Week 14 Results

Crawley B v Cop/Maid		Horsham A v Horsham B		Horsham C v Horsham D		Crawley A v Crawley C
6	3	6	3	3	6	8	1
G. Green 3 B. Majithia 3 North 0	Bristowe 1 Stv Chambers 1 Hall 1	Barby 3 Ford 2 Scott 1	G. Carter 1 Jones 1 Padalkar 1	Barna 1 S. Hoad 1 E. Van Mol 1	S.Pound 3 Forshaw 3 D. Pound 0	Richardson 3 M. Majithia 3 Faulkner 2	Gilbert 1 Meads 0 John Hook 0

CRAWLEY/HORSHAM TABLE TENNIS PREMIER DIVISION LEAGUE TABLE: 2009-10 SEASON
(At End of Week 14)

TEAM NAME	MATCHES PLAYED	TEAM WINS	TEAM LOSSES	GAMES WON	GAMES LOST	POINTS
Horsham A	14	13	1	101	25	101
Crawley Community A	14	8	6	77	49	77
Crawley Community B	14	9	5	68	58	68
Horsham B	14	5	9	61	65	61
Crawley Community C	14	8	6	59	67	59
Horsham D	14	7	7	54	72	54
Horsham C	14	3	11	45	81	45
Copthorne and Maidenbower	14	3	11	39	87	39

HORSHAM 'A’ POP THE CHAMPAGNE, COPTHORNE AND MAIDENBOWER COMMISERATE

The curtain finally came down on the 2009-10 Crawley and Horsham Table Tennis Premier Division season at K2 Leisure Centre, Crawley last week. Horsham A had already been confirmed as champions two weeks earlier so their final appearance resembled more of a lap of honour in contrast to last season’s nerve jangling final week decider against their nearest rivals Crawley A. At the other end of the table as expected Copthorne and Maidenbower’s relegation fate was confirmed.

Horsham B went into their match with the champions-elect still harbouring faint hopes of nicking third spot and they competed with a belief that made the Horsham A open-top bus ride feel more than a little bumpy. Indeed the bus’s wheels may have fell off if Ford and Scott had not come out the right side of 12-10 fifth set scores against Padalkar and Carter respectively and Steve Barby had not picked up the conductor’s baton to re-establish authority with a near faultless maximum to bring the A team home 6-3.

Crawley Community A finally turned out a team that matched their powerhouse reputation to turnover their C team 8-1 in an excellent match. Phil Richardson produced another excellent maximum-winning performance to underline his standing at the top of the averages. Included in his full house was a victory against Barrie Gilbert, the man who he had beaten a week earlier in a close final of the Crawley/Horsham League Men’s Open Singles. Mayur Maithia returned to inject his usual dose of quality, although John Hook took him to a fufth set. Graham Faulkner also won two for Captain Richardson, surviving a deuce in the fifth set encounter with Andy Meads in doing so.

Horsham D’s late season rally continued as Steve Pound and Alex Forshaw both contributed maximums to their 6-3 win over Horsham C. Well done for Horsham C’s Erik van Mol, the youngster opening his top division account of wins with a victory over Dan Pound in an entertaining five-setter played in an excellent spirit.

And to Copthorne and Maidenbower’s demise as a Premiership outfit. Mission impossible became just that as they went down 6-3 to a Crawley B team intent on warding off Horsham B’s challenge on their third spot. As for the rest of the season there was no lack of effort on the Cop and Maid boys part, but try as they might Graham Green and Bipin Majithia were not in the mood to bestow charity and their relegation was duly confirmed.

Week 13 Results

Horsham D v Crawley A		Crawley C v Crawley B		Cop/Maid v Horsham A		Horsham B v Horsham C
5	4	4	5	0	9	3	6
S.Pound 2 Padalkar 2 Forshaw 1	Richardson 3 K. Green 1 Turner 0	Meads 2 Hook 2 Waterman 0	B. Majithia 3 North 1 G. Green 1	Bristowe 0 Stv Chambers 0 Stone 0	Ford 3 Scott 3 Barby 3	G. Carter 1 Jones 1 Barna 1	Weerasinghe 3 Castle 3 S. Hoad 0

CRAWLEY/HORSHAM TABLE TENNIS PREMIER DIVISION LEAGUE TABLE: 2009-10 SEASON
(At End of Week 13)

TEAM NAME	MATCHES PLAYED	TEAM WINS	TEAM LOSSES	GAMES WON	GAMES LOST	POINTS
Horsham A	13	12	1	95	22	95
Crawley Community A	13	7	6	69	48	69
Crawley Community B	13	8	5	62	55	62
Horsham B	13	5	8	58	59	58
Crawley Community C	13	8	5	58	59	58
Horsham D	13	6	7	48	69	48
Horsham C	13	3	10	42	75	42
Copthorne and Maidenbower	13	3	10	36	81	36

COPTHORNE AND MAIDENBOWER CAST ADRIFT

With the title race over, attention in Week 13 of the Crawley/Horsham Premiership was focussed on the battle to avoid the drop at the bottom. At the start of the night Copthorne and Maidenbower were level pegging on 36 points with Horsham C but unfortunately for them by the end of it things had gone completely pear-shaped and they will go into the final league meeting facing a six point deficit. The fat lady has not yet sung on their Premiership ambitions next season and only significant modifications on the size of the K2 Centre’s doors will prevent her doing so next week.

Copthorne and Maidenbower’s task was never going to be an easy one as they took on newly crowned champions Horsham A who were at full strength and the bad omens played out, only Steve Chambers being able to induce the slightest sign of anxiety by taking a set off Ian Ford and forcing Rory Scott to a fifth set as the team took a 9-0 hit.

