Ash 2 (Men) Match Report – VBCL First Weekend 25-26
By ATTC Webmaster on Oct 09, 2025 with Comments 0
Report by Mike Slifkin
Ashford men’s second veterans team kicked off their 2025/26 campaign at Derby Arena in Division 4 (Group 1).
For the first weekend the squad members were as follows: Mike Slifkin, Farhat Rasul (“Raz”), Sabin Garduli, Winston Wong (Capt.) Danny Buckle and John Hope.
Saturday
I had to travel up on Saturday morning this time, so opted out of playing the first match against Bristol Associates 1 (relegated to our division last season, so a tough first test).
We played as the “away” team for every match, so as our number 2, Raz was first up against their number 1 – the very awkward Daniel James Harris (DJH). Raz won the first set 11-9 but then lost the next 3 games 9, 12 and 9 so it really could’ve gone either way.
Next up was Sabin, who was a bit short of match practice but his class showed as the weekend went on. However, he was a bit cold early on against the very spinny and stubborn Daniel Petit (DP). That being said, he scraped through deuce in the 5th. A good win to level the scores.
It was time for Captain Wong to show us what he’s made of next – he did so, beating Abu Salehbhai 3 straight. This is the steadiest and most confident I’ve seen Winston play for some time. Another good win to put us in the lead.
Sabin then played DJH in a very good match. However, DJH played well enough to win, albeit deuce in the 5th. Two close matches for Sabin. Welcome to VBL!
Raz also beat Abu in 3 sets quite comfortably to give us the lead, however, DP deservedly beat Winston to level the match in the end. A fair result overall in all honestly for both teams.
Next up were Loughborough Unicorn.
Raz was first up again, this time against Robin Pearce. It was a close fought game but we lost in the end in 4 close sets. Sabin then did very well against Simon Rudland, again 4 close sets but thankfully his win got us back on track.
I then had to play their very tall number 3, Geoff Parsons. I felt I had the game to win quite comfortably, but made a meal of it coming back to win in 4 sets having lost the first one. There are no easy games though at VBL.
Sabin then fell to Robin in 3 sets. Robin told us that he’s played with pimples since he was 12 years old – attacking with them and angling the ball away. He played very well to be fair and his win made it 2-2.
Raz then played very well against Geoff and won quite comfortably in 3 sets to give us a chance for our first win.
I was up for our last game against Simon. I won the first game, lost the next 2 in close sets but then levelled in deuce to make it go all the way. I felt like I was playing better as the game went on. However, so was Simon who then went 10-7 up in the 5th. I then got back in to it with a match point, but frustratingly lost in the end meaning another 3-3 draw for Ashford 2.
The third match of the day was against Northwest Nomads. Danny was first up against their tricky number 1, Lawrence Kenwright. Danny competed well but lost deuce in the 3rd. Next up was Raz who levelled the score by winning 3 straight against Colin Turner. Then it was John Hope’s turn, and he soon turned things around by beating Richard Sarre reasonably comfortably to put us 2-1 up.
Raz now had to play Lawrence who made it difficult for Raz. On another day, he could’ve won 3 straight but, in the end, it was a close fought match in which he came out second best, leaving the macth balanced at 2-2.
Danny then lost in 3 to Richard. Again, if his confidence was up, Danny could’ve won that match, but at least John got us a point by beating Colin Turner in 5, thus going unbeaten and earning us our third draw of the day.
Not a bad start in a very competitive division – 3 draws so 3 points.
Some of us from the 3 men’s teams and the Ashford Ladies met up later and enjoyed a few drinks and a meal near the hotel before calling it a night as we all had another big day to come.
Sunday
First up were Graham Spicer who were one point ahead of us after day one, so we really needed to beat them to give ourselves a chance.
Raz had to play the very likeable but very good Tim Waller. Not easy at all, but Raz romped home game 6 in the 5th. A good start for us.
Sabin was then pitted against a fellow Ashford member, Paul Elliott. Paul was flying, not missing a forehand, whilst he was still getting to grips with pimples on his backhand for the first time. Sabin won game 8, 11 and 5 so did well to put us 2-0 up for the first time this weekend.
I then played Tsz-Kit Chan who had won 6 out of 6 the day before! Not sure why I was told that really! I beat him in 4 close fought games. This was seen as a bonus win really as he was favourite. 3-0 up now.
Sabin, who was flying now and playing very well next faced Tim. Sabin made it look easy after the first deuce game by winning the next 2 sets comfortably. We were now 4-0 up and had secured a win at last.
Raz then played very well to beat Tsz-Kit in 3 close sets 12, 9 and 9. Every set could count so it was nice to go 5-0 up.
I then played Paul again and felt more confident after my win and ran out victor 7, 7 and 3 to ensure we won 6-0. That doesn’t happen often so we were pleased to now be in the mix.
For the last match against Draycott 4 (the bottom team), we switched the team in order to let everybody play at least twice.
Daniel was first up this time against Allan Lumpod. Danny fought back from 2 down but ultimately lost in 4. Winston then played Les Baker – not an easy player – who made it tricky for Winston. It was a close 5 setter, but Les prevailed, leaving us 2-0 down.
John then had to play Malcolm Truman, who blocked with his pimples and you felt he could’ve done so all afternoon. Not John’s idea of fun and maybe he lost patience losing in 4 sets in the end.
The comeback for a draw was now on though as Winston, playing good attacking table tennis, beat Allan easily in 3 sets.
Then Danny had to play the blocker, Malcolm. He looked like he’d run the marathon when he came off, but Danny dug in well to win in 4 sets – giving us a chance of drawing the match, now 3-2 down.
Finally, the last game of the weekend was John against Les. John won the first and we nearly pulled it out of the bag, but Les then played very consistently to win the next 3 games to give Draycott a 4-2 win and our first loss of the weekend.
As always, it’s a very enjoyable, sociable and competitive weekend away.
I’m sure we all feel proud to represent our club and to promote the name of Ashford Table Tennis Club.
We are currently 3rd in the league out of 6 and have it all to play for as we play the same teams again in the second half in February next year.
Full details of all the matches in the competition can be found on the British League website but for a summary see the current league table below.
Table – click to enlarge
VBCL-25-26-Ash2-Div4-G1-Table-wk1
Filed Under: British Clubs League • News
About the Author: Published by the ATTC Webmaster
