2018 TTV Premier League Season 3 – Half Way Report!

We are now halfway through all the rounds for all the divisions at the revamped TTV Premier League Pennant at MSAC on Wednesday nights. About 30 new players coming from all different routes have signed up for this season which we have found exciting and they have made their presence felt against the major powerhouse clubs. Read on the find out more!

Division 1

This season, Division 1 has experienced an increased influx of players of a higher standard which has showcased many wonderful matches thus far!

Balwyn United – the club deep within the Eastern Suburbs – had a ‘top of the table’ clash with reigning Season 2 Premiers, Monash, last week and came out on top; snatching top spot from Monash in the process. This match had many notable highlights but one in particular was when left handed penholder, Junhao Jiang (Balwyn), shocked current leading player Parth Phansekar (Monash) in three straight games for his first loss of the season.

Additionally, seasoned veterans St Kilda Cricket currently sits in third position just one rubber ahead of the mavericks of Albert Park – Dandenong with the experienced St Kilda Cricket Red, long time players Dandenong Maccabi United) and young guns St Kilda Cricket  Gold complete the seven. However with the eccentric Pekel back from holidaying in Europe and the awkward Melvani recovering from injury are set to make their long awaited returns for Dandenong Maccabi United and St Kilda Cricket Red soon, this could shake the competition up in deciding who plays in the Season 3 Finals Series!

Division 2

The strength of each team in Division 2 is relatively similar meaning winning rubbers is often decided at the last match at the end of the night!

Old-timers St Kilda Cricket Blue comfortably top ladder proceedings over the eccentrics of Maccabi Sounds and surprise dark horses, Melbourne CBD, by 1 and 2 wins respectively. In the meantime, contenders Dandenong Park, late finishers St Kilda Cricket Black and the competitive Albert Park Caribbean all sit on 3 wins each; the Trads of Maccabi and the rusty players of Albert Park International round out the eight.

However the make-up of this ladder could be very different given half of the ladder have had to reschedule their matches for very different reasons. Could Maccabi Sounds actually be in prime positions or would had St Kilda Blue solidified it? Would Maccabi Trads be battling out with the other trio of three on three wins or would had the Caribbean team burst into third or fourth? It is a possibility given the leading player ladder is incredibly scattered with almost 1 player from every team featuring in the top 10! Only time will tell once those matches have been played the real leaders will be uncovered – all scheduled for the week ending 21^st October!

Division 3

An unfurling story for Division 3 follows given some new players from last season are finally flexing their muscles against some more seasoned veterans. This division is also affected by some rescheduled matches which means the ladder could have been very, very different…

Demolishers St Kilda Cricket Green currently dominate the competition by remaining undefeated in their 5 matches to date (includes 2 byes) but not before receiving some competition from the second placed Maccabi Marcks (Marko, Marc & Mark – bit of a Marckfest here!) and third placed St Kilda Cricket Brown. The defenders that are the Maccabi Menches and the young squadron from RMIT occupy the bottom two spots respectively.

The German and Timo Boll aspirant, Sven Czesla, currently tops the leading player calculations with 13 wins, 2 losses, but his evergreen teammate, Patrick Fletcher, and Season 2 Division 4 Leading Player, Marc Listmangof, are challenging his reign by only being one win behind him. Fellow former Division 4 player, Mark Levin, is also in contention trailing with 10 wins. Once again, the Marcks, Menches and RMIT have had to postpone some matches which could have introduced some interesting scenarios for leading player! Watch out Sven and Patrick! The Marcks are coming after you!

Division 4

What we love about our pennant is that we have players from a variety of different experiences and ages giving table tennis a crack. Our Division 3 highlights this can gives our players a chance for development and a taste for the competition.

Once again, St Kilda Cricket shows that they are a force to be reckoned with in Season 3 with their White Team dominating Division 4 with 6 wins, 0 losses and 1 bye. It comes as no surprise when their team (Xenia Gorny, Jeanette Fallon, Joel Norton) occupies the top 3 spots on leading player ladder as well in that respective order. However what we find most interesting is that the young guns are putting up a fight with Betty Mill’s New Maccabi comfortably occupy the second spot over the mixed experience bag that is the Jim de Saint-Ferjeux’s Albert Park Stars. Anand Sundar’s Albert Park Maccabi closely looms as a threat to both second and third position prior to finals as he although coming later into the competition, he currently sits at fourth on the player ladder and thus is perhaps St Kilda’s biggest menace. Finally, bottom placed Swinburne Park is yet to register a win despite many, many close matches. However, Swinburne continues to show improvement each week and perhaps it is them that emerge as a dark horse late into the competition. We shall wait and see with anticipation!

Although we are at the halfway mark, it is possible to envisage the ladders being completely different if the circumstances are right. Who will make the Top 4 in Division 1 and 2? Who will make up the Top 3 in Division 3 and 4? And who will the leading player in Season 3 of the 2018 TTV Premier League? So many more matches to be played – nearly 800 – before we can make those final determinations. Stay tuned!