A change in Horsham C’s fortunes to compound the Cop and Maid boys’ misery was less expected particularly as they were taking on their B team who were still hopeful of securing third place. Andy Castle returned to their side in great form to secure a maximum that more than compensated for captain Steve Hoad’s bad evening. They also exploited the Horsham club’s greater squad depth by bringing in talented youngster Helshan Weerasinghe to condemn the B team’s bronze medal aspirations to nothing more than a pipe dream.

Horsham D were also able to distance themselves from any lingering relegation doubts with an excellent 5-4 win over Crawley A. Steve Pound and Tejas Padalkar were in good form with two wins each and also made Phil Richardson work hard for his eighth maximum of the season.

Match of the night was definitely the mid-table battle between Crawley Community’s B and C teams. Bipin Majithia was the B’s standard bearer, Andy Meads and John Hook were in good nick for the C and the result hinged on the encounters between these protagonists. Meads v Majithia was a fascinating affair given that Meads is well known as the brains behind the Indian counter-puncher’s British League exploits. In the end it was the student who triumphed over his mentor after four long sets, the last of which saw Meads come back from 10-2 down to deuce before finally falling. With the team score at 4-4 bragging rights came down to the last match between between Majithia and Hook and it proved to be a fitting climax. The banter was as fast as furious as the rallies as Hook clawed his way back from 6-1 down in the fourth to take the encounter to a fifth set. Hook was 3-1 up in the fifth and starting to cruise before a trademark Majithia lob under pressure clipped an edge to change the momentum of the game which ended up going to the favour of the Crawley B man 11-9.

Week 12 Results

Crawley B v Horsham B		Horsham D v Cop/Maid		Crawley A v Horsham A		Crawley C v Horsham C
7	2	5	4	2	7	7	2
Meads 3 G. Green 2 B. Majithia 2	G. Carter 2 Jones 0 Morrison 0	S. Pound 3 Padalkar 2 D. Pound 0	Bristowe 2 Hall 1 Stv Chambers 1	Richardson 2 Stu Chambers 0 Turner 0	Ford 3 Shipley 2 Scott 2	Gilbert 3 Hook 2 Waterman 2	Castle 1 S. Hoad 1 Barna 0

CRAWLEY/HORSHAM TABLE TENNIS PREMIER DIVISION LEAGUE TABLE: 2009-10 SEASON
(At End of Week 12)

TEAM NAME	MATCHES PLAYED	TEAM WINS	TEAM LOSSES	GAMES WON	GAMES LOST	POINTS
Horsham A	12	11	1	86	22	86
Crawley Community A	12	7	5	65	43	65
Crawley Community B	12	7	5	57	51	57
Horsham B	12	5	7	55	53	55
Crawley Community C	12	8	4	54	54	54
Horsham D	12	5	7	43	65	43
Horsham C	12	2	10	36	72	36
Copthorne and Maidenbower	12	3	9	36	72	36

HORSHAM 'A' RETAIN THEIR TITLE

Horsham A are champions of the Crawley and Horsham Table Tennis League Premier Division again. The writing has been on the wall for some weeks but now it is on the trophy after they put themselves out of reach of their nearest rivals Crawley Community A with an emphatic 7-2 victory over them.

As the Premiership went into its 12th week Crawley Community’s first team had a chance to make a last stand but again ravaged by injury and unavailability it could only field one of its first choice players they were unable to provide anything above token resistance. Horsham even had the luxury of deploying one of its reserves, Alan Shipley, who was able to win two of his three in the procession. Regulars Rory Scott and Ian Ford also set about the depleted Crawley line-up, Ford also managing to put an end to Phil Richardson’s impressively accumulated 100% record. Hope is that Crawley’s top team can put their house back in order for next season to make for a more tightly contested battle.

At the other end of the table Horsham D virtually assured their safety from relegation courtesy of a 5-4 win over bottom placed Copthorne and Maidenbower. Steve Pound was their star man with a maximum, although Gordon Hall pushed him close. Tejas Padalkar added the other two, although he fell victim to brace-winning Gary Bristowe who seems to be returning to his early season good form.

Horsham C’s nerves will now be on edge as they sunk to being equal bottom place with Copthorne and Maidenbower after losing heavily to a Crawley C bolstered by the return to action of John Hook and Barrie Gilbert. Gilbert survived a severe five-set examination by Dan Barna to win his three. John Hook added two and so did Raj Waterman in a solid debut.

7-2 was also the scoreline in the match between the Horsham and Crawley Community B teams, in favour of Crawley. Andy Meads survived from being two sets and 6-2 down in his first match against Alex Morrison to eventually come through as Crawley’s maximum man. Bipin Majithia and Graham Greene also won two, although Majithia will be sore from losing out 3-1 to longstanding rival Graham Carter in a classic match of close counter-hitting.

Week 11 Results

Crawley C v Horsham A		Crawley B v Crawley A		Cop/Maid v Horsham C		Horsham B v Horsham D
1	8	5	4	5	4	4	5
Meads 1 Amin 0 Saffarizadeh 0	Barby 3 Scott 3 Ford 2	Robinson 2 G. Green 2 North 1	Richardson 3 K. Green 1 Turner 0	Bristowe 2 Hall 2 Stone 1	Forshaw 3 Morrison 1 Barna 0	G. Carter 3 Jones 1 Van Yperen 0	S. Pound 2 Padalkar 2 D. Pound 1

CRAWLEY/HORSHAM TABLE TENNIS PREMIER DIVISION LEAGUE TABLE: 2009-10 SEASON
(At End of Week 11)

TEAM NAME	MATCHES PLAYED	TEAM WINS	TEAM LOSSES	GAMES WON	GAMES LOST	POINTS
Horsham A	11	10	1	79	20	79
Crawley Community A	11	7	4	63	36	63
Horsham B	11	5	6	53	46	53
Crawley Community C	11	7	4	47	52	47
Crawley Community B	11	6	5	50	49	50
Horsham D	11	4	7	38	61	38
Horsham C	11	2	9	34	65	34
Copthorne and Maidenbower	11	3	8	32	67	32

COPTHORNE AND MAIDENBOWER REFUSE TO GO QUIETLY

With three weeks of the Crawley and Horsham Premiership remaining it appears that whilst the title destination looks a done deal the battle to avoid the drop is getting hotter with two of the bottom three recording wins in Week 11. Bottom team Copthorne and Maidenbower were one of those victors, beating nearest rivals Horsham C by 5-4 to narrow the gap between drop-zone and safety to just two points.

