Chris Doran clinched the final match against Ormesby, including an 18-16 game, to seal a 4-3 victory for Archway Peterborough that moved them above the current title holders in the Premier Division.

On paper this was set to be a thriller, with Chinese star Sining Zhang, England’s number eight Helshan Weerasinghe and England’s number nine Darius Knight lining up for Ormesby against Chinese national squad player Jaiwang Song, the current England number five Chris Doran and Adam Jepson. 

Sining Zhang started the afternoon with a comfortable victory in three against Adam Jepson. Jia Wang Song responded immediately for Archway as he beat Darius Knight, also in three. 

Wang Song then partnered with Doran to ease to a doubles win against Knight & Zhang. 

The North-East side struck back as Weerasinghe beat Doran in three to level the tie at 2-2. With four relatively one-sided matches it wasn’t apparent which way the tie would eventually go. 

Wang Song returned to the table beating Zhang in four, before Weersainghe once again levelled the tie at 3-3 with victory in four against Jepson. 

This set up a final match that did not disappoint. Knight and Doran played a staggering 113 games across five sets before Knight’s forehand return into the net gave Doran victory 41 minutes after the final set began.  

On Sunday, Urban continued their impressive run of four wins from four beating BATTS 5-2.

Before the fixture Urban head coach Gergely Urban praised the BATTS outfit.

He said: “We have great respect for their club management, led by Neil Brierly. They have true passion for table tennis and are putting lots of energy year on year to maintain their performance in the Premier Division with lots of young talented stars like Jack Bennett and Ethan Walsh” 

Urban was right to praise Bennett who picked up a victory against Croatian Matej Mamut. Mike O’Driscoll also managed to beat Mamut in three, coming through sets that went to 15-13 and 16-14.

The winning margin was comprehensive thanks to a clean sweep by Daniel Koshiba and Szilard Gyorgy. Both went unbeaten in their singles fixtures and combined to beat Bennett and O’Driscoll in the doubles. The performance showed that with just two fixtures left, Urban will be hopeful of going unbeaten in the league.

Three rounds remain in the Premier Division with the next fixtures taking place on Saturday 8th February.  

Results

BATTS 2 Urban 5
Daniel Koshiba bt Mike O’Driscoll 3-1 (11-7, 16-14, 8-11, 11-5)
Jack Bennet bt Matej Mamut 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 13-11)
Koshiba/Szilard Gyorgy bt Bennet/O’Driscoll 3-2 (11-1, 11-9, 8-11, 8-11, 11-6)
Gyorgy bt Adam Nutland 3-1 (11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7)
O’Driscoll bt Mamut 3-0 (11-5, 15-13, 16-14)
Kosiba bt Nutland 3-1  (11-3, 8-11, 11-4, 11-3)
Gyorgy bt Bennett 3-0 (11-9, 11-9, 11-7)

Ormesby 3 Archway Peterborough 4
Sinang Zhang bt Adam Jepson 3-0 (11-5, 11-5, 11-3)
Jia Wang Song bt Darius Knight 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 12-10)
Wang Song/Chris Doran bt Zhang/Knight 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-2)
Helshan Weerasinghe bt Doran 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-8)
Wang Song bt Zhang 3-1 (11-4, 12-10, 9-11, 11-9)
Weerasinghe bt Jepson 3-1 (7-11, 11-3, 14-12, 11-4)
Doran bt Knight 3-2 (9-11, 13-11, 18-16, 5-11, 8-11)