2005/06 British League Summary - including ‘Player of the Weekend’ and ‘Player of the Season'

Contributed by Ken Lewis 

The Britannia Ipswich team squad for 2005/06 comprised Ken Lewis (team captain) together with Ian Brown providing the ‘main stays’, and ‘regulars’ Aimee Sparkes, Clair Emmerson and Mark Lewis along with ‘new boy’ Gary Young having his first experience of British League table tennis.

Not a great start with three defeats from three matches in the first weekend, though Aimee and Clair both played well, Ken showed better form than in the local leagues, and Gary Young recorded his first British league win in his ‘debut’ match.

Britannia Ipswich’s ‘player of the weekend’ 10th.&11th.September2005 – Gary Young, for recording his first British League win in his ‘debut’ match.

The second weekend saw the first league points for Britannia with a win against home club Harvey Barnet and a superb draw against Jags Fusion. Mark played well winning three, but Gary was far from his best disappointingly winning only two.

Britannia Ipswich’s ‘player of the weekend’ 10th.&11th.December 2005 – Ian Brown, for ‘double’ wins against both Jags Fusion and home club Harvey Barnet.

The third weekend was in fact only one day, and Britannia enjoyed mixed success with a draw against Byng Hall and crushing defeat against league leaders Brighton. Whilst all four, Ken, son Mark, Aimee and Clair played reasonably well, they were no real match for the league leaders, but the same four players won one each to ensure a valuable league point against Byng Hall. Aimee continued to show good form overall, but it was Clair who stole the show winning in three straight whilst under pressure in the deciding final game of the match.

Britannia Ipswich’s ‘player of the weekend’ 8th.January 2006 – Clair Emmerson, for her win against Byng Hall. Despite the pressure of being 3-4 down, Clair held her nerve to ensure a point for Britannia.

Although Britannia only won one from the final three matches, they came away from final weekend with all three player of the match awards – Ken for an excellent ‘double’ win against York Gardens, Aimee for her consistency against Harvey Barnets, and Clair for ‘pushing’ both her Fusion opponents ‘all the way’.

Britannia Ipswich’s ‘player of the weekend’ 11th.&12th.March 2006 – Aimee, for her consistently all round good performance.

Overall, the team won 2 and drew 2 of the 12 matches played and finished in 6th position in the league.

Britannia Ipswich’s British League Player of the Season 2005/06.

The ethos of the Britannia Ipswich team is “to enable up and coming players to have the opportunity to play at the highest possible level of league table tennis, playing along side more experienced players, thus gaining valuable experience which is of considerable benefit in helping achieve an overall improvement of the general playing standard of those involved”.

This season’s player of the season award was a very ‘close call’. Ian losing only five of his fourteen games and Ken receiving three ‘player of the match’ awards were clear contender, as was Clair who showed much improved overall form and held her nerve whilst playing under pressure to ensure a league point against Byng Hall. However, it was Aimee who showed continued improvement and played consistently well throughout the season, and therefore the 2005/06 Britannia Ipswich’s British League ‘player of the season’ is Aimee Sparkes.