Horsham C was boosted by the return of high-flying youngster Alex Forshaw and with the experience of Alex Morrison and youthful flair of the improving Dan Barna in tow also they were looking to deliver a decisive blow to the opponent’s survival chances. However in a tense match that involved five five-setters it was Copthorne and Maidenbower who held their nerve. Forshaw lived up to his promise in gaining a maximum but Barna failed to fire and was beaten in all his games. Gary Bristowe and Gordon Hall also took out Morrison to take their team win tally to the magic five.

Two of the other matches also went to the wire. Tejas Padalkar and Steve Pound won two each to give Horsham D a crucial victory over the B team despite a captain’s performance from Graham Carter. Dan Pound deserves special mention for gaining his first top division win at the 24th attempt, 3-0 over 14-year old debutante Matt van Yperen. A similar pattern of the results was also witnessed as a fading Crawley A team was beaten by their B team colleagues. Captain Phil Richardson provided his usual flashing blade performance level to beat all before him but he did not receive much support, the B’s Graham Green and John Robinson setting about his colleagues in fine style to win two each.

As Crawley A again disappointed Horsham A pressed further down on the accelerator. Andy Meads 3-1 win over Ian Ford was Crawley C’s only resistance as the leaders added another eight points to its total. In a year when there is set to be a General Election it will need something special to happen on the swingometer if Horsham A are to be denied the chance to put the winners trophy back in their cabinet for another year.

Week 10 Results

Crawley A v Horsham B		Horsham A v Horsham C		Crawley B v Horsham D		Crawley C v Cop/Maid
3	6	8	1	7	2	7	2
M. Majithia 3 Stu Chambers 0 Turner 0	Jones 2 Carter 2 Weston 2	Ford 3 Barby 3 Scott 2	Barna 1 Morrison 0 Absent	North 3 B. Majithia 3 G. Green 1	S. Pound 1 Padalkar 1 D.Pound 0	Faulkner 3 Hook 3 Saffarizadeh 1	Bristowe 1 Chambers 1 Hall 0

CRAWLEY/HORSHAM TABLE TENNIS PREMIER DIVISION LEAGUE TABLE: 2009-10 SEASON
(At End of Week 10)

TEAM NAME	MATCHES PLAYED	TEAM WINS	TEAM LOSSES	GAMES WON	GAMES LOST	POINTS
Horsham A	10	9	1	71	19	71
Crawley Community A	10	7	3	59	31	59
Horsham B	10	5	5	49	41	49
Crawley Community C	10	7	3	46	44	46
Crawley Community B	10	5	5	45	45	45
Horsham D	10	3	7	33	57	33
Horsham C	10	2	8	30	60	30
Copthorne and Maidenbower	10	2	8	27	63	27

HORSHAM PULL AWAY AT THE TOP

Horsham A looks increasingly likely to retain the Crawley/Horsham Premiership title they won last year for the first time in a generation. With four weeks of the season remaining they lead nearest rivals Crawley A by 12 points, a big gap even considering that the two big guns are still to meet again.

The leaders’ blessed season was further helped in week 10 as their opponents Horsham C were a man down due to a car breakdown on the way to the venue. Three in the bag already Steve Barby and Ian Ford set about the remainder of their team to gain maximums. Everything looked set for a whitewash but credit to Dan Barna for adding to his growing reputation with a fine win over the experienced Rory Scott. Indeed the youngster was 2-0 down before salvaging the third set 13-11 to keep himself in it, before going on to win in a thrilling end of night five-setter.

Horsham A’s near perfect evening became nirvana as Crawley Community A fielded a weakened side against Horsham B. Mayur Majithia provided his usual quality to win an expected three but this was all the team could offer as they went down 6-3. Central venue based competition requires teams to get out their best players week after week in line with the schedule of fixtures and in this regard Horsham has mobilised itself much better than a Crawley team consistently beset by injury and unavailability.

In other matches Crawley B made short shrift of Horsham D. Don North was in excellent form winning all three of his games despite the fact that he only realised at the end of the night he had pulled the wrong bat out of his bag. Bipin Majithia continued his excellent run of form by also gaining a maximum; indeed he did not even drop a set. Horsham D were bolstered by the return from injury of Steve Pound and although the topspinner looked out of touch it will give them confidence that they have got enough in the tank to avoid the drop.

Copthorne and Maidenbower failed to exploit Horsham C’s difficult night, going down 7-2 to Crawley C. Consequently they remain bottom. Graham Faulkner and John Hook did the damage for the Crawley boys, both winning maximums.

Week 9 Results

Horsham D v Crawley C		Cop/Maid v Horsham B		Horsham C v Crawley A		Horsham A v Crawley B
9	0	1	8	4	5	8	1
Crawley C conceded; unable to raise a team		Hall 1 Bristowe 0 Stone 0	Jones 3 G.Carter 3 Weston 2	Barna 2 Hoad 1 Morrison 1	M.Majithia 3 Hook 2 Akin	Zhang 3 Scott 3 Ford 2	Faulkner 1 G. Green 0

CRAWLEY/HORSHAM TABLE TENNIS PREMIER DIVISION LEAGUE TABLE: 2009-10 SEASON
(At End of Week 9)

TEAM NAME	MATCHES PLAYED	TEAM WINS	TEAM LOSSES	GAMES WON	GAMES LOST	POINTS
Horsham A	9	8	1	63	18	63
Crawley Community A	9	7	2	56	25	56
Horsham B	9	4	5	43	38	43
Crawley Community C	9	6	3	39	42	39
Crawley Community B	9	4	5	38	43	38
Horsham D	9	3	6	31	50	31
Horsham C	9	2	7	29	52	29
Copthorne and Maidenbower	9	2	7	25	56	25

HORSHAM THANKFUL FOR CRAWLEY’S CHRISTMAS PRESENTS

Crawley Community Table Tennis Club took the season of goodwill too literally in Week 9 of the Crawley and Horsham Premiership. Yet again their A team turned up under strength as a consequence of injuries and unavailabilities and they lost further ground on Horsham A at the top of the division. Crawley C were even more generous and failed to field a side against Horsham D leaving Copthorne and Maidenbower anchored in bottom spot again after their heavy mauling at the hands of Horsham B.

