2019 TTV Premier League – Season 3 – Post Grand Final Report

As I am writing my final Grand Final Report of the Year (up in stinking hot Queensland), I am feeling a bit nostalgic as this will be my final Grand Final Report for the TTV Premier League as the Competition Manager. However despite this Grand Final being my swansong, some fantastic and close matches were played such that the results could have swung either way! 

Undoubtedly, Albert Park Table Tennis Inc and their subsidiaries were the dominate force once again but could not complete the whitewash for the second season in a row... Read more below!

Division 1

It was the first in 3 attempts for AP MUTTC See U Later to make it into the Division 1 Grand Final, where the small cohort of Yau Chung Low, Lewis Tai and Yukihiko Kametani took on veterans of the TTV Premier League, Parth Vader - The Phil Awakens (Monash) (Anthony Majtlis, Phil RIha, Parth Phansekar), who are challenging the Grand Final for record 5th consecutive showing, in what would be a spectacular Inter Varsity Challenge. In a relatively low scoring first rubber, Low overcame Riha in a 4 game tussle and was quickly assisted by Kametani, who quickly defeated Majtlis with a series of third ball combinations, to give MUTTC a 2-0 lead. Phansekar similar did the same to Tai with his soft touches but Kametani quickly performed the same methodolgy to Riha. In the continuance of quick matches, Phansekar tore through Low and Kametani quickly showing why he is the undefeated Leading Player for a second consecutive season. However the same surgery from Tai to Majtlis and Tai gave the minor premiers MUTTC the 5 rubbers they needed to secure the major premiership also. Certainly no stifling in the University Circles! (Tai 2, Kametani 2, Low 1 def Phansekar 3, Riha 0, Majtlis 0, 5-3).

Division 2

In an all Albert Park affair it was the Forever Young team of Warren Woolcock, Frank Riha and Matthew Glanville taking on those who'd Stay with Me in Tim Le, Ruben Carapyen, Andres Vergara and Fluke Kamphon. Vergara had the tough task of drawing first blood over Woolcock (who has defeated World Champion, Herbert Neubauer, with his strange combination of twiddling short and long pimples). Woolcock chopped, blocked, smacked and wobbled but ultimately Vergara had enough steam and stability to overcome the maverick in a close 5 game tussle 12-10 in the 5th. However Leading Player, Riha, obviously wanted an early night and opted to steam through Carapyen in 3. However it was an extremely tight 4 game battle between Glanville and Kamphon with the Thai student coming out narrowly in 10, 11, -10, 6. Once again Riha showed his prowess over Vergara with his spinny play but Stay with Me stretched the lead to 4-2 as Kamphon and Carapyen accounted for Woolcock and Glanville in 3. It all come to a worthy end as Kamphon stretched Riha to his limits in a wonderful 5 game display to give the minor premiers, APT Stay with Me, their major premiership. (Kamphon 3, Carapyen 1, Vergara 1 def Riha 2, Woolcock 0, Glanville 0, 5-2).

Division 3

In another display where the minor premier became the major premiers, the overpowered team of AP MUTTC Kill this Love (Ben Yuan, Joanne Chee, Sherry Han, Justin Teo, Yifei Zhang) took on the surprise finalists, St Kilda Cricket Silver (Martin Somic, Graeme Strong, Tom Meadows). Zhang opened proceedings over Strong in a 3 game walkthrough and Yuan after warming up in the first game (losing 17-15), proceeded to take the next 3 easily over Meadows with their blocking, pushing game before Han tore Somic to pieces in 3. Division 3 Leading Player, Yuan, once again doubled down as the the aggressive long pimples of Strong in four before Captain Somic had to throw in the towel with a sore groin giving AP MUTTC Kill this Love the 5 they needed. (Yuan 2, Zhang 2, Han 1 def Somic 0, Strong 0, Meadows 0, 5-0).

Division 4

If all the right players were around, it could have changed the story in Division 4 where the minor premiers, St Kilda Cricket Green (Jeanne Strong, Rod Cowling, Daniel Gomez), were taken down by the dark horse, APT Boombayah (Kennan Pun, Adwait Vaidya, Abhinav Sharma), in a thrilling display of table tennis. Star fill In Cowling gave St Kilda the perfect start with a tight 5 game win over Vaidya who has recently rejoined us after a stint of intense training. Pun accounted for Gomez with his tricky pimples and Strong utilised all the experience she had to overcome the young-gun Sharma. Cowling, once again, loving the larger courts of the grand final, produced a fine display of old school table tennis to overcome Pun in 5 but two more 5 game wins for Boombayah (Vaidya over Strong, Sharma over Gomez) levelled proceedings to 3-3. But it all came crashing down for the minor premiers as Pun walked through Strong in 3 and Sharma showed his potential over the Star Cowling in 4 to give APT Boombayah a 5-3 win and the major premiership. (Pun 2, Sharma 2, Vaidya 1 def Cowling 2, Strong 1, Gomez 0, 5-3).

