Title showdown awaits in Premier British League

Ormesby and Urban TTC will clash in an incredible title decider next month after ending the penultimate round of Premier British League level on points.

Ormesby defeated BATTS 5-0 to move level with the defending champions, who defeated North Ayrshire 4-1.

The results ensure an enthralling championship showdown in the final round of action, with the winner of the fixture on March 9th at Barnet Table Tennis Club to be crowned this year’s champions.

Ormesby handed a debut to Tainyuan Liu, who has been prolific on the Grand Prix scene this season, and he won both of his singles against Jack Bennett (3-1) and Ismaila Akindya (3-0).

Darius Knight and Helshan Weerasinghe won their singles against Joe Walker and Bennett respectively, while they teamed up in the doubles to beat the team of Akindiya and Walker.

Urban’s only blotch in their victory against North Ayrshire was inflicted via Chris Main, who defeated Gergely Urban 3-1, the fourth end finally going to Main 20-18.

Before that, Gergely Urban and Alim Hirji had put Urban ahead in the doubles before Hirji defeated Zak Wilson 3-1.

Daniel Schaffer then extended his unbeaten season with two wins, cruising past Main before dropping an end on his way to victory over Colin Dalgleish.

Elsewhere, any hopes of regaining the title disappeared for Drumchapel as they lost 3-2 to Ormeau, whose title hopes are also gone despite victory.

Both sides needed a convincing victory, plus slip-ups from the aforementioned top two, to have a chance.

But it required the fifth and final set of the match to split the teams, with Frenchman Lucas Molland securing victory for Ormeau with a 3-2 win over Marc Duran.

Before that, Molland and Lebrun had defeated Englishman David McBeath and Scot Yaser Razouk 3-0 in the doubles.

Duran had hit back with a 3-1 win over Spaniard Oriol Monzo before Alexis Lebrun put Ormeau ahead again with a 3-1 triumph over Razouk.

McBeath won a titanic tussle with Monzo, winning 12-10 in the fifth, to restore hope for Drumchapel, but Molland’s win over Duran sealed the win.

Ormeau are level on points with Ormesby and Urban, but have now played their full set of fixtures. Drumchapel are five points adrift in fourth. That said, Ormeau will be delighted with their season, which looks set to end with a third-place finish,

Finally, Fusion waited six games for their first win, but they celebrated it in style with a 5-0 drubbing of Cardiff.

Fusion had only picked up six points in five games before this tie, but have now leapfrogged Cardiff and North Ayrshire into sixth in the table going into the final round.

Long-term partners Kazeem Adeleke and Lorestas Trumpauskas performed admirably to defeat the team of Dean Cundy and Ryan Owen.

Joseph Hee’s 3-0 wins over Niall Cameron and Dean Cundy followed before Trumpauskas and Adeleke secured a whitewash with wins over Owen and Cameron. The result leaves Cardiff bottom going into the final round.