PREMIUM
Sport

Hello Kitty says ‘hello’ to top spot

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Stephen Hope and Hello Kitty have moved atop the ladder in A-grade. Photo by Matthew Kappos

The trajectory of sides is starting to take shape in Echuca Table Tennis Association’s final competition of the year.

Hello Kitty has moved to the top of A-grade as the only undefeated side after two rounds, taking down Peralandra 3-2.

Jen Fang’s win in the opening singles set the tone for Hello Kitty, who jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the opening singles block.

Peralandra worked hard to recover in the doubles, grabbing a 4-2 victory 10-12, 11-5, 5-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-7.

The scores were levelled in the following singles rubber but Hello Kitty was able to close out the tie in the final match.

In the other fixture, The Dukes opened their account for the year with a victory over Dragons.

The sides were evenly poised heading into the doubles where Dukes gained a valuable advantage, taking it 4-2.

Dragons fought to level proceedings but Dukes were able to finish on top, Div Mallya claiming the final rubber to seal things for her side.

B-grade

DanDan levelled its personal ledger with a 3-2 victory over JD.

Daniel Barry took both his singles rubbers and teammate Brendan Shingles one, allowing DanDan to overcome dropping the doubles match-up.

In the other tie Double P performed strongly to take top spot, defeating Tornado 4-1.

Pete Retallick grabbed two singles wins, and paired with Phil Higgins to grab the doubles in a dominant showing, while substitute Chris Hawking picked up the only victory for Tornado.

C-grade

Rockabilly is ladder-leader after executing a clean sweep against Dyl and Friends.

Keith Price and Harvey Griffiths took advantage of an undermanned Dyl and Friends, who was missing one of their regular line-up, not giving up a single game in the 5-0 result.

Rockabilly leads two undefeated sides who each have only two wins courtesy of early byes.

One such side is Flaming Monkeys, who posted a 4-1 victory over Tigers of Old.

Isaac Hope and Brayden Pike took three of the singles and a doubles to continue Monkeys’ impressive start.

Cuddly Kittens earned its first victory of the year, defeating Petite Princesses 3-2.

Ryan Smith took both of his singles rubbers but it wasn’t enough for Princesses to take the win, a 4-3 triumph in the doubles for Kittens proving the difference.

Ladders

A-grade

Hello Kitty 2-0 (+2)

The Dukes 1-1 (0)

Dragons 1-1 (0)

Peralandra 0-2 (-2)

B-grade

Double P 2-0 (+6)

JD 1-1 (0)

DanDan 1-1 (-2)

Tornado 0-2 (-4)

C-grade

Rockabilly 2-1 (+5)

Mad Dogs 2-0 (+4)

Flaming Monkeys 2-0 (+4)

Petite Princesses 1-1 (0)

Cuddly Kittens 1-2 (-3)

Dyl and Friends 1-2 (-5)

Tigers of Old 0-3 (-5)