BATTS II head the Senior British Clubs League Championship Division by the narrowest of margins after the third weekend of the season.

The middle weekend saw only two fixtures played on Saturday – the last of the first half of the season and the first of the return round of fixtures. This means all teams have played 10 of the total of 18 matches which make up the season.

BATTS went top thanks to two victories on the day, while previous leaders Ormeau dropped a point in a draw in the afternoon session.

Both teams are now on 15 points and have identical records in terms of results and sets ratio (53-27). BATTS have the leadership on games ratio with their figure of 1.63 (182-112) just ahead of Ormeau’s 1.57 (191-122).

The top two have a three-point lead over third-placed Perry Dale, who picked up only one point this weekend.

Watch EVERY Championship fixture on demand at TTE.TV now!

TTE.TV is a membership benefit, so to renew your membership and enjoy free access, click here – all categories of membership, including our FREE Supporter Membership, qualify for TTE.TV access!

Click here for all the results, averages and other stats from the weekend on TT Leagues.

Photos from the weekend, by our Official Photographer Michael Loveder, are available to buy now.

Click here to browse photos

Working with Michael Loveder Photography is enabling us to move forward with our Table Tennis United pledge to extend the reach and visibility of the sport and create more commercial opportunities. Any proceeds made from photo sales are reinvested into the delivery and coverage of future competitions and events.

Ormeau started the weekend at the top and played their nearest challengers at the time, Perry Dale, on Saturday morning.

Dale were without their star man, Max Radiven, but Ormeau for their part had no Mat Ware to call upon, disappointing those who were looking forward to a possible clash between two of the top players in the averages. But that did not detract from what turned out to be a thrilling tie in which half of the matches went the distance.

Jonathan Mooney put the Ulster side ahead as he came from 2-0 down to beat Simon Noutch 3-2 (9-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6), but Derek Abrefa levelled for Dale in three against Conor Nugent.

Thomas Earley restored Ormeau’s advantage by withstanding a Neil Pickard comeback to win 3-2 (11-9, 11-6, 6-11, 8-11, 11-9) and, after James Skelton had beaten Sam Wilson in four and Mooney overcame Abrefa in three, it meant Ormeau had already secured at least a draw.

But Noutch kept Dale alive as he eventually got past Earley 3-2 (7-11, 11-4, 11-8, 13-15, 11-7) and Wilson pulled it back to 4-3 as he saw off Nugent, also in five (11-6, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9). Pickard faced Skelton as he attempted to complete the comeback and earn a draw, but it was Skelton who prevailed in four to earn the 5-3 victory for Ormeau.

BATTS, meanwhile, were powering to a 7-1 win over Milton Keynes, though they did fall behind when Joe Dennison beat Luc Miller 3-1 (11-13, 11-6, 11-9, 11-8) in the opening match. Doubles for Joe Ferguson, Djen Bakx and Ryan Choong saw BATTS come steaming back.

Wymondham, leaders after weekend one, served notice that they may still have a say in the title race as they defeated hosts Nottingham 6-2 – Adam Dennison won Match 3 for Nottingham against Ian McLean in five, but it was already 6-1 before Howard Onweng (pictured top of page) defeated the luckless McLean in the closest match – 11-6, 7-11, 11-13, 12-10, 16-14.

Woodford Wells beat Urban 5-3, getting it done with three successive wins from 2-2 with some close matches along the way – Urban’s Niall Cameron twice beaten in the fifth.

Ormesby II’s 7-1 victory over bottom side Wensum was reasonably routine, with no five-setters and doubles for Tom Rayner, Josh Weatherby and Zac Greenhough. Wayne Mason got Wensum on the board against Ryan Nassau in Match 4.

Round 10 was the round of draws, with three of the five matches finishing 4-4, including the leaders being held by Urban.

Urban would have had designs on taking the victory as they recovered from 1-0 down to lead 3-1 and then 4-2, including an eye-catching 3-2 (8-11, 6-11, 11-7, 13-11, 13-11) win for Pablo Ramirez-Rioja against Earley. Urfi Urban and Barney Mindlin also won in deciders, against Earley and Skelton respectively.

However, Ormeau rescued a point as Nugent beat Mindlin in three and then Skelton defeated Ramirez-Rioja 3-2 (12-10, 6-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-3).

BATTS took advantage of Ormeau’s dropped point with a 6-2 win over Woodford Wells, despite Bryan Kwan’s double for the beaten side – he put them ahead by taking the first match against Miller and then added Match 5 against Ferguson. Bakx and Choong took doubles for BATTS though, as they took Essex bragging rights and moved top of the table.

Only Umair Mauthoor won twice in Wymondham’s 4-4 draw with Milton Keynes, who took the lead with a strange-looking 3-0 (11-4, 11-1, 20-18) win for Joe Dennison over James Hobson. Wymondham hit back and led 4-2, but wins for Kieran Smith over Shun Hei Change and Takuya Nakai over McLean rescued a point for MK.

Perry Dale snatched a point in their draw with Ormesby which kept them in third place. Ormesby led 1-0 and 2-1 but saw their opponents level both times. Dale then hit the front but this time Ormesby equalised at 3-3. Weatherby’s 3-1 (11-6, 13-11, 5-11, 17-15) win over Wilson put Ormesby in front for a third time, but Pickard edged Nassau 12-10 in the fifth to clinch a draw.

The other match saw Wensum, who are still without a win, succumb 7-1 to Nottingham. Once again, it was Mason who prevented a whitewash with a good 3-2 (13-11, 11-6, 6-11, 7-11, 12-10) win over Joe Sawyer.

In the averages, Mooney improved his hit-rate to 90% from 20 matches, while Choong has 16/18 for 88.9%. Bakx’s four wins this weekend saw him join the 100% club, though none of the three with that record has played more than eight matches.

The next weekend of the Championship is on 11-12 January.