Both defending champions have a fight on their hands to retain their titles after the first weekend of Veterans’ British Clubs League.

Horsham Spinners in the men’s and Bribar Deighton in the women’s are three points off the pace in their respective Premier Division tables.

There were 15 divisions in action at Derby Arena and the satellite venue at Draycott TTC on one of the busiest and most eagerly anticipated weekends of the calendar.

Photos by Michael Loveder.

Women’s divisions

Ellenborough are in charge of the Premier Division with a three-point lead over champions Bribar Deighton.

The leaders met the champions in the first round and were able to put down a marker in their quest to regain the title they won in 2025, thanks to a 5-1 victory.

They were 5-0 up, too, with doubles for Sara Williams (pictured above) and Hurey Ahmetoglu – including a come-from-behind 3-2 (9-11, 7-11, 11-3, 11-3, 13-11) win for the latter against Xiaoman Ji in match two.

Ellenborough’s only dropped point was in the second round on Saturday afternoon as Waterside Fusion held them to a draw. Waterside trailed twice, but came back to lead 3-2, but it was Williams who sealed a draw for Ellenborough by defeating Tulay Dundar in three.

Champions Deighton won their two other matches on Saturday to stay in contention, but both their matches on Sunday ended in 3-3 draws, first against Waterside and then against Foresters – the second of those matches seeing them fight back from 3-0 down in a fixture in which all six players won once.

In the averages, Waterside Fusion’s Katlin Poldveer is top with eight wins from eight. Of the players to play all 10 matches, Ahmetoglu has the best record, with eight wins.

Cleeve Park opened up a three-point lead in Division 1 thanks to a 100% weekend. They did not dominate, however, with four of their five matches won by 4-2 margins.

Second-placed TT Shop Liverpool came as close as any team to getting a point off the leaders – they came from 3-0 behind to reduce the arrears to 3-2 before Catherine Jones completed a player-of-the-match display for Cleeve Park by beating Gemma Grant to seal victory.

Foresters II also had a sniff at 3-2 down, but Jones again brought it home for the leaders, this time against Sue Pingram.

Jones ended with a perfect record of 10 out of 10 to top the averages, one ahead of team-mate Nicola Duke.

Ellenborough II had an almost identical record at the top of Division 2, but their lead is only two points ahead of Foresters III.

Ellenborough had a couple of 5-1 wins but three were by the 4-2 scoreline. Irish Colleens scented a draw when they were 3-2 down, but it was Kimberley Hayes who sealed it for the Londoners, beating Sharon Brien-Gibbons.

The match against Foresters III was well balanced at 3-3 before June Nelson defeated Susie Venner in four and Hayes overcame Barbara Kearney 3-2 (11-4, 11-9, 9-11, 10-12, 11-5).

In the averages, Debs Barrow won 8/8 for the leaders, and team-mate Hayes won all of the five she played.

Northop Dragons were unbeaten in Division 3, with four wins and a draw – they lead Sherwood Ladies by a point.

Sherwood were also unbeaten – they won three and drew two, including the match against Dragons on Sunday afternoon. Sherwood led that match 1-0 after Debbie Rider beat Lynne Harrison 12-10 in the fifth, but it was 1-1 after Paulina Szewczyk won 13-11 in the decider against Catharine Fearn. Dragons led 2-1 but trailed 3-2, and it was Szewczyk’s second victory which earned them a point and kept both teams unbeaten.

That also made it a perfect 10 for Szewczyk, who leads the averages.

Men’s Divisions

Champions Horsham Spinners slipped to third place in the Premier Division at the end of the weekend, three points behind leaders Topspin Fusion and two behind Bribar Knighton Park.

Horsham started with a draw against Kingsway, but it could have been worse as, having led 2-0, they then trailed 3-2 before Oleh Biletskyi rescued a draw by defeating Richard Jermyn 3-1 (7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9).

Topspin’s opening match saw them hold off a Draycott comeback, winning 4-2 in a match they led 3-0 and which saw four of the six matches went to five, including wins for John Taylor over Lorestas Trumpauskas and Neil Charles against Neil Pickard which made the overall match score 3-2. Victor Guang Shi sealed the win for Fusion against Mark Green.

Knighton Park started with a 6-0 win over Ormeau and backed that up by beating Kingsway 4-2 in the second round of fixtures. Spinners won 5-1 against Draycott, while Fusion beat Ormeau 4-2.

Saturday’s final round of fixtures saw Fusion and KP meet and Fusion’s 4-2 win followed the same pattern as their victory over Draycott, as Fusion led 3-0 and saw the gap closed to 3-2. Guang Shi again was the match-winner, 3-2 (9-11, 11-2, 11-7, 1-11, 11-4) against Mark Short.

Spinners won 5-1 against Ormeau to be sitting a point off the leaders going into Sunday’s matches.

Spinners suffered their first defeat on Sunday morning, 4-2 at the hands of Knighton Park. Adam Fuzes got a double for the winners, who led 2-0 and 4-1, and both his victories were in five, against Roman Doryn and Jacek Koziarski – Chris Rogers also beat Koziarski in a decider.

There were some tight matches in Fusion’s 4-2 win over Kingsway, including 11-9 in the fifth victories for Guang Shi against Michael O’Driscoll and Pickard against Jermyn.

The final round saw KP keep up their title challenge with a 5-1 win over Draycott, while Horham just about stayed in touch – and ended Fusion’s 100% record, with a 3-3 draw. Biletskyi’s double, including 12-10 in the fifth against Trumpauskas, was key.

Guang Shi also took a double in that fixture, completing a perfect personal weekend of 10 wins from 10 matches to lead the averages, though Fuzes and Biletskyi also have 100% records from eight matches apiece.

Custom Deighton lead the way in Division 1 (Group 1) but only by a point from Cippenham in a division in which no club remained unbeaten.

It was Cippenham who inflicted the leaders’ defeat, and by the maximum 6-0 scoreline in round four. Cippenham’s defeat was 4-2 to PPong Jarek TT in the final round, having earlier drawn 3-3 with Nailsworth Phoenix – the only point Phoenix won all weekend.

Robert Hansell of Cippenham tops the averages with the perfect 10/10 record, though John Hilton won all of his four matches for Foresters B.

In Division 1 (Group 2), it was a perfect weekend for Waterside, who won all five matches and only dropped five individual matches along the way. They are two points clear of Ashford.

The leaders did have to come from 2-0 down to beat Draycott II, for whom Garry Knights and Diccon Gray won the first two matches against Adam Laws and Adam Klos respectively – the latter match saw a fine comeback by Gray to win 3-2 (9-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-2).

That was the only defeat for Klos, who won 9/10 and is the leading player in the averages of those who played more than two matches.

Cutnall Green lead Division 2 (Group 1) by two points from Wensum, having had an unbeaten weekend.

The leaders dropped one point, drawing 3-3 with Topspin Fusion II, who whom Tom Cutler notched a double and Simon Philipsz won the final match to clinch a draw.

Wensum’s Wayne Mason was unbeatable, winning all his 10 matches to sit top of the divisional averages – John Hilton won his six for Foresters C and therefore had a 10/10 record across the weekend.

Phoenix Coventry lead the way in Division 2 (Group 2) by two points from Alex Wolvey and BATTS.

The only dropped point by Coventry came in the final round in a 3-3 draw against Ajax, who led 2-0 but trailed 3-2 before Gareth Edmunds completed a personal double to claim a point with victory over Mark Jackson.

There were no 100% personal records – Abraham Conteh won 5/6 for Ajax, while Jackson and Adrian Pilgim both had 8/10 for Coventry, as did BATTS’ Richard