Drumchapel Glasgow led the way in the hunt for a hat-trick of titles in the Women’s British Clubs League and Premier Division, but they didn’t have it all their way on weekend one.
A record number of 44 teams were in action at WV Active Aldersley in Wolverhampton. Flick from Division Three was Team of the Weekend. The Player of the Weekend award went to Luna Archard of Division 2 team Greenhouse (pictured above with Jill Parker MBE, President of Table Tennis England).
Drumchapel are unbeaten but have been held to two draws and are two points ahead of Wensum and Ormesby.
The champions opened with a 4-2 win over Wensum as Hannah Silcock – who defeated world number 143 Debora Vivarelli at last month’s WTT Star Contender London – took a double.
Ella Pashley, who has enjoyed two major victories of her own at the Copper Box Arena, sealed victory in the final match as she defeated Aleksandra Titievskaya 3-2 (11-13, 11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 11-6) as Drumchapel came from 2-1 behind.
The Glasgow side also defeated Ormesby 4-2 in Round 3 – Ormesby leveled twice through Mia O’Rahilly Egan’s double, the second of which was a 3-2 (9-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-9, 11-9) win over Silcock.
Despite beating their nearest rivals, Drumchapel dropped a point to the two teams who finished the weekend in the bottom two places. Joola Plymouth kept them at 3-3 in the second round as Yat Sum Ma scored a double and Alyssa Nguyen defeated Bethany O’Connell 3-2 (11-5, 10-12, 6-11, 11-5, 11-5) in the final match as Plymouth recovered from 2-1 and 3-2 down.
The other 3-3 draw was in the final round against Draycott, who came from 2-0 down to lead 3-2 before Pashley defeated Eva Eccles in the final match, sealing a draw and an unbeaten weekend for Drumchapel. It was Draycott’s only point of the weekend and was supported by Eccles, who had earlier launched a fine comeback by beating O’Connell 3-2 (10-12, 5-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-3).
Wensum and Ormesby not only lost to the leaders but fought out a 3–3 draw, with Middlesbrough coming from 3–1 down to take a point and all their players winning once.
In the averages, Sophie Earley from Wensum is in the lead with nine out of 10, one better than O’Rahilly Egan. The pair are separated by Drumchapel’s Wei Wei Liu, who won 5/6.
In Division 1Cippenham are the only unbeaten side, but they have drawn three of their five matches and sit between leaders Halton and third-placed Worthing, who both have a record of W1 D1 L1, on set difference – all three clubs are on 7 points.
Cippenham’s draw included their matches against both Worthing and Halton. They were 3-1 up against the former, but Holly Holder and Darcie Proud held them back. Against Halton they were twice behind and then led 3-2, before Joanne Keighley beat Anna Piercey in three close games to take a point for Halton.
The only match between the top three to produce a positive result was Worthing’s 4–2 defeat to Halton in the final round. It was level at 2-2 before Worthing won the last two games in deciders – Holder defeated Keighley 11-8, 11-8, 10-12, 5-11, 12-10 and Proud defeated Clare Peers 11-9, 4-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-9.
Cippenham duo Rachael Iles and Mia Lakhani are at the top of the averages, having both won eight of their ten matches.
Brighton have a 1 point lead at the top Division 2with Draycott II and Ackworth both close behind.
Brighton actually lost the first match 5-1 against Ackworth, but then remained undefeated, including a 4-2 victory over Draycott. They were held 3-3 by a Drumchapel Glasgow II team who also defeated Ackworth themselves, while Draycott defeated Ackworth but lost to Greenhouse. All this means that the top five teams are only two points apart.
In the averages, Jonabel Taguibao from Greenhouse and Teresa Bennett from Brighton both won with 9/10.
Turn the head Division 3 with a 100% record – in fact the division had no ties and the W column reads 5-4-3-2-1-0.
The leaders, whose nearest challengers are Cleeve Park, were dominant, losing only two individual matches, both of which came in the final round against bottom-placed Halton – although one of these was when the match had already been won.
Flick players dominate the averages, Lok Yee Lo and Meige Wang both winning a full complement of 10, and Binyu Zhao winning 8/8.
WW Lightning also has a 100% record for leadership Division 4 three points ahead of Drumchapel Glasgow III.
The leaders were not as dominant as Flick, with four of their wins coming from 4-2 behind. Although they were never behind, they did have to win their last two games against both Drumchapel and Graham Spicer.
In the averages, Graham Spicer’s Chui-Que Wong leads the way with 9/10.
Halton III head Division 5 and are unbeaten, although they are just a point ahead of Sherwood Oak who have dropped a point in a draw against Draycott III, after trailing 3-1 in that match in Round 4. Draycott’s Kate Watkinson won twice in that, including 17-15 in the fifth against Grace Williams – Williams’ only defeat in eight matches.
Halton III’s Tsz In Ria Wun won 6/6 to lead the averages. Sherwood Oak’s Amy Wells is the best of those who played all weekend, with 9/10.
Falmouth Docks is the top of the eight-strong team Division 6 on eight points, having won three and drawn two, leaving him one point ahead of three teams on 7 points: Ellenborough II, Brighton B and Continental Stars.
The two draws were against Ellenborough, against whom they trailed by three but drew each time, and against Brighton, where they led 2-0 and 3-2.
Falmouth’s Saki Stratton and Continental Stars’ Shazia Tariz both won 9/10 but are behind Brighton’s Isobel Langridge in the averages, with the latter having won all eight of her matches.
The second weekend of WBCL is on January 31 and February 1, 2026.
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