Table tennis: Newton Abbot teams start new season strong

The Acacia Blinds 2011-12 South Devon & Torbay Table Tennis League season began last month with 24 teams from Brixham, Dawlish, Marldon, Newton Abbot, Halwell Bishopsteignton, Torquay, Denbury and Paignton all competing over three divisions for their respective titles.

Teams will play each other three times again this season in what promises to be a fantastic battle between old, new and strengthened squads.

Reigning champions Newton Abbot Batmen opened their defending account in style with wins over stablemates Newton Abbot Academicals, newly promoted Dawlish Aces and most notably, arch rivals, and last season's runners-up, Halwell in a 10-0 trouncing that saw only one game go the distance. Batmen's Dennis Gibbs, Kevin Nicholls and Mike Dummett saw off Halwell's Dave Wadling, Mick Atkinson and Rod Sugden with ease as they added to their 16 points accumulated from the Academicals and Aces encounters to put themselves ahead of the rest by four points with only three matches played.

Last season's Division 2 champions Newton Abbot Battlers join Batmen at the top of the table in second spot thanks to a couple of 9-1 victories again to Academicals and also to Taverners in the opening match of the new season.

Keith Hawkins, Ed Thompson and new signings of Helen Parton and Peter Nicholson, back again after a long absence from the game, only succumbed to Halwell in their opening encounters. The scoreline against Taverners belied the closeness of the individual games with Taverners' Nick Williamson just losing out to Helen Parton 17-15 in the final leg, but gaining his team's only point with a four leg win over Battler's Ed Thompson. Nicholson did well to win over Halwell's Rod Sugden and Dave Wadling to add a couple of points to the season's tally, while Parton and Thompson scored maximums against Academicals to give them a fantastic position in the league so early on.

New Brixham sensation, Stamatis Kioufis, recently arrived to the bay from Greece is taking the league by storm with three maximums out of three and only one leg dropped as he helped Brixham Gulls stay within reach of the leaders. With good support from David White and Michael Lu, Gulls secured victories over Dawlish Aces, Taverners and Brixham Trawlers. Trawlers' new signing, Adam Shipway, back in the frame after a spell away was able to find a slight chink in Kioufis' armour in the second leg, before falling away in the third and fourth. Trawlers and Taverners' sit at the foot of the table but only a few points away from the middle as a seemingly tight season begins.

In Division 2, relegated Marldon lead the way, a one point ahead of Denbury's Tykes who opened their season 10-0 winners over new entrants to the league, The Badgers, and 9-1 away victors at Brixham against Swallows. However, it was Marldon's Graham Holmes who ran out man of the match in the clash of the top two, beating Tykes' Pat Darch, Steve Metcalfe and Kevin Ayling all in four legs to help his Marldon side to a 7-3 victory to top the division.

Brixham Sharks are in touch with the leaders with fine wins over Torre's 21 Up and Brixham Swallows, with Brian Pengelly winning all his games and supported well by Brixham starlet Jazmin Johns who is using all her national tournament experience to come through the ranks to take maximums in the same two matches. Only Dawlish Diamonds were able to halt the flow of wins for Sharks with new signing Colin Platt who, together with Mike Coxhead beat Johns in straight sets and won the doubles over five to win the match 6-4 and keep Diamonds in a good position in the table.

Other matches saw 21 Up win comfortably away at Newton Abbot to Longshots with 21 Up's Connor Lowe taking a maximum. Only Longshot's Stephen Godbeer was able to provide any resistance to 21 Up's matchplay with wins over Simon Frugol and Huw Darch. 21 Up were also able to add to their tally well in an 8-2 win over The Badgers, this time with Darch taking the honours of man of the match with four-leg wins over Badgers' Mike Hern, Mike Green and Rob Smith.

Last season's fall guys Hasbeens top the Division 3 table with three wins from three over Brixham Pirates, Torrnadoes and Dawlish Drifters. The combined experience of Dave Alexander, Richard Fitzgerald, Gerry Bennett and Mike Wickens shone through in the opening encounters with Fitzgerald in particular remaining unbeaten. Pirates' Pat Haggerty was the stumbling block in Hasbeens' sprint start, beating Alexander and Bennett in two very close games.

Brixham Rebels also began the season well to stay in touch with Hasbeens. Rebel's Kevin Salt not only achieved his very first maximum in the league, but went on to repeat the feat over the following two matches. This helped his team enjoy a 9-1 victory over Brixham Swifts, an 8-2 win over Brixham Panthers, and a tight 6-4 win over Dawlish Drifters with that match seeing Drifters' Bruce Freeman beating Rebels' Steve Munns and Marilyn Parton in straight sets before being halted in four by Salt.

The other three Brixham teams in the division, Panthers, Pirates and Swifts are all holding their own with some new faces shining through against experienced opposition. In addition, a host of brand new players were on show, most notably Sam Perkins for Torrnadoes who took a maximum away to Dawlish Dinosaurs to help his team sit nicely in a mid-table spot, and Krystyna Czyz who helped keep Brixham Pirates at bay with fine wins over Brixham's Tom and Joe Haggerty.

This season sees all teams play 21 times in their bids for league titles and again a potential 10 times for success in the singles and doubles cup competitions which start later this month.

For more information about the Acacia Blinds South Devon & Torbay Table Tennis League, see www. sdt-tabletennisleague.co.uk.