Raymond Kissell prevailed in his side’s final singles, earning Racketeers the win. Photos: Matthew Kappos
Photo by
Matthew Kappos
The finals picture becomes ever clearer in Echuca table tennis, with only one round remaining before finals.
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Six teams remain a mathematical chance to make finals, although only five are a realistic hope after round eight matches at the Moama Sporting Complex on Wednesday.
The Dangers faced off with Regal Rippers, requiring a win to remain in the finals hunt.
It was the Rippers who struck the first blow, taking the first doubles fixture 3-1, and after the second went their way in three tight games, 11-9, 11-8, 11-9, they were in the box seat to solidify their own finals position.
Tom Cunningham sealed the match for his side in the following singles, and Chris Hawking extended the advantage in the penultimate game.
While Jen Fang did pull one back for the Dangers in the final singles, it wasn’t enough to keep their finals chances alive, Regal Rippers taking the tie 7-4.
Chris Hawking’s Regal Rippers have secured a finals berth, heading into a bye in the final round.
Photo by
Matthew Kappos
Ladder-leaders Spin Wizards and third-placed Racketeers jockeyed for an improved finals position in their match-up.
A back-and-forth contest saw Spin Wizards take the first doubles for an early advantage, before Racketeers responded, tying things up at 4-all.
Racketeers’ Brady Cronin and Spin Wizards’ Phil Higgins each earned singles wins, setting up a deciding final encounter.
After going down in a decider last week, Raymond Kissell didn’t allow lightning to strike twice, scoring an 11-7, 11-3, 11-6 win over Spin Wizards' Hank Doller to win the match 6-5 for Racketeers.
The Riv still had finals hopes but, with a dismal game differential, needed to win big over Newbies if they hoped to catch the finals pack.
It was a neck-and-neck first doubles, but eventually it was Newbies who prevailed in five games 6-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-6, 12-10.
A win for The Riv in the second doubles brought things level, and they then reeled off two straight singles to secure the match.
With game differential all important, Newbies’ Div Mallya played spoiler in the final rubber, maintaining her undefeated singles run in the competition and reducing the final margin to a single game, 6-5 in favour of The Riv.
The final match of the round saw the Odd-Jobs battle Hawaii 5-0. The winless 5-0 kept things close in individual games but weren’t able to come away with wins in the critical matches.
The Odd-Jobs took both doubles and the final three singles to secure an 8-3 win, earning valuable game differential and moving into the top four.
Spin Wizards are guaranteed a finals place and with Regal Rippers going into a last-round bye with a healthy differential, they too will feature in the post-season. It would take a near-impossible capitulation for the Golden Trio to miss the top four, while the same would be required for The Riv to overcome their weak game differential and pass teams above them.
That leaves Racketeers versus the Odd-Jobs, fourth versus fifth, as the most anticipated match of round nine.
Odd-Jobs require a win by three games to tie their opponent’s game difference or more to outright take fourth place. Any other result will see Racketeers in the finals, and a win could see them move all the way into top spot, should teams above them falter.
Meanwhile, Spin Wizards look to confirm their status as minor premiers with a win over the Dangers, the Golden Trio faces off against Newbies, The Riv will take on Hawaii 5-0 and Regal Rippers have the bye.
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