Horsham A made light work of a weakened Crawley B. Graham Faulkner gained Crawley their only comfort with an 11-9 in the fifth win over Ian Ford. Rory Scott was in excellent form for the leaders winning his three in confident style. 16 year old Chinese sensation Da Shuai Zhang was drafted in as special guest star and he did not disappoint with some fearsome shots, although Graham Green at least made him think by taking a set and pushing him close in all the others.

Crawley A lie seven points behind Horsham A after squeezing a 5-4 win over Horsham C, and with only five weeks of play remaining that gap is starting to look like a gulf. Mayur Majithia was at the heart of his team’s points tally and John Hook contributed two. Dan Barna was Horsham star winning two, including another victory over county veteran player Hook, proving that his first win over him earlier in the season was no fluke.

Horsham D’s fortune in gaining nine points from a match concession leaves Copthorne and Maidenbower four points adrift at the bottom over the Christmas period. Gordon Hall provided their only bright spot by accounting for the unpredictable Ricki Weston in four. Other than that they huffed and puffed by taking three of the matchers to five sets and another two to four but they could not win the key points in any. Graham Carter and Colin Jones were their tormentors-in-chief both recording triple successes.

Week 8 Results

Horsham C v Crawley B		Horsham A v Horsham D		Horsham B v Crawley C		Crawley A v Cop/Maid
2	7	6	3	2	7	4	5
Barna 1 Hoad 1 Cheer 0	B. Majithia 3 Green 2 North 2	Ford 2 Morrison 2 Scott 2	Padalkar 3 Forshaw 0 D. Pound 0	Weston 1 Jones 1 G. Carter 0	Faulkner 3 Gilbert 2 Meads 2	Green 3 Pullinger 1 Amin 0	Hall 2 Stone 2 Stv Chambers 1

CRAWLEY/HORSHAM TABLE TENNIS PREMIER DIVISION LEAGUE TABLE: 2009-10 SEASON
(At End of Week 8)

TEAM NAME	MATCHES PLAYED	TEAM WINS	TEAM LOSSES	GAMES WON	GAMES LOST	POINTS
Horsham A	8	7	1	55	17	55
Crawley Community A	8	6	2	51	21	51
Crawley Community C	8	6	2	39	33	39
Crawley Community B	8	4	4	37	35	37
Horsham B	8	3	5	35	37	35
Horsham C	8	2	6	25	47	25
Copthorne and Maidenbower	8	2	6	24	48	24
Horsham D	8	2	6	22	50	22

WESTON SUPER BUT THEN HAS A 'MARE

Ricki Weston’s up and down season was exemplified in Week 8 of the Crawley and Horsham Premiership. Playing for Horsham B against Crawley C he unleashed the kind of topspin tsunami he is capable of to dismantle Barrie Gilbert’s 100% record. Unfortunately that was as good as it got for the 17 year old and after Graham Faulkner had brought him back down to earth he signed off with barely a whimper against the experienced Andy Meads. Colin Jones scored a good victory in five sets over Meads but otherwise it was all Crawley C led by the unbeaten Faulkner. Horsham C also suffered a 7-2 reverse against Crawley B. Bipin Majithia was Crawley’s in form player remaining unbeaten supported ably by Don North and Graham Green with two each. Youngster Dan Barna added to his growing reputation by beating Green in four sets and only succumbed to the defensive nouse of North 11-9 in the fifth. In a week where Crawley A turned out a significantly under strength team Horsham A were effectively looking to play their joker against relegation threatened Horsham D. Unfortunately for them it did not go to plan and Tejas Padalkar ended up doing the joking by restricting them to a 6-3 win. The youngster had his best night of the season winning all three against table topping opposition. For once fellow young gun Alex Forshaw was left in the shade. Dan Pound also played well for Horsham D, only being denied his first win of the season in an 11-9 fifth set against Alex Morrison. Crawley A’s availability problems were exploited by strugglers Copthorne and Maidenbower who recorded a 5-4 win. Regular Kevin Green did a good job of limiting the damage by winning his three but of the players playing up for Crawley only Chris Pullinger’s win over Steve Chambers could be added to this. Gordon Hall and Alan Stone won two each to move away from Horsham D by two points at the bottom.

Week 7 Results

Crawley C v Crawley A		Horsham D v Horsham C		Horsham B v Horsham A		Cop/Maid v Crawley B
0	9	5	4	0	9	1	8
Hook 0 Saffarizadeh 0 Turner 0	Richardson 3 M. Majithia 3 Green 3	Forshaw 3 Padalkar 2 D. Pound 0	S. Hoad 2 Barna 1 Cheer 1	G. Carter 0 Weston 0 Jones 0	Ford 3 Barby 3 Scott 3	Hall 1 Bristowe 0 Stone 0	Meads 3 B. Majithia 3 North 2

CRAWLEY/HORSHAM TABLE TENNIS PREMIER DIVISION LEAGUE TABLE: 2009-10 SEASON
(At End of Week 7)

TEAM NAME	MATCHES PLAYED	TEAM WINS	TEAM LOSSES	GAMES WON	GAMES LOST	POINTS
Horsham A	7	6	1	49	14	49
Crawley Community A	7	6	1	47	16	47
Horsham B	7	3	4	33	30	33
Crawley Community C	7	5	2	32	31	32
Crawley Community B	7	3	4	30	33	30
Horsham C	7	2	5	23	40	23
Copthorne and Maidenbower	7	1	6	19	44	19
Horsham D	7	2	5	19	44	19

AGE CONCERNS FOR COPTHORNE AND MAIDENBOWER

Copthorne and Maidenbower's relegation worries increased as the Crawley and Horsham Premiership reached its halfway point. They went down 8-1 to a Crawley Community B team that included seventy-something Don North, sixty-something Andy Meads and 42-year old nipper Bipin Majithia. Only Gordon Hall was able to get any change for his efforts beating an otherwise dominant North 3-1.

