ROUND 8 of the Sunraysia Table Tennis Summer Pennant featured the longest doubles contest of the season while Wayne Carmichael took his singles winning streak to 15 matches when he defeated niece Kate Carmichael in a tense three-setter.
Kate is the last player to defeat Wayne, way back in round 3.
To cap off an excellent round of tables tennis, third and fourth teams on the ladder, Max Miller Carpets and Mallee Bearings, defeated Cash Converters and second-placed Exposed Signage and Apparel respectively to now have the top four teams all with a five win-three loss record.
With two weeks to play before the finals there promises to be an exciting climax to the season.
Max Miller Carpets regained top position on the ladder, by percentage, with their 7-4 defeat of Cash Converters.
Skipper Matt Ljubic was in fine form winning three singles, including an excellent win over opposing No.1 Phil Smith.
Ljubic also took part in both doubles victories. It was the doubles which proved to be the difference and both were very close. For the Converters, Smith and the in-form Liam Wood both won two singles.
Despite their 6-5 win over Exposed Signage and Apparel, Mallee Bearings did not move up from fourth position.
For the second week in succession, the Mallee Bearings’ pair of Joel Dorman and Gavin Carmichael won two singles each while Dorman again took part in both doubles victories.
The second doubles proved to be vital and what a match it was, Dorman paired with Michael Hensgen against Nicholas Dorman and Thahn Nguyen and this match went on and on.
The Exposed pair of Dorman and Nguyen grabbed the first game 15-11 and, amazingly, the second was won by Joel Dorman and Hensgen 27-25 after many chances to take the match to a third.
Their opponents had a couple of match points but could not seize the opportunity.
The third was close and again, in a thriller, the Bearings pair won 18-16 in a marathon.
Despite his team’s loss, Nicholas Dorman won three singles to sit two wins behind Matt Ljubic in the singles aggregate.
After several close calls in recent times Tankard Dental managed to win their second match of the season – defeating Regional Taxation Services 7-4.
Wayne Carmichael again won three singles to extend his streak.
Teammate Reece Kurrle was also in fine form winning three singles.
All his victories were in three sets and in all there were seven three-setters indicating how close the match was.
OTHER RESULTS
PENNANT TWO: Max Miller Carpets 6 (Jason Gifkins, Arthur Paar 2, Jeremy Corrin 1) d MJM Automotive 5 (Terry Martin 2, Marcus Cimino, Paul Kealley 1); Cookes Pools & Spas 8 (Russell Walder 3, Casper McCarthy 2, Rohan Reimers 1) d Mallee Meats 3 (Brad Warden 2, Quentin Clark 1); Pinnacle Packers 7 (Ashley Morrison, Bernard McCarthy 2, David Sergi 1) d Weightmans Packaging 4 (Ton...
