For the first time this season there’s a full fixture list in the Senior British League Premier Division this Saturday. Ormesby are set to take on Urban, North Ayrshire welcome BATTS and Ormeau host Fusion as six of the seven teams in the league are in action.

With just five matches played so far this campaign, three teams are on four points having won one and lost one tie. All this weekend’s games will be streamed live on Table Tennis England’s online platform TTE.TV.

Ormesby will be looking to bounce back against Urban after they suffered a shock defeat to league newcomers Brighton last month. 

Key to the Ormesby team will be their new number one signing David McBeath. The fifth ranked player in the national men’s ranking list and current member of the England men’s team has been brought in to replace Ryan Jenkins who has retired from competitive table tennis.

Sam Mabey, England number seven, who has been instrumental for Ormesby over the past year will not be available until the new year due to illness. This has given the northeast side the opportunity to play two home-grown juniors.

Thomas Rayner, ranked number 25 in the English senior list and number three in the juniors, and Ben Piggott, ranked number four in the English junior list, will line up alongside McBeath.

The Urban squad will include some of Britain’s top juniors players. Connor Green is ranked England’s number one junior, Felix Thomas is fifth and Toby Ellis is tenth. This tie is sure to be an exciting affair showcasing some of  Britain’s top future prospects.

Over in Northern Ireland Ormeau will welcome Fusion as the home side look to get back to winning ways after losing a tense match against BATTS in November.

They welcome Xavier Dixson to their team for the first time. The new signing is Australia’s number one, ranked 98th in the world and has recently notched up a victory against India’s Amalraj Anthony. 

Matt Ware will be back in action as team captain and will be joined by Irish number two Zak Wilson.

Gervis Knox, team coach and founding member of Ormeau TTC,  said: “We have a great relationship with the Fusion team and look forward to welcoming them to Belfast this weekend. The lads were disappointed with a 4-3 loss at BATTS in November but look to improve our points this weekend.”

Fusion were last in action on 22nd October, winning their only match of the season so far. Lorestas Trumpauskas, Joshua Bruce and Robert Pelc were the trio selected for that tie and expected to feature this weekend.

BATTS will battle freezing temperatures and plane strikes to get to their fixture against North Ayrshire. Josh Bennett, Shayan Siraj and Joe Ferguson will make the journey to Scotland as they look to continue the brilliant form that saw them beat Ormeau in a thriller. Shayan Siraj put in a player of the match performance as they picked up the win and is sure to play a huge part in Saturday’s fixture.

The home side will be made up of Martin Johnson, Colin Dalgleish and Chris Main. Jamie Johnson will also be a part of the matchday squad.

You can watch every match live on TTE.TV.

Fixtures

Ormeau v Fusion – 13:00

North Ayrshire v BATTS – 14:00

Ormesby v Urban TTC – 14:00