage Brighton.
The doubles then became imperative for BATTS. However, they couldn’t find the win. Again it was lost in five ends, this time Chen fighting back from two games down with Joshua Bennett, but the fifth went the way of Nishihara and Andersson.
From there, Brighton had their tails up and refused to let their stranglehold of the game slip. The popular Ukranian, Ihor Zavadskyi, secured the match with a 3-0 win over Bennett. Nishihara exacted revenge on Chen to make it five. Chen had won the previous encounter and took the first end here. But Nishihara found his groove and stormed to victory.
The whitewash was completed by Zavadskyi, whose rematch with Doran wasn’t quite the epic from the first round of fixtures, but still extremely entertaining, this time the Brighton man winning 3-1. Andersson then held off Bennett for a 7-0 win.
BATTS and Ormesby will battle it out on April 19th, Ormesby needing to win for their title hopes, BATTS playing for pride at this stage. Brighton play the weekend after, hosting Drumchapel, before a likely title decider between Ormesby and Brighton on May 17th.
