PIRANHAS PROGRESS AFTER A KNOCKOUT PLAYOFF

 

The Team Knockout competition quarter finals featured an exceptional close tie between LCC Shakers and the Waveney Piranhas. While the Piranhas are a division higher and include some of the top Lowestoft players in their team, the Shakers are no strangers to playing at this level and also went into the match with a 212 point handicap advantage. Every point counts in this competition, and with the handicap the Piranhas needed to limit their opponent’s scores to fewer than 18 from each two set game, and as Bernard Warnes swooped 17 in the first set against Ryan Moore this was poised to be a challenging encounter. Moore, Ernie George and David Holland then started to apply the pressure as sets tumbled away with single digit opposition scores. But David Willis pulled the Shakers back on track with 17 points from each of his sets with Holland, and while Moore restricted the next two sets to a total of 8, Warnes found enough points in the final set against George to leave the encounter drawn at 378 each. Willis and George then stepped up to play a two set shoot out to decide the winner. George kept Willis on the back foot with a combination of deceptive serving and fast attacking play to win the playoff by 6 points, earning the Piranhas a semi final place against the Arrows.

The Arrows marched through to the semi finals after they barely used their 9 point handicap to beat the Misfits by 76 points. Stuart Faulkner, Tom Petifier and Kevin Jones provided set after set for the accurate Arrows. The Beacons meanwhile completely reversed the tables with their 78 point handicap lead against the Critters. It was the Critters in need of a handicap lift as Josh Baxter led a brilliant performance and helped squash the Critters by a massive 194 points. They’ll now face their club mates in an all Mill Lane semi final as the Spartans manoeuvred a 26 point win against the Kites.

The Beacons couldn’t find similar form however when they played the Misfits in the Presidents Cup semi final. A straight 6 from Jonathan Block and 5 from Oliver Bailey led the Misfits to a 13-6 win and their first competition final. They’ll now face the Shakers who pull out a win against a shorthanded Dominators team even though at 7-6 after three games it wasn’t looking quite as simple as it at first seemed. The final will be played at the Water Lane Leisure Centre next Friday 12th February.

Entry forms for the annual Lowestoft Table Tennis Championships are now available from team secretaries or online at www.ldttl.org.uk. All entries should be submitted before this Monday 8th February.

Team KO Quarter Final Results

Shakers 414 Piranhas 420

Arrows 347 Misfits 280

Beacons 416 Critters 222

Spartans 372 Kites 346

Team KO Semi Final Draw

Spartans v Beacons (+140)

Arrows (+275) v Piranhas

(to be played before 12th Mar)

Presidents Cup Semi Final Results

Dominators 8 Shakers 13

Misfits 13 Beacons 6

Presidents Cup Final

Misfits v Shakers

(to be played on Fri 12th Feb)