CIPPENHAM Table Tennis Club completed the first half of the season in the Women's British League unbeaten after three wins and two draws from five matches, writes Rob Stevens.
The matches were staged in Wolverhampton and Cippenham emerged in second position in Division Five, equal on points with leaders, Wensum.
In a good all-round team performance, Julia Dean and Mary Heffernan both won in six of their eight matches whilst Denise Weller won in four out of six and Sue Hayes half of her eight encounters.
Cippenham got the weekend off to a great start with a 4-2 victory against Sutton at Hone.
Dean beat Heidi Smith and Hayes extended the lead in a tight five-game thriller against former international and number one veteran, Helen Shields. Heffernan then gave the team a 3-0 advantage with a dominating display against Carol Homewood.
Dean lost to Shields before Heffernan completed her brace against Smith and with it secured the Slough-based club the maximum number of league points. Hayes lost the last set to Homewood but by then it hardly mattered.
Another 4-2 victory followed, this time against Fastbats. Weller replaced Dean in the Cippenham team and made her mark immediately when winning 3-0 against Ellen Adams. This equalised the defeat for Hayes to Yin Wing Choy.
PHOTO: Sue Hayes won in four of her eight matches for Cippenham.
Weller also lost to Choy but apart from that it was all Cippenham with Heffernan beating both Ulricha Zhang and Adams, while Hayes also beat Zhang.
The trio of Weller, Dean and Heffernan teamed up for the late Saturday match against Halton 4s and romped home 6-0. Only Heffernan suffered some resistance as she had to come back from 2-1 down to defeat Milly Hanrahan.
Sunday morning saw the clash between the two top teams in the division and the result was a creditable 3-3 draw. Each of the Cippenham players won one match each, Weller and Hayes both defeating Saskia Key while Dean got the better of Isabelle Lacorte.
The weekend finished with another 3-3 draw, this time against Stantek. Dean was the star player for Cippenham with wins against Kim Selfe and Melanie Boulton - both 3-0. Hayes also beat Slack but Heffernan lost her unbeaten record when losing to both Slack and Selfe.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here