Horsham D's 5-4 victory over Horsham C consolidated the Cop and Maid boys' depressing week bringing the two teams level on points around the relegation spot. Alex Forshaw was the D's inspiration with three wins, although he took five sets to see off the improving Dan Barna. Tejas Padalkar also contributed two wins, falling in four to the C's top man, Steve Hoad, who also won two.

At the top end of the table it now looks all set to be a two-horse race for the title in the second half of the season after both Horsham A and Crawley Community A registered 9-0 whitewash victories over Horsham B and Crawley C respectively. A 14 point gap now exists between second and third place. Community A will probably be the happier of the two after this week not losing any points to their C team which had managed to beat Horsham A earlier in the season.

The only scare Crawley Community A had on the night was Mayur Majithia requiring five sets to account for John Hook. Horsham A had a few more concerns to contend with in their match to preserve their two-point lead in the table. Graham Carter took both Steve Barby and Rory Scott to five sets but lost narrowly in both and Ricki Weston did likewise in losing out to Ian Ford.

Week 6 Results

Horsham C v Horsham B		Horsham A v Cop/Maid		Crawley B v Crawley C		Crawley A v Horsham D
2	7	9	0	4	5	8	1
Castle 1 Barna 1 S. Hoad 0	Jones 3 Carter 2 Weston 2	Barby 3 Scott 3 Ford 3	Hall 0 Bristowe 0 Stv Chambers 0	B. Majithia 3 G. Green 1 North 0	Faulkner 2 Hook 2 Saffarizadeh 1	Richardson 3 M. Majithia 3 Green 2	Forshaw 1 Padalkar 0 D. Pound 0

CRAWLEY/HORSHAM TABLE TENNIS PREMIER DIVISION LEAGUE TABLE: 2009-10 SEASON
(At End of Week 6)

TEAM NAME	MATCHES PLAYED	TEAM WINS	TEAM LOSSES	GAMES WON	GAMES LOST	POINTS
Horsham A	6	5	1	40	14	40
Crawley Community A	6	5	1	38	16	38
Horsham B	6	3	3	33	21	33
Crawley Community C	6	5	1	32	22	32
Crawley Community B	6	2	4	22	32	22
Horsham C	6	2	4	19	35	19
Copthorne and Maidenbower	6	1	5	18	36	18
Horsham D	6	1	5	14	40	14

BARNA ROCKS CARTER BUT JONES STEADYS THE SHIP

Graham Carter became the latest player to find himself punk'd by the Crawley and Horsham Premiership's youth movement. Daniel Barna flattened the normally unflappable blocker in three straight sets early doors for Horsham C in the derby with their B team. Andy Castle levelled the match to two-all by beating Ricky Weston but after that it was one-way traffic down a B-Road ending up in a 7-2 scoreline. Colin Jones was chief engineer of the dominance winning all of his matches, although Steve Hoad ran him close in an 11-9 fifth set.

The gap between top and bottom grew wider with Horsham A thumping Copthorne and Maidenbower 9-0 and Crawley Community A seeing off Horsham D 8-1. Horsham A will be grateful that their Community A rivals became the focus of another episode of the Forshaw Saga, young Alex Forshaw beating Kevin Green in four sets to allow them to increase their lead at the top of the table to two points.

In the night's other B v C derby, within the Crawley Community ranks the C team won out 5-4 despite the efforts of Bipin Majithia who was in fine fettle for his maximum return for the B. Aside from Majithia's heroics only Graham Green added further resistance and braces from Graham Faulkner and John Hook were the backbone of their team's fifth win in six outings.

Week 5 Results

Horsham C v Crawley C		Horsham A v Crawley A		Cop/Maid v Horsham D		Horsham B v Crawley B
5	4	5	4	9	0	4	5
Padalkar 1 Barna 0 Pound 0	Gilbert 3 Hook 1 Saffarizadeh 0	Barby 2 Scott 2 Ford 1	Richardson 3 M. Majithia 1 K. Green 0	Hall 3 Bristowe 3 Stv Chambers 3	Cheer 0 E Van Mol 0 Shoare 0	Forshaw 3 G. Carter 1 Weston 0	B. Majithia 2 G. Green 2 Robinson 1

CRAWLEY/HORSHAM TABLE TENNIS PREMIER DIVISION LEAGUE TABLE: 2009-10 SEASON
(At End of Week 5)

TEAM NAME	MATCHES PLAYED	TEAM WINS	TEAM LOSSES	GAMES WON	GAMES LOST	POINTS
Horsham A	5	4	1	31	14	31
Crawley Community A	5	4	1	30	15	30
Crawley Community C	5	4	1	27	18	27
Horsham B	5	2	3	26	19	26
Crawley Community B	5	2	3	18	27	18
Copthorne and Maidenbower	5	1	4	18	27	18
Horsham C	5	2	3	17	28	17
Horsham D	5	1	4	13	32	13

MAJITHIA STUMBLES, FORSHAW EXCELS

Week 5 proved the most interesting of the season so far in the Crawley and Horsham Premiership. The plot thickened significantly at both the top and bottom of the table and the matches proved anything but predictable, most notably with class act Mayur Majithia suffering his first double loss in an evening for many a year and 16-year old Alex Forshaw adding three high quality names to his season's growing win list.

