Wednesday 25th July, 7:30pm, Melbourne, Victoria... in one of the grandest stadiums in Victoria, players were to do battle. No, we’re not talking about the 2018 Seamaster ITTF World Tour Platinum Australian Open at the Geelong Arena, this is the 2018 TTV Premier League 2nd Season Grand Final at MSAC!

In Section 1, Maccabi Dandenong came into this Grand Final coming off a sensation 5-0 send off to shock premiership favourites St Kilda Cricket whereas the red hot Monash saw off a challenge from the dangerous St Kilda Cricket Red 5-2. Maccabi Dandenong lost maverick Herman Pekel coming into this final but fortunately Maccabi President, Jack Cyngler, stepped up to try salvage their chances. The father-son duo of Frank & Phil Riha saw off the challenges from the awkward Warren Woolcock and Jack Cyngler but could not repeat their efforts against Brett Sonnet who got through the night undefeated. Woolcock countered the damage from the Riha onslaught by defeating Anthony Matjlis to ensure the match went down to the final rubber - Cyngler vs Matjlis. Matjlis won that encounter in a close 3-1 battle that sealed Monash the major premiership and ended the dark horses’ run. (Sonnet 3, Woolcock 1, Cyngler 0 lost to F Riha 2, P Riha 2, Matjlis 1)

In Section 2, the minor premiers, St Kilda Cricket Blue, faced off against their close rivals Maccabi Sounds. With the St Kilda Cricket team having gone undefeated throughout the 10 round season, could the Sounds cause an upset? Notable fill in Ken Dawber opened the account for Sounds with a 3-1 win over the defensive giant Tom Meadows but Calden Lyons quickly reversed it with a close 3-2 over the evergreen Mal D’Rosario who has led the match 2-0. The matches were see sawing between with Scottish fly in Rowan Campbell winning 2 from Meadows and Jeanne Strong who had just lost to D’Rosario for Sounds, but with Lyons maintaining his undefeated record to win against Dawber in another 5 game thriller only allowed Sounds to lead the rubbers 4-2. With Campbell to play Lyons, Dawber to play Strong and D’Rosario to play Meadows, the premiership came down to this. Lyons overcame his Scottish challenger in another 5 game thriller, Strong tussled with Dawber in 4 and Meadows shocked D’Rosario in 3 to ensure St Kilda Cricket Blue maintain their undefeated record in Section 2. (Lyons 3, Strong 1, Meadows 1 won against Dawber 1, Campbell 2, D’Rosario 1)

In the only showdown where Maccabi does not feature, RMIT Black faced off against close rivals St Kilda Cricket Gold where only 2 matches separated them from the top two spots in the finals series. RMIT got off to a flying start when Hoang Quy La, Benny Foong and Anuskha Fernando won the first 3 rubbers from Andrew Murray, Sven Czesia and Joel Norton. Leading Player of the Season, Murray, quickly got his team on the board with a close 5 game win over Foong but La put the pressure back on them with a 3 game win over Norton. Another tussle between Fernando and Czesia went to 5 with Czesia coming out on top having trailed 2-1 but Foong ended the hopes of a come back for St Kilda Cricket Gold by defeating Norton 3-0 to secure RMIT’s first TTV Premier League Premiership. (La 2, Foong 2, Fernando 1 won against Murray 1, Czesia 1, Norton 0).

Another match in the final rubber like in Section 1 and 2 decided the fate of who came out on top in Section 4 of the TTV Premier League between Maccabi Bridge and RMIT Blue. Without the Leading Player of the Season, Marc Listmangof, formidable bridge, ah, table tennis player, Betty ‘Poker Face’ Mill had to deal her hand and try bid her team above the line! Mark Levin scored a crucial 3-1 win over Australian Open Japanese interpreter Shuhei Nakahodo but efforts from the dogged Peter Le and lively Chaofan Wu countered win close wins against James Winton and Mill. Winton and Levin won their next two against Nakahodo and Wu easily as did Le against Mill to level the playing field at 3 rubbers all - fatal losses here would mean the premiership would be theirs. Whizzing Winton stampeded through Wu in 3 whereas Nakahodo outlasted Mill in a classic 5 game encounter where he won 13-11 in the 5th! Shortly afterwards, Le tore through Levin in 3 to help RMIT Blue win their second TTV Premier League Premiership mirroring their Section 3 Team’s efforts. (Levin 2, Winton 2, Mill 0 lost to Nakahodo 1, Le 3, Wu 1)

After what has been a successful season where over 20 teams participated, the TTV Premier League will be starting the 3rd Season for the year with Round 1 beginning on Wednesday 8th August at 7:30pm. We look forward in what will be an more thrilling season coming up. Feel like participating? Enter Now: https://www.tabletennisvic.org.au/eventsregister/21647/