Division 5

If three 5 game thrillers went Albert Park Whistle's (Yen Ngo, Evan Jia, Tony Le) way, it would be a shock upset over the minor premiers Maccabi Princes (Mark Levin, Marc Listmangof, Jeremy Geddes) but it wasn't to be a fairytale finish. Jia showed why he is a force to be reckoned with in the future as he ripped Geddes with a 3 game win. Ngo did her very best to take Listmangof to 5 but couldn't produce enough steam to finish off what she started. Levin then provided the goods to overcome a groggy Le in 4 games. A major battle between the two powerhouses of Division 5, Listmangof and Jia, ensued with Jia coming out on top in 5. Listmangof was leading player but the difference was left to GAMES PERCENTAGE after he and Jia had equal matches won, equal games won but Listmangof did not drop as many games as Jia. Geddes also overcame Le in a tight 5 game tussle as well before Levin defeated Ngo in 4 convincing games. However it all came to an end for Whistle as the Princes secured the major premiership and prevent Albert Park from securing the whitewash as Listmangof defeated Le in 5. (Listmangof 2, Levin 2, Geddes 1 def Jia 2, Le 0, Nego 0, 5-2).

Division 6

Division 6 also provided another thrilling match up as once again if a string of 5 game tussles went the other way, minor premiers APT Kiss and Make Up (Tim Major, Kristjian Flis, Roch Dargan) could have surrendered the major premiership to St Kilda Cricket Brown (Heather Letwin, Amir Baf, Robert Marrollo). Leading Player Major took the first rubber for APT with a 5 game win over Baf as Dargin did the same to Letwin. Flis then completed the trifecta with a 4 game win over Marrollo to give APT a 3-0 advantage. However Baf and Marrollo countered with wins of their own over Major and Dargin to level the field to 3-2 but Flis' fantastic form over Letwin put APT within one match of victory. Dargin nearly completed it but lost to Marrollo after squandering a 2-1 lead and losing 11-9 in the 5th but Flis ended the hopes of St Kilda by defeating Baf 12-10 in the 5th game. It has been a wonderful season of growth for these youngsters who have really just picked up the bats this year. (Flis 3, Major 1, Dargin 1 def Marrollo 2, Baf 1, Letwin 0, 5-3).

Division 7

Not sure what to do? Well Ali Mirza and Otto Sanders of APT Don't Know What to Do didn't! Missing out on the toss and opted for a warm up run instead, tey had to settled for XY over the Star's (Jim de Saint-Ferjeux, Thuan To) pick of AB. The 86 year old veteran showed he still had some flame in him with a 5 game win over Sanders (best of 7) but Mirza strengthened his position as leading player over runner up To with a 5 game win himself before doubling down against de Saint-Ferjeux in 6. To quickly defeated Sanders in 5 to give Stars some breathing space but the doubles combo of Mirza/Sanders ensured the Stars did not pull off a fairy tale ending and to give them the major premiership alongside their minor accoldates. (Mirza 2, Sanders 0, Doubles 1 def To 1, de Saint-Ferjeux 1, Doubles 0, 3-2).

Concluding Remarks

Well it has been a phenomenal ride since I took over the TTV Premier League in May 2018 where was a small competition of 45 players across 15 teams in 4 Divisions. My first season (Season 2, 2018) had 75 players across 22 teams in 4 Divisions and in Season 3, 2018 this grew to 85 players across 25 teams in 4 Divisions. For me, 2019 has been a great personal success as each season has had a minimum of 36 teams of minimum 120 players across 6-7 divisions with the standard and numbers of the competition rivaling some 'institutionalized' competitions across Victoria. Additionally, in Season 3, 2019, I can confidently say that more than a third of all players are juniors or students. 

Thus I am proud to say that we are probably the biggest and best and one of the fastest growing pennants in inner-city metropolitan Melbourne - all because of your participation in our great sport. 

Although I will no longer be around in 2020, the competition will still continue and the incoming Competition Manager, Rahul Mathew, will be working to ensure the competition can only get bigger and better! I thank everyone for their support in me over the last 1 and a half and a bit years and wish everyone enjoys the last few rounds of the 2019 Season. 

Pictures are available on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/TableTennisVic/photos/

Full Results are available here: https://www.tabletennisvic.org.au/premier-league/2019-season-3-results/