19 December, 2018 Daniel Clark
Queens and Ringswell A are locked together at the top of Division 1 of the Mixed league. Both teams have won three from three this season and already have a 17 point gap to St Leonards A back in third place.
Ian Walsh/Jess Hill and Tony Clark/Claire Harrison went unbeaten for Ringswell in their 8-1 win over Exeter A, while Queens beat St Leonards A by the same scoreline, with Jamie Daws/Hannah Preece and Jim Teale/Mandy Bishop winning three matches each.
Exeter A are off the bottom of the league after an 8-1 win over Ringswell B, who have now lost all four matches. Sam Lees/Julia Melling and Dave Spencer/Katie Scotter went unbeaten for Exeter.
Sidmouth A continue to lead Division 2A after picking up another 8-1 win, this time over St Leonards B. John Carter/Rachel Irish and Paul Owens/Yvonne Hudson went unbeaten, with Sam Maltby/Laura Britton snatching a point for St Leonards with a 19-21, 21-18, 21-19 win over Martyn Schmidt/Julie Frost.
Otter Vale A are second and remain unbeaten after a 6-3 win over Exeter B, but 19 points behind Sidmouth, although with games in hand. Nic Williamson and debutant Helen Cavilla won all three rubbers, while Brian Deem/Heather Rake added a point, and Daniel Clark/Jo Smith added two, including saving three match points to beat Chris Bradley/Hazel Wong 19-21, 21-14, 22-20 in a match that finished literally as the sports centre was closing.
Ringswell C have taken control of Division 2B after three wins over Otter Vale sides. A 7-2 win over Otter Vale B became a 5-4 win after Ringswell fielded an ineligible player, but just three days later in the return fixture, again won 7-2. And they then went and comfortably beat Otter Vale C 9-0, not allowing them to even get to double figures in 10 of the 18 sets.
Sidmouth B picked up back-to-back wins over Otter Vale B and Honiton to close the gap on the leaders. Led by Owen Waters/Hilary Herd who went unbeaten, they beat Otter Vale B 5-4, but the match went down to the ninth rubber with Matt Sach/Grace Williams edging out Dave Williamson/June Goode 8-21, 21-19, 23-21 to win the match. Sach/Williams though had lost a rubber to Tom Bennett/Helen Cavilla, the first time Williams had lost a Mixed B match for more than two seasons.
Sidmouth’s 7-2 win over Honiton saw a rare set go the distance to 30-29. Graham Fagg/Jan Ingham won the set, but ended up losing 29-30, 21-13, 21-9 to Sach/Williams, who went unbeaten for Sidmouth.