The Horsham and Crawley Community A teams met in the night's eagerly anticipated big match, both level pegging at the top at the start of the night. Rory Scott played superbly to beat Majithia 3-2 and give Horsham a massive early boost. His defensive shots held under the pressure of Majithia's heavy topspin and when he attacked he made it count. Phil Richardson played a captain's innings for Crawley, pegging back the jubilant Scott with a 12-10 fifth set win in addition to wins over Steve Barby and Ian Ford.

With all Horsham's players picking off a misfiring Kevin Green the match rested on the result of the last encounter between Majithia and Barby and certainly they both provided a battle to fit the occasion. Having levelled at one set all and being 9-3 up in the third Majithia looked to be in the ascendency but he did not count on the Barby whirlwind comeback that saw the third go to the Horsham man 12-10. Majithia responded by levelling to 2-2 to make for a ding donger of a final set in which they matched each other point for point. Having survived one match point Barby sportingly stated that a Majithia backhand had clipped the edge of the table with the umpire unsure to go 11-10 down but then he proceeded to win the next three points in fine attacking style to win out 13-11 and take the overall match for his team. For once Majithia the magician had been left spellbound.

Horsham B against Crawley Community B was another close encounter of the ninth kind, largely due to the heroics of Alex Forshaw for Horsham B being the dominant player in the match. Not many players walk away from an evening with three victories against the likes of Bipin Majithia, Graham Green and John Robinson and it makes it all the more special that this was only the youngster's third appearance at this level. Only Graham Carter with a win over Robinson could add to it though. Whilst Horsham had the star man, Crawley had the Ôsteady Eddies' with Green and Majithia braces seeing them home 5-4.

After the elation of beating Horsham A last week Crawley C came back down to earth with a 5-4 reverse to Horsham C. Barrie Gilbert was the third player on the night to score a maximum and be on the losing team. For Horsham Dan Barna was another young man on a mission winning an excellent two, both in five setters, in addition to an in form Steve Hoad scoring two.

Copthorne and Maidenbower took advantage of Horsham D fielding an inexperienced team due to all its regulars being absent. Eric Van Mol and Ben Shoare made their debuts and although they failed to win a set they will surely benefit from the experience. However their points arrived Copthorne and Maidenbower will be feeling better about Premiership life, jumping from bottom position to mid-table comfort as a result of their procession.

Week 4 Results

Horsham D v Horsham B		Horsham C v Cop/Maid		Crawley A v Crawley B		Horsham A v Crawley C
1	8	7	2	9	0	4	5
Padalkar 1 Barna 0 Pound 0	G. Carter 3 Alex Forshaw 3 Jones 2	Castle 3 S.Hoad 3 Morrison 1	S. Chambers 1 Hall 1 Hodges 0	P. Carter 3 K. Green 3 Richardson 3	B. Majithia 0 North 0 G. Green 0	Barby 2 Ford 1 Scott 1	Gilbert 3 Hook 1 Saffarizadeh 1

CRAWLEY/HORSHAM TABLE TENNIS PREMIER DIVISION LEAGUE TABLE: 2009-10 SEASON
(At End of Week 4)

TEAM NAME	MATCHES PLAYED	TEAM WINS	TEAM LOSSES	GAMES WON	GAMES LOST	POINTS
Crawley Community A	4	4	0	26	10	26
Horsham A	4	3	1	26	10	26
Crawley Community C	4	4	0	23	13	23
Horsham B	4	2	2	22	14	22
Crawley Community B	4	1	3	13	23	13
Horsham D	4	1	3	13	23	13
Horsham C	4	1	3	12	24	12
Copthorne and Maidenbower	4	0	4	9	27	9

GILBERT MASTERCLASS PEGS BACK HORSHAM

Veteran chop defender Barrie Gilbert was at his fighting best to inspire Crawley C to a surprise victory over last season's champions Horsham A. His one hundred percent record was given its severest test yet as he had to survive five-setters against both Ian Ford and Steve Barby, including three Ford match points. Ashkan Saffararizadeh also chipped in with a straight sets demolition of Ford and whilst in-form John Hook's unbeaten record bit the dust he was still able to clinch the crucial last singles match against Rory Scott 3-1 to claim the team honours for the evening.

Scott complained of a lack of confidence in the new rubbers he was using as a replacement for rubbers banned under recent rule changes. Things are unlikely to improve next week for him in this regard - the rubbers and blade parting company with the handle of his bat with a display of self-dissatisfaction after his performance against Hook.

Crawley A with captain Phil Richardson back at the helm of the ship took full advantage of Horsham A's defeat eclipsing their B team clubmates 9-0. They now lie in equal top spot with their arch-rivals in the divisional standings. Is another battle supreme starting to take shape, perhaps with Crawley C as the dark-horses?

Week 3 Results

Cop/Maid v Crawley C		Horsham D v Crawley B		Horsham C v Horsham A		Horsham B v Crawley A
2	7	5	4	0	9	4	5
Bristowe 2 Hall 0 Stone 0	Hook 3 Saffaridezeh 2 Faulkner 2	S. Pound 2 Padalkar 2 Forshaw 1	B. Majithia 2 G.Green 1 North 1	Morrison 0 Cheer 0 S. Hoad 0	Barby 3 Ford 3 Scott 3	Weston 2 Jones 1 Barna 1	Carter 3 K. Green 2 Turner 0

CRAWLEY/HORSHAM TABLE TENNIS PREMIER DIVISION LEAGUE TABLE: 2009-10 SEASON
(At End of Week 3)

