British League - Premier - BATTS V Ormesby - Oct 30, 2021
Senior British League Premier Division - Round 3 - held at the Norman Booth Recreation Centre on October 30, 2021 - BATTS of Harlow v Ormesby of Middlesborough
A truly exciting and memorable afternoon of table tennis, which Ormesby won by 5 matches to 2. This was not as overwhelming as it might first appear (we'll say nothing more about the Doubles, which went the way of Ormesby in double-quick time!). It was one apiece going into that match and then Ethan Walsh put BATTS level again beating Tom Rayner. Even when Shayan Siraj narrowly lost the next game to Helshan Weerasinghe there was still plenty of hope for a home win, if Ethan could beat Sam Mabey and Jack Bennett could win against Tom Rayner. Both games went to five ends -- in fact only one of the six Singles did not go the full distance, it was that close -- but it was Ormesby who nicked them both, thus returning Northward in triumph. Tom Rayner played out of his skin to deny BATTS a deserved consolation point in the final match of the afternoon, holding out against Jack Bennett 14-12 in the very last game.
Official Player of the Match was Sam Mabey but you could justifiably argue the case for Helshan or Tom as well. And for BATTS, Shayan Siraj played his socks off in spite of a troubling shoulder which kept him out of the Doubles. But the Winner was undoubtedly, Table Tennis, and the Home supporters went home content in the knowledge that they had been part of a magnificent sporting occasion. And even happier if they were lucky enough to win one of the top prizes in the Raffle!
BATTS: Jack Bennett, Ethan Walsh, Shayan Shiraj (coach: Cliff Carder)
Ormesby: Sam Mabey, Helshan Weerasinghe, Tom Rayner (coach: Denis Neale)
Photographers: Andrew W Webb and Declan P Garner