Premier Division champions Ormeau were sent tumbling out at the first stage, Drumchapel won the ‘battle of Scotland’ and there was a victory for hosts BATTS in the first three quarter-finals at the inaugural SBL Premier Cup.
Picture above: Baoman Wan (photo by Michael Loveder – more will appear on our Flickr page shortly)
The tight three-table set-up at BATTS gave the competition an intimate and intense feel which was immediately reflected in the play as all three opening matches went to a decider.
The tightest was in the all-Scottish battle between North Ayrshire and Drumchapel, in which the Championship winners Drumchapel took the lead as Garry Dodd held off Viktor Gorman 14-12 in the decider.
Dodd had held a 2-0 lead but saw his opponent come back to level. Dodds always had the edge in the decider and did not allow his opponent a match point – his serve looking particularly secure – and he eventually took a chance on Gorman’s serve.
On Table 1, league champions Ormeau were up against Brighton and it was attack versus defence as Mat Ware faced Ihor Zavadskyi
The third match to go the distance saw the hosts BATTS open up against Urban with a battle of the last two national under-21 champions – Shayan Siraj and Connor Green.
It went the way of the current holder as Green put Urban in front by coming from 2-1 down to win it 11-7 in the decider.
Things settled down a little from that point, but there was still plenty of thrilling play and a good share of tight matches.
First to book their place in the quarter-finals were Brighton, and it was 2016 Paralympic champion Will Bayley who brought it home, coming from 1-0 down to win with increasing authority over Conor Nugent.
Ormeau had never been in front in that match, but had twice drawn level at 2-2 and 3-3. Jordan Wykes’ two victories, added to that opener from Zavadskyi, set them up for Bayley to bring it home.
BATTS were next over the line, 4-2 against Urban. After that opening defeat for Siraj, the hosts won the next three, culminating in Ralph Pattison overcoming Toby Ellis 11-9 in the decider – cue the most vocally explosive celebration of the session.
Green got his second win, over Josh Bennett to keep his side in the match, but it was Siraj who clinched it, coming from 2-1 down to Ellis and saving match points in taking the fourth 15-13.
Drumchapel and North Ayrshire had a prolonged tussle which went the way of the Championship winners by a 4-2 margin.
Dodd backed up his opening victory by taking the fifth match against Martin Johnson to put his side 3-2 ahead – they had trailed 2-1 – and Baoman Wan sealed it with an 11-6 in-the-decider victory over Gorman.
Session 2 features the fourth quarter-final between Ormesby and Fusion, plus the first semi-final as Brighton play Drumchapel.
Results
BATTS 4 Urban 2
Connor Green (URB) bt Shayan Siraj (BAT) 3-2 (11-7, 6-11, 11-13, 11-8, 11-7)
Josh Bennett (BAT) bt Joseph Hunter (URB) 3-1 (12-10, 12-10, 5-11, 11-6)
Siraj & Bennett (BAT) bt Hunter & James Hamblett (URB) 3-1 (11-8, 11-6, 11-13, 12-10)
Ralph Pattison (BAT) bt Toby Ellis (URB) 3-2 (11-6, 6-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-9)
Green (URB) bt Bennett (BAT) 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-9)
Siraj (BAT) bt Ellis (URB) 3-2 (11-9, 7-11, 3-11, 15-13, 11-3)
Brighton 4 Ormeau 3
Ihor Zavadskyi (BRI) bt Matt Ware (ORM) 3-2 (9-11, 11-5, 11-13, 11-3, 11-5)
Jordan Wykes (BRI) bt Conor Nugent (ORM) 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-8)
Ware & Zak Wilson (ORM) bt Wykes & Zavadskyi (BRI) 3-2 (9-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7, 11-2)
Wilson (ORM) bt Will Bayley (BRI) 3-0 (11-5, 11-9, 11-3)
Wykes (BRI) bt Ware (ORM) 3-1 (8-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-8)
Wilson (ORM) bt Zavadskyi (BRI) 3-0 (12-10, 11-5, 11-9)
Bayley (BRI) bt Nugent (ORM) 3-1 (9-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-3)
Drumchapel 4 North Ayrshire 2
Garry Dodd (DRM) bt Viktor Gorman (NAY) 3-2 (11-8, 11-8, 5-11, 8-11, 14-12)
Martin Johnson (NAY) bt Danny Bajwa (DRM) 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 13-11)
Johnson & Gorman (NAY) bt Baoman Wan & Victor Guang (DRM) 3-1 (12-14, 11-5, 11-8, 11-5)
Wan (DRM) bt Chris Main (NAY) 3-1 (12-10, 12-14, 11-8, 11-7)
Dodd (DRM) bt Johnson (NAY) 3-1 (12-10, 5-11, 11-9, 11-5)
Wan (DRM) bt Gorman (NAY) 3-2 (8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6)
Ormeau sent packing in dramatic start to SBL Cup Table Tennis England.
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