TEAM NAME	MATCHES PLAYED	TEAM WINS	TEAM LOSSES	GAMES WON	GAMES LOST	POINTS
Horsham A	3	3	0	22	5	22
Crawley Community C	3	3	0	18	9	18
Crawley Community A	3	3	0	17	10	17
Horsham B	3	1	2	14	13	14
Crawley Community B	3	1	2	13	14	13
Horsham D	3	1	2	12	15	12
Copthorne and Maidenbower	3	0	3	7	20	7
Horsham C	3	0	3	5	22	5

BRISTOWE IS DIFFERENT GRAVY

Gary Bristowe provided more evidence that he can cut it at top division level with an excellent performance for Copthorne and Maidenbower against high flying Crawley Community C in the Crawley and Horsham Premiership. He prevailed 11-9 in the fifth set against Ash Saffaridazeh as a prelude to the night's big upset, a win over last year's Crawley/Horsham Closed Championships winner Graham Faulkner, also in five. Only a rejuvenated John Hook was able to hold him back with a 3-1 victory that preserves his 100% average for the season to date. Unfortunately Bristowe's personal success failed to rally his team as they slipped to their third consecutive defeat, this one by a 7-2 scoreline.

Copthorne and Maidenbower may be finding life tough at the top but they can still take some comfort from the fact that they still look down over Horsham C who remain anchored to the bottom after picking up no points against their A team. All looked promising for the C in the match's opening encounters - on one table Steve Hoad was set to go two sets up over Rory Scott and concurrently on the other Alex Morrison had three match points to register a surprise 3-1 win over Steve Barby. However within a couple of minutes these matches turned on their heads - Barby survived the match points and then romped home in the fifth set and Scott scraped the second set before running out a comfortable 3-1 winner. Horsham A's only other scare from then on in was Morrison extending Scott into the fifth set in the night's last end.

A youthful Horsham D outfit provided the night's best team showing, accounting for Crawley Community B 5-4. Captain and old head Steve Pound provided the core to his team's work with two wins. 13 year old Tejas Padalkar also hit great form with two, including a 3-0 mauling of Bipin Majithia. However debutant Alex Forshaw deserved most credit for holding his nerve to win the crucial decider, 3-1 against Graham Green, a player who has been in excellent form in recent weeks. Majithia ensured no one scored a maximum in the match by beating old adversary Pound 3-1.

Bookies' favourite Crawley Community A lost more early ground to the leaders as they could only manage a 5-4 win over Horsham B. Matt Turner was the latest reserve to step up into the team's No 3 berth and come up short on contributing to the team's points tally. Aside from Turner's three losses Ricki Weston also inflicted damage on the title aspirants, defeating Kevin Green 11-7 in the fifth. Captain Phil Richardson will return from his golfing holiday in Turkey to the disappointing news that his team is five points off the leader pace. If the title is to return to Crawley at the end of this season his teammates may have to confiscate his passport.

Week 2 Results

Crawley B v Horsham A		Crawley A v Horsham C		Horsham B v Cop/Maid		Crawley C v Horsham D
2	7	6	3	7	2	5	4
B. Majithia 1 G.Green 1 North 0	Weerasinghe 3 Ford 2 Scott 2	Richardson 3 M. Majithia 3 Stu Chambers 0	Morrison 1 Castle 1 Barna 1	G. Carter 3 Jones 2 Weston 2	Bristowe 1 Hall 1 Hodges 0	Gilbert 3 Meads 1 Saffarizadeh 1	S. Pound 2 Padalkar 2 D. Pound 0

CRAWLEY/HORSHAM TABLE TENNIS PREMIER DIVISION LEAGUE TABLE: 2009-10 SEASON
(At End of Week 2)

TEAM NAME	MATCHES PLAYED	TEAM WINS	TEAM LOSSES	GAMES WON	GAMES LOST	POINTS
Horsham A	2	2	0	13	5	13
Crawley Community A	2	2	0	12	6	12
Crawley Community C	2	2	0	11	7	11
Horsham B	2	1	1	10	8	10
Crawley Community B	2	1	1	9	9	9
Horsham D	2	0	2	7	11	7
Copthorne and Maidenbower	2	0	2	5	13	5
Horsham C	2	0	2	5	13	5

HELSHAN HITS THE HEIGHTS

Boy Wonder, Helshan Weerasinghe, turned in his first appearance of the new Crawley and Horsham Premier season and made it count with a maximum three wins to propel Horsham A into top spot in the table. The 13 year old England cadet did not have it all his own way however, for although he despatched Don North and Bipin Majithia with ease, Graham Greene put him under a lot of pressure with some excellent block return play and he had to rely on a late burst of quality to dig himself out of a 9-7 down position in the fifth set. Rory Scott and Ian Ford both added two each to contribute to the 7-2 team scoreline.

Crawley Community A lie one place behind after their 6-3 defeat of Horsham C. For the second consecutive week Stuart Chambers, playing up in the absence of the injured Paul Carter, failed to spark and lost all of his games. Phil Richardson and Mayur Majithia were untroubled in gaining their maximums. Horsham's Dan Barna will be pleased with his first top division win in five sets over Chambers.

Crawley C and Horsham D contested the night's closest affair. Barrie Gilbert remains at the top of the averages after another three wins, including the crucial first over Steve Pound in a five set marathon. Pound did well to get himself back into the match after losing the first two sets but in the decider Gilbert established an early lead and never looked like relinquishing it. Tejas Padalkar looked good for Horsham, the youngster claiming the scalps of Andy Meads and Ash Saffaradizeh, both in five set matches. Meads is a good judge of TT talent having been responsible for developing many of Crawley's top players over the years and he was certainly left impressed by the shots of the Indian starlet.

Horsham B registered their first win of the season with a 7-2 win over Copthorne and Maidenbower. Graham Carter was in good form with three wins, supported by two apiece from Colin Jones and Ricki Weston. It has been a tough introduction to Premiership life for Copthorne and Maidenbower but they will be encouraged by the fact that both Gordon Hall and Gary Bristow have won two matches each so far. Young Bristow particularly is on a steep learning curve so there is optimism that he can become an increasing threat to some of the bigger fish as the league progresses.

