There was a break in the Bournemouth & District Table Tennis league last week, with play given over to the Preliminary Round of the Annual Times & Directory Handicap Cup competition. Four of the New Milton club’s teams were in action with two of them winning through to the First Round proper.

The F team (Malcolm Nash, Sylvia Smith & Steve Cheesman) who normally play in Div 3 and only just missed out in last year’s Cup Final, booked their place in the next round with a convincing 9-0 thumping of Div 5’s Bmth Sports P in their own back yard. This was achieved without dropping a single set, but captain Malcolm Nash was gracious enough to concede that the handicapping did Bourne no favours.

The Div 4 J team (Lynn Willrich, Ben Greene & John Parkhouse) had a real fight on their hands as they took on Merton H (Div 3) but ended up beating them 5-4. Greene’s league form continued into the Cup as he won a hat-trick without dropping a set, and captain Willrich and Parkhouse added one each to the tally by beating Rob Searle.

The Premier’s B team (John Hook, Shaun Newcomb & Rob Blackmore) were on the wrong end of a 4-5 scoreline as they lost to Merton C who play one division lower in Div 1. Milton were missing captain John Millward and he was gamely replaced by Rob Blackmore, who although from a division lower had to take on Millward’s handicap. It was nip and tuck all the way through the match with Hook and Newcomb bagging a brace apiece, but Blackmore’s handicap proved a bridge too far so he came away empty-handed.

The G team (Graham Underwood, Elliott Storr-Smith & Bev Scott-Johns) who normally ply their trade in Div 3, were beaten 3-5 by Bmth Sports G from Div 2, although it could easily have gone the other way. Underwood bagged a brace and 15 year old Storr-Smith added one to the tally having narrowly lost to Bourne’s Arthur Bartram 20-21 in their third and final set. Captain Scott-Johns drew a blank but was most unfortunate to lose out to ex Premier player Eric Buckley 20-21, 20-21.

The losing B and G teams live to fight another day however as they go into the consolation “Plate” competition which will be played Week Commencing 9^th January 2017.  Full results details appear below:-

New Milton B (Prem) 4 Merton C (Div 1) 5

(Rob Blackmore 0, John Hook 2, Shaun Newcomb 2)

Bmth Sports P (Div 5) 0 New Milton F (Div 3) 9

(Steve Cheesman 3, Malcolm Nash 3, Sylvia Smith 3)

New Milton G (Div 3) 3 Bmth Sports G (Div 2) 5

(Graham Underwood 2, Elliott Storr-Smith 1, Bev Scott-Johns 0)

Merton H (Div 3) 4 New Milton J (Div 4) 5

(Ben Greene 3, Lynn Willrich 1, John Parkhouse 1)