It is finals fever!!!

By Kameron Chan, Competition Manager -  TTV Premier League 

17 weeks of table tennis, all held at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre, the 3^rd Season of the Table Tennis Victoria Premier League is about to come to a stunning conclusion this coming Wednesday 5^th of December. 85 players spread into 25 teams across 4 divisions with players across all walks of life, ages, standards, experience and careers are whittled all the way down to the final 2 in each division. Please see below a summary of what is to be expected!

 
The hall is ready!!!

Division 1

Leading team Balwyn United (who just joined the competition from their east suburban roots) goes into the final as the heavyweight favourites over Monash; despite Monash having arguably the best player in the competition, Parth Phansekar. Balwyn leads the head to head 2-1 which includes a 5-3 hard fought win in the semi-final; however the Indian Champion, Phansekar, was undefeated. However Monash will have some renewed confidence after taking away St Kilda Cricket’s chance at glory in a smashing 5-2 victory in the elimination preliminary final. With youth and experience encompassing both teams, this matchup is must see!

In the Consolation Playoff Series, Dandenong Maccabi United pulled off a shocking 6-3 win over favourites St Kilda Cricket Red where many matches were decided in the fifth game. The matches of the night featured the ever patient Tom Meadows of St Kilda overcoming his more seasoned opponent, the maverick Herman Pekal, in 4 but losing against Dennis Zhou in 5 where the match almost went to expedite!!!

Division 2

It’s another case of new teams challenging the old guards as Melbourne CBD defeated Maccabi Sounds in a very tight preliminary final to once again challenge another seasoned name in St Kilda Cricket Blue. It is students up against veterans as CBD (Julian Thoms, Jack La & Andrew Ng) try for a FOURTH time to defeat the trio of Martin Somic, Graeme Strong and Peter Sheedy who between them have many years of experience, awards and accolades. Will the CBD team prevail and rewrite the script or shall St Kilda one again force them to dance to their tune?

Unlucky fifth placed Albert Park Caribbean (one match separating them and fourth!!!) topped the Consolation Playoff Series against the dark horses of St Kilda Cricket Black after overcoming Albert Park International last week in the 5^th vs 8^th playoff. St Kilda Cricket Black soundly defeated traditional rivals in Maccabi Trads but the Trads managed to avoid the wooden spoon with a comfortable victory over the International team. Perhaps it is a sign for next week where the famous names of old will be surpassed?

Julian Thoms sealing the deal for Melbourne CBD with a close 5 game win over Maccabi's Dean Frenkal

Division 3

It is a grudge match! Undefeated St Kilda Cricket Green are scheduled to play the Maccabi Marcks in a match where tensions should fly. Marc Listmangof of the Marcks is one of the only two players to have defeated coffee addict and Timo Boll wannabe (or is it Jan-Ove Waldner now??? Who knows!) Sven Czesla during the home and away season. Both teams are suitably able to challenge the other but many different factors will need to come into play for the Marcks to cause an upset; one being is whether if Czesla will recover in time from his recent Indonesian trip to be able to compete at his best.

With RMIT having completed the Top 3, all which is left is the bottom 2 Consolation Match which happened to be another grudge match between St Kilda Cricket Brown and Maccabi Menches. These teams were fighting to see who would avoid the perpetual wooden spoon (generously donated by Rohan Hamilton of St Kilda Cricket Brown). Menches’ Captain, Les Lesman, gave his team the perfect start with a hard fought win over Hamilton. After that it went all downhill for the Menches as Colin Ditchfield and Daniel Gomez join Hamilton ample assistance to overcome Lesman’s troops in Boris Burd and Betty Mill (sub). As Albert Einstein said ‘Failure is success in progress…’

The Menches obviously enthused with the Wooden Spoon!

Division 4

We almost had another grudge match but surprisingly newcomers Albert Park Stars upset the youngsters of New Maccabi 5-3 to fight for their chance at the premiership against St Kilda Cricket White. With Rahul remaining undefeated for the Stars, Ari Fell almost took the round to a deciding 9^th match for Maccabi when he had a 2-0 lead against Evan Jia. However Jia stood his ground to come back and win the match and the round for the Stars in 5. Overcoming the youngsters, they now face the more seasoned opponents and experience of St Kilda Cricket White who have remained undefeated and possess 3 of the Top 4 players in the Division 4. It could be a whitewash or an upset!!!

It seemed to be the night for Albert Park given the bottom 2 teams were both Albert Park composite teams where Albert Park Maccabi faced Swinburne Park. Miraculously, Swinburne pulled off a shock win in the Consolation match and played their best table tennis of the season. Satch Anstee was a stand out for Swinburne Park where he was undefeated for the night and managed to defeated the third best player in Division 4 in Anand Sundar in a very close 5 game encounter. That’s what the Premier League is all about: participation, growth and overcoming challenges!

Lots of things to look forward to on Wednesday 5^th December! All matches will be played in the middle hall with show court sized courts and plenty of seating for spectators. Come along and join with us what has been a wonderful and successful season of table tennis as we celebrate the end of another season with some spectacular grand finals. Matches start at 7:30pm sharp and will be masterfully coordinated by Pennant Legend Bob Grattidge and experienced tournament director Claire Montgomery. Afterwards, we will be sharing a light supper to reminisce the good times, friendships made and the conclusion of 18 weeks!

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday 5^th December at 7:30pm!!!

Just like the happy team of Dandenong Maccabi United, good times were shared, friendships were made and finally they can hang up their bats! ...Well until next season of course!!!