A 100% second weekend saw hosts Nottingham take control of the Senior British Clubs League, Championship division.
Just one point ahead of fellow unbeaten sides BATTS II and Urban after weekend 1, Nottingham won all four of their matches to open a three-point lead over BATTS – while Urban dropped to sixth place after a winless weekend.
The top two met in the first round on Saturday (8 November), and it was Nottingham who made the step as they came from 3-2 down to win 5-3.
The hosts led 1-0 and 2-1, but after Josh Bennett had beaten Maxim Stevens in three games, it was BATTS who had looked to seal their chances of at least a draw.
However, Adam Dennison (pictured above) completed a personal double when he defeated Ryan Choong in four, and Adam Fuzes then prevented a Jack Bennett comeback to win 3-2 (11-6, 11-4, 9-11, 8-11, 11-2) to put Nottingham ahead. It was left to James Hobson to take the overall victory, and a double of his own, when he defeated Ethan Walsh in three.
Urban maintained their unbeaten record with a 4–4 draw against Hurricane, although they did so with only three players and led 4–2 before Joe Sawyer won the seventh match for Hurricane and the walkover earned them a point.
In the remaining matches, Wymondham recorded an emphatic 7-1 victory over Ormeau II and Perry Dale won 6-2 against Ormesby II. Finsbury, meanwhile, secured a 5-3 win over Woodford Wells in a shaky match that saw four games go the distance.
That proved to be the first of four wins over the weekend for Finsbury, who moved up to third in the league, one point behind BATTS.
On Saturday afternoon they also won 3-2, this time their victims Wymondham. Ho Yin Tam’s double, with victories in the fifth game over Gabriel Schogger and Umair Mauthoor, proved important and added to his double from the first match.
There were three 6-2 scores on Saturday afternoon as Woodford Wells defeated three-man Urban, Ormesby defeated Ormeau and leaders Nottingham Hurricane defeated. It was 8-0 for BATTS against Perry Dale, although three of those games went to the fifth.
In Round 7 on Sunday morning, Finsbury blew Urban – the latter now at full strength – 8-0, while it was 7-1 for BATTS against Ormeau.
Nottingham continued the pattern of ever-falling scorelines, winning 6-2 against Woodford Wells and Perry Dale beating Hurricane 5-3. They led 4-1 but returned to 4-3 before Neil Pickard completed the victory by beating Adedapo Onakomaya 3-2 (11-8, 8-11, 6-11, 12-10, 11-7).
To complete a round in which all possible outcomes occurred, the score was 4-4 between Ormesby and Wymondham. Ormesby were never behind, but were reduced from 1-0, 2-1 and 4-2 leads. Oleh Biletskyi won the seventh match against Tom Rayner to complete a personal double and David McKenzie sealed a point by beating Josh Harland. For Ormesby, Graeme Barella and Josh Weatherby both won twice.
The Sunday afternoon matches saw both Finsbury and Nottingham complete their 100% weekends and both with a 6-2 scoreline against Ormesby and Urban respectively.
It was 8-0 for BATTS against Wymondham and 7-1 for Perry Dale against Woodford Wells, making Hurricane versus Ormeau the best match of the round.
The victors were Hurricane, who were never behind but were pulled back to 1-1 and 2-2 and then saw a 4-2 lead turn into 4-3 when Sophie Earley completed her double by beating Paul Cicchelli in four. Onakomaya secured the win for Hurricane by beating Thomas Earley in three.
The championship’s pivot weekend is January 17, when rounds 9 and 10 take place.
In the averages, two players remain at 100% – Ormeau’s Paul McCreery did not play this weekend and remains at 8/8. He is joined in that ratio by James Hobson, who again won 4/4, just like in the first weekend. Of the more regular players, the best rating belongs to Adam Dennison of Nottingham, who has won 14 out of 16 for an average of 87.5.
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