Cippenham’s first team in the Senior British Clubs League kept up the pressure at the top of National Division B-2 at the weekend. Hosting the second weekend of competition, Cippenham won all four of their matches but still could only finish third in the division after eight of the total of fourteen matches. Like Fusion 3 and Waterside, they sit with fourteen points from a maximum of sixteen but an inferior sets aggregate denies them a spot in the top two. The upside is that Cippenham sit six points ahead of the fourth-placed team and, barring a total decline when the league resumes in the new year, seem assured of a position in the top three come March.

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The successful weekend started with a 6-3 win over Joola Plymouth 2 on Saturday morning. It looked ominous for Cippenham as Dave Barr, who missed the first weekend, was beaten 3-0 by Harry Cutler but after that only Steve Munson’s first game and, unusually for Cippenham, the doubles set went against the hosts. Team captain Martin Adams was designated Player of the Match for his 3-0 victories over Bailey Page and Cutler. Rob Hansell also scored a brace but was made to work hard by Toby Matacott after defeating Herbie Sage 3-0 who was also beaten by Barr.

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Another 6-3 success was recorded in the afternoon. The opponents were Foresters whose only successes on the table were against Steve Munson. Rob Hansell, after beating Peter Stahlman, suffered an injury in the doubles and was not able to play his other singles match and this also prevented him from participating the following day. This time the Player of the Match award went to Dave Barr following his routing of both Mark Collins and Stahlman. Martin Adams maintained his unbeaten record for the day, defeating Collins easily but needed a fourth game to get the better of Dan Young.

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Shae Thakker replaced Steve Munson for Sunday’s matches and Hari Gehlot was promoted into the first team in place of the injured Rob. The first match was a real tester against previously unbeaten Waterside. Despite Martin having a rare off day, Cippenham rose to the occasion with Shae playing a leading part. He defeated both James Mason and Sam Ricks while Dave also beat Ricks and added the scalp of Adam Klos. Hari played an important part with a win in the doubles with Martin and administering the final act of the match when he easily beat Mason.

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Cippenham’s perfect weekend concluded with their closest match, 5-4 against mid-table Gwent. Martin was Player of the Match for the second time as he defeated both Toby Harwood and Patrick Thomas. The other successes for Cippenham were shared one each between the three other players but it was left to Hari to play the pressure game at 4-4 but he managed it with aplomb against Scott Johnston, 3-0.

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Meanwhile, on the other side of the hall, the Cippenham second team were enjoying mixed fortunes with two wins and two losses in Division C-5. England under-11 champion Sai Prasanna Kumar was the star in the opening match. His wins against Chris Peters and Anthony Vingoe were instrumental in his team securing a 6-3 win over bottom-of-the-table Falmouth Docks. Sai’s bother Bharath also won both his matches against Vingoe and Aiden Rollason while Hari Gehlot and Louis Alexander won one each, both losing to the Cornwall side’s number one, Tobit Dehren.

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The first reverse of the weekend was suffered on Saturday afternoon when Horsham, who had a record of 4-0 across the weekend, prospered 6-3. Cippenham found themselves 6-0 down before rallying to win the last three sets.

 

George Driscoll replaced Hari Gehlot for the matches on Sunday, coming into the team at number four and pushing his three team-mates up one place. However, the young Cippenham team, all members of the club’s successful junior squad, rose magnificently to the cause to beat Newton Abbot 6-3. George emerged as Player of the Match after beating both Wim Faassen and Paul Davey while Louis, elevated to the number one position, also excelled with great victories over the Devon side’s top two, Kevin Nicholls and Michael Hugh. The Prasanna Kumar brothers both won their first singles matches as Cippenham romped into a 4-0 lead.

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Maybe it was a case of “after the Lord Mayor’s show” as the weekend concluded with a disappointing 6-3 defeat against Isle of Wight. Sai won both his matches against Andy Prince and, sensationally, Chris Hannides, while George also got the better of Prince.