Ormeau travel to Ormesby this Sunday for a tie that could give an early sign as to who might top this season’s division. With both teams once again registering very strong squads it’s likely the fixture could, despite being so early in the campaign, give an indication as to who may come out on top.

The tie on Sunday follows three other matches on Saturday.

Ormesby will play newly registered Enio Mendes. The Portuguese international has a raft of titles to his name including the Spanish League and Cup, Portuguese League and Greek Cup and League. He was also a member of the Ormesby team that won the SBL in 2015. David McBeath, England number five, and Sam Mabey make up the north-east trio.

The first round of fixtures saw some extraordinary action, you can catch up on the best of it below.

Daniel Berzosa will lead Ormeau alongside Zak Wilson, who is now in his third season for the Northern Irish side. James Skelton who represented Northern Ireland in the Commonwealth Games will play. 

Gervis Knox, Ormeau club founder, said he was looking forward to other players stepping up to fill their usual top player’s shoes: “We are expecting a hard battle with Ormesby this weekend and unfortunately our number one Damien is not available to play due to other league commitments. We hope to see top Spanish player Daniel Berzosa lead the team at one, and look forward to seeing James make his first appearance of the new season. It should be a great battle.” 

Before Sunday’s match there are three exciting games scheduled, including a Scottish derby between Drumchapel Glasgow and North Ayrshire. Both sides are looking for their first win of the season after losing out in the first round. 

Danny Bajwa, Victor Guang Shi and Garry Dodd will travel for Drumchapel Glasgow. They will face Hugo Torngren, Martin Johnson and Colin Dalgleish. 

Bajwa said that the away side are hoping to clinch the close moments in the game: “It will be a tough match away at Saltcoats but we’re up for it. It’s a local derby so we’re expecting them to be even more fired up after the Premier League Cup match last time. We have got our strongest team out and if the tight matches go our way the game is definitely there to be won.”

NATTC’s Chris Main added that the tie will showcase Scottish table tennis. He said: “We are looking forward to hosting our first home match of the season this Saturday against another top Scottish club, Drumchapel. It will be a great advert for Senior British Premier League and Scottish table tennis. It’s looking like a good turnout spectators wise which will create a great atmosphere for the players.”

Fusion will be with an in form Lorestas Trumpauskas for their match against TableTennisDaily. The Lithuanian comes into the tie off the back of success at the Veteran Wolverhampton Grand Prix.

Lorestas’ son, Larry will play alongside his dad. They will be joined by new recruit, Johannes Klang, from Halmstad, Sweden.

League newcomers TableTennisDaily will be hoping to pick up their first ever Premier Division win at the home of their rivals Fusion. Umair Mauthoor, Tom Maynard and Amir Hussain will play for the travelling side.

Anthony Kent, team manager commented: “Playing last season’s champions in the first match was always going to be tough and was a quick lesson for us on how tough this league is. But we’re always up for the challenge and really looking ahead to getting our first win of the campaign and hopefully in our first ever away match this Saturday”

In the weekend’s other match Brighton will head from the south coast to BATTS.

The two teams have played each other regularly in recent years, with sides from each club having played each other in last year’s Premier Division, SBL cup and this season’s Championship,

Josh Bennett, who was Brighton coach for a year, Ralph Pattison, the exciting 15-year-old superstar in the making, and Joe Ferguson will line up for the home side.

Brighton’s squad is likely to include David Anderson from Sweden and Toby Ellis. Will Bayley, European, World and Paralympic Champion, could also feature.

You can watch every fixture from the SBL Premier Division live on TTE.TV. Find out more about the coverage by clicking here.

Photo credit: Michael Loveder

Fixtures

Saturday 21st October – 14:00

Fusion v TableTennisDaily

North Ayrshire v Drumchapel Glasgow

BATTS v Brighton TTC

Sunday 22nd October – 14:00

Ormesby v Ormeau