Archway Peterborough stormed to the top of the SBL Premier Division thanks to two very impressive showings in their opening fixtures against Fusion and Urban TTC.

Having waited for almost six weeks to get their season underway they wasted no time in getting two wins on the board.

They welcomed Fusion to their home venue on Saturday with Darius Knight, Callum Evans and Jordan Wykes lining up against visitors Lorestas Trumpauskas, Joshua Bruce and Gabrielius Camara.

The early four games were traded after Darius Knight and Callum Evans won their opening singles matches against Camara and Trumpauskas respectively. Fusion fought back winning the doubles encounter before Joshua Bruce beat Wykes in four. 

It was then plain sailing for Archway as Knight beat Trumpauskas in three, Wykes came through in three against Camara and Evans finished off the tie in four against Bruce.

Urban TTC were unable to prevent the Archway trio on Sunday, as the home team ran out comprehensive 7-0 victors.

The away side fielded an inexperienced team as they aim to build for the future. Their trio of Mateusz Mikosz, Bradley Tuttle and James Hamblett showed signs of being able to hold their own but Archway were ultimately too good. They didn’t drop a single set on the way to their second victory of the weekend.

In the only other match on Saturday Ormesby travelled from Middlesborough to face BATTS.

The final scoreline of 5-2 to the North East side belies how close the tie was. Five of the seven sets were won in five, showing BATTS could have picked up their second win of the year had certain opportunities gone their way. Shayan Siraj, Jack Bennett and Ethan Walsh welcomed the strong three of Helshan Weerasinghe, Sam Mabey and Thomas Rayner.

Mabey got the fixture going with a 3-2 win against Siraj before Bennett levelled things at 1-1, beating Weerasinghe 3-2.

The doubles win was more comprehensive as Mabey and Weerasinghe combined to beat Siraj and Walsh in three. Walsh then bounced straight back against Rayner to leave the tie delicately poised at 2-2.

Weerasinghe managed to get through a tough encounter against Siraj in five to give Ormesby the edge with two sets to play. 

Those two matches were played at the same time and it was Rayner who finished first, edging Jack Bennett 14-12 in a tense final set. Shortly afterwards, Ormesby’s Mabey, the standout player of the match, wrapped up his win against Walsh in five to put a gloss on the final scoreline.

That win put Ormesby second in the league, just behind Archway, having won both their opening games.

They are back in action against Ormeau on Friday 26th November. There is then a full set of fixtures on Saturday 4th December. 

Results

Saturday 30th October 
Archway 5 Fusion 2
Darius Knight bt Gabrielius Camara 3-1 (11-8,10-12, 11-7, 11-9)
Callum Evans bt Lorestas Trumpauskas 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-7)
Lorestas Trumpauskas / Joshua Bruce bt Darius Knight / Callum Evans 3-1 (9-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-9)
Joshua Bruce bt Jordan Wykes 3-1 (10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 11-2)
Darius Knight bt Lorestas Trumpauskas 3-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-8)
Jordan Wykes bt Gabrielius Camara 3-0 (11-8, 12-10, 11-5)
Callum Evans bt Joshua Bruce 3-1 (13-11, 9-11, 11-3, 11-7)
Ormesby 5 BATTS 2
Sam Mabey bt Shayan Siraj 3-2 (12-14, 11-9, 11-8, 10-12, 11-8)
Jack Bennett bt Helshan Weerasinghe 3-2 (11-7, 6-11, 11-6,9-11,11-9)
Sam Mabey / Helshan Weerasinghe bt Shayan Siraj / Ethan Walsh 3-0 (11-2, 11-4, 11-5)
Ethan Walsh bt Thomas Rayner 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-4)
Helshan Weerasinghe bt Shayan Siraj 3-2 (11-7, 2-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-7)
Sam Mabey bt Ethan Walsh 3-2 (14-12, 11-13, 4-11, 11-7, 11-4)
Thomas Rayner bt Jack Bennett 3-2 (11-3, 7-11, 13-15, 13-11, 14-12)

Sunday 31st October
Archway Peterborough 7 Urban TTC 0
Darius Knight bt Bradley Tuttle 3-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-2)
Callum Evans bt Mateusz Mikosz 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-4)
Callum Evans / Jordan Wykes bt Mateusz Mikosz / Bradley Tuttle 3-0 (11-5, 11-5, 11-6)
Jordan Wykes bt James Hamblett 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-6)
Darius Knight bt Mateusz Mikosz 3-0 (11-5, 17-15, 11-3)
Jordan Wykes bt Bradley Tuttle 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-6)
Callum Evans bt James Hamblett 3-0 (11-2, 14-12, 11-2)