Brighton TTC were crowned SBL Premier Division champions on Saturday as they ran out 6-1 winners in a title-deciding match against BATTS.
Played at the Brighton Dome in front of at least 400 supporters the trophy was secured thanks to a dominant performance from their trio of Tom Jarvis, Alex Naumi (pictured, photo thanks to Michael Loveder) and David Andersson.
Jarvis, who picked up his second player of the match award in consecutive rounds, got things underway with a confident 3-0 win over Jack Bennett.
Chris Doran was then also beaten in three by Naumi as the home side set their eyes on the league title. The Bennett brothers were unable to hold off a Naumi/Andersson pairing in the doubles, going down 11-6, 11-4, 11-5.
Josh Bennett got the visitors on the board as he bounced back to beat Andersson in four, but the comeback was short lived as Jarvis beat Doran to make the overall score 4-1 sending the league trophy to the south-coast for the very first time.
Before the celebrations began Andersson and Naumi beat Jack and Josh Bennett respectively to leave Brighton with 8 wins from ten rounds and Premier Division champions.
Ormesby ended the campaign second in the league, just a single victory away from the title as they concluded their season with a 6-1 win over Ormeau. They moved above defeated BATTS thanks to winning more sets across the season.
Ormeau will have been pleased with how their less experienced players stood up to Ormesby’s strong squad. The 6-1 scoreline could have been closer, Conor Nugent in particular put pressure on both Graeme Barella and Adam Webster losing out 3-2 in both matches.
Having ended with a win Ormesby secured the league runners up position for a second season in succession.
In the bottom half of the table Drumchapel Glasgow and TableTennisDaily fought a thrilling affair to avoid ending up at the foot of the league.
Drumchapel Glasgow had to win to avoid ending in a potential relegation position, and pushed fellow league newcomers TTD to the brink. However the away side’s team of Callum Evans, Umair Mauthoor and Daniel Ives were able to win the crucial sets throughout the afternoon and secure a 4-3 victory.
Garry Dood’s opening win was quickly cancelled out as Callum Evans beat Danny Bajwa.
The doubles match that followed swayed back and forth across five thrilling sets. Callum Evans and Umair Mauthoor eventually claimed victory in five (7-11, 11-9, 6-11, 12-10, 11-6) to give TTD the upper hand with four matches left to play.
Mauthoor and Evans ensured their team would remain in the Premier Division as they beat Xinliang Sun and Garry Dodd respectively.
In the day’s final fixture North Ayrshire were too strong for Fusion as they recorded a 7-0 victory at home.
Hugo Torngren, Viktor Gorman and Martin Johnson were pushed at points by Fusion’s team but momentum was always with the home side. Having just missed out on a place in the top half of the division at the split they ended up comfortably topping the lower mini-league with six wins across the season.
Each team will be back in action for the SBL Premier Cup in a few weeks time. First held during the 2022/23 season the knockout competition gives teams an opportunity to go for a league and cup double.
The first round has been drawn with the following fixtures set to take place on the weekend of June 1-2 at Inverclyde National Sports Centre:
1. Brighton (S1) vs NATTC (S5)
2. BATTS (S3) vs Fusion (S6)
3. Ormeau (S4) vs Drumchapel (S8)
4. Ormesby (S2) vs Table Tennis Daily (S7)
Premier Division – Results
Brighton TTC 6 BATTS 1
Tom Jarvis (BRI) bt Jack Bennett (BAT) 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-4)
Alex Naumi (BRI) bt Chris Doran (BAT) 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-7)
Alex Nuami/David Andersson (BRI) bt Jack Bennett/Josh Bennett (BAT) 3-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-5)
Josh Bennett (BAT) bt David Andersson (BRI) 3-1 (12-10, 11-8, 2-11, 11-4)
Tom Jarvis (BRI) bt Chris Doran (BAT) 3-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-4)
David Andersson (BRI) bt Jack Bennett (BAT) 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-8)
Alex Naumi (BRI) bt Josh Bennett (BAT) 3-0 (11-4, 13-11, 11-9)
Ormeau 1 Ormesby 6
Adam Webster (ORMS) bt Jonathan Mooney (ORM) 3-2 (11-5, 11-9, 6-11, 9-11, 11-9)
Sam Mabey (ORMS) bt Adam Faulkner (ORM) 3-0 (11-4, 11-3, 14-12)
Sam Mabey/Graeme Barella (ORMS) bt Adam Faulkner/Conor Nugent (ORM) 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-6)
Graeme Barella (ORMS) bt Conor Nugent (ORM) 3-2 (11-7, 11-5, 7-11, 8-11, 11-8)
Jonathan Mooney (ORM) bt Sam Mabey (ORMS) 3-0 (11-0, 11-0, 11-0) (WALKOVER – UNWELL)
Adam Webster (ORMS) bt Conor Nugent (ORM) 3-2 (9-11, 11-13, 11-8, 11-4, 13-11)
Graeme Barella (ORMS) bt Adam Faulkner (ORM) 3-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-9)
North Ayrshire 7 Fusion 0
Hugo Torngren (NATTC) bt Robert Pelc (FUS) 3-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-4)
Viktor Gorman (NATTC) bt Larry Trumpauskas (FUS) 3-2 (11-7, 8-11, 5-11, 11-9, 12-10)
Hugo Torngren/Martin Johnson (NATTC) bt Robert Pelc/Larry Trumpauskas (FUS) 3-1 (11-5, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9)
Martin Johnson (NATTC) bt Frederic Wilke (FUS) 3-0 (11-5, 11-9, 11-8)
Hugo Torgren (NATTC) bt Larry Trumpauskas (FUS) 3-1 (12-14, 11-6, 11-9, 11-5)
Martin Johnson (NATTC) bt Robert Pelc (FUS) 3-2 (11-7, 10-12, 10-12, 11-9, 11-3)
Viktor Gorman (NATTC) bt Frederice Wilke (FUS) 3-0 (11-8, 11=6, 11-9)
Drumchapel Glasgow 3 TableTennisDaily 4
Garry Dodd (DRUM) bt Daniel Ives (TTD) 3-0 (11-4, 13-11, 11-4)
Callum Evans (TTD) bt Danny Bajwa (DRUM) 3-0 (14-12, 11-6, 11-9)
Callum Evans/Umair Mauthoor (TTD) bt Danny Bajwa/Yaser Razouk (DRUM) 3-2 (7-11, 11-9, 6-11, 12-10, 11-6)
Umair Mauthoor (TTD) bt Xinliang Sun (DRUM) 3-0 (11-9, 14-12, 11-5)
Callum Evans (TTD) bt Garry Dodd (DRUM) 3-1 (11-7, 11-13, 12-10, 11-5)
Xinliang Sun (DRUM) bt Daniel Ives (TTD) 3-1 (11-7, 7-11, 11-06, 11-9)
Danny Bajwa (DRUM) bt Umair Mauthoor (TTC) 3-2 (6-11, 11-5, 3-11, 11-7, 11-7)