Week 1 Results

Cop/Maid v Crawley A		Crawley C v Horsham B		Horsham D v Horsham A		Crawley B v Horsham C
3	6	6	3	3	6	7	2
Hall 1 Hughes 1 Bristow 1	Richardson 3 K. Green 3 Stu Chambers 0	Gilbert 3 Hook 3 Saffarizadeh 0	G. Carter 1 Jones 1 S. Hoad 1	S. Pound 2 Padalkar 1 D. Pound 0	Barby 3 Ford 2 Scott 1	B. Majithia 3 North 2 G.Green 2	Morrison 1 Castle 1 Barna 0

CRAWLEY/HORSHAM TABLE TENNIS PREMIER DIVISION LEAGUE TABLE: 2009-10 SEASON
(At End of Week 1)

TEAM NAME	MATCHES PLAYED	TEAM WINS	TEAM LOSSES	GAMES WON	GAMES LOST	POINTS
Crawley Community B	1	1	0	7	2	7
Crawley Community A	1	1	0	6	3	6
Crawley Community C	1	1	0	6	3	6
Horsham A	1	1	0	6	3	6
Horsham D	1	0	1	3	6	3
Horsham B	1	0	1	3	6	3
Copthorne and Maidenbower	1	0	1	3	6	3
Horsham C	1	0	1	2	7	2

BIP SHOOTS FROM THE HIP TO PUT COMMUNITY B TOP

Crawley Community B came out fastest from the traps in the first week of the new Crawley and Horsham Table Tennis Premier Division season. Whether they do a Jensen Button and stay the pace or flounder under the pressure like a Kevin Keegan Newcastle Utd team remains to be seen. However they have got seven days to bask in the glory of top spot. Best not to book the open top bus yet though boys.

Their 7-2 dismissal of Horsham C looked unlikely after they lost the first two games. However Bipin Majithia steadied the ship with a 3-2 win over impressive young debutant Dan Barna, a prelude to a well earned maximum that also accounted for Andy Castle and Alex Morrison. Don North and Graham Green re-gathered themselves after shaky starts to claim two wins apiece.

In a bad night for Horsham teams generally Horsham A were the club's only winner on the night, beating their D team 6-3. Steve Pound was in excellent form to make things really awkward for the champions. He swept away Ian Ford and Rory Scott and made Steve Barby's maximum even more impressive, the latter just prevailing in a top-turvy five setter in which both played superb TT. Tejas Padalkar will be pleased at gaining his first win over the season, a straight sets effort over Scott.

Community A also won by a 6-3 margin. Phil Richardson was stretched to five sets by Mike Hughes but otherwise he, like his teammate Kevin Green, was dominant. Stuart Chambers had a night to forget though. Of late he has been a man in the form of his life but on this night things went wrong from start to finish. He has the quality to recover but it will be interesting to see how costly the dropping of those three games could prove come the end of the season bearing in mind how close last season's title race proved.

Barrie Gilbert and John Hooks' threes against Horsham B mean Crawley C join their A team and Horsham A on six points. Gilbert was the only player in the night's play not to drop a set and although Hook took five sets to get through both Steve Hoad and Graham Carter he will also be delighted with his early season nick.

Pilot Week Results

RICHO ROCKED BY RORY BUT COMMUNITY 'A' INSTALLED FAVOURITES

Crawley Community 'A' will be the team to beat in the new Premiership season of the Crawley and Horsham Table Tennis League which starts proper next week. Despite being without number one player Paul 'Get' Carter they posted a statement of intent by beating last year's champions Horsham 'A' 6-3 in the division's pre-season friendly week, staged as a dry run for the new K2-based central venue set-up.

Mayur Majithia led the way for the Crawley boys winning his three matches, although the fact that he dropped sets in all of them will give other teams hope. Captain Phil Richardson chipped in with two but met his match against opposing captain Rory Scott in an exciting five-set encounter. At the one point in the fifth set a Richardson smash sent Scott crashing through the barriers to bring the hall to a briefly hushed standstill but the Irishman recovered his compsure to win out 11-8 with some excellent backhand defensive, forehand attack combination bat play.

Copthorne and Maidenbower got their first taste of Premiership action after getting promoted last season, taking on Horsham D. They lost 7-2 with with Steve Pound and Stuart Chambers in no mood to give them a friendly welcome to the top flight. Well done to Pound junior, Dan, winning his first top division game, 11-8 in the fifth against Gary Bristowe. The gap between the first and second tiers of this league has always been regarded as a big one; it will be interesting to see if Copthorne and Maidenbower can buck the yo-yo tendency of seasons past and establish themselves as a permanent Premiership feature.

Crawley C added experienced defender Barrie Gilbert to their ranks over the close season and they could be a dark horse as a consequence, especially with inputs from players like John Hook, Andy Meads and last season's championship singles winner Graham Faulkner to be added into the mix. They certainly made light work of Horsham's third string with a whitewash performance, although young Dan Barna will have been pleased with his debut for the vanquished team, taking sets off all his opponents.

The closest practice encounter was engaged by the Community and Horsham B teams. Crawley's Don North took on Ricki Weston in the ninth game and decisive of the night to present an inter-generational image akin to Mr Miyagi sparring with his young protege in the Karate Kid. Experience won out over youth 3-1 - 17 year old Weston still has a few tricks to learn from 72 year old North. So 5-4 it was to Crawley 'B' with Graham Green and Bipin Majithia adding two each to North's contribution. Horsham 'B' captain Graham 'Got' Carter and Colin Jones will be pleased with their two wins apiece but both will be prioritising the need to get the unpredictable Weston - brilliant one week, wayward the next - firing on all cyclinders in time for the big kick-off.

Any the friendly fun is now over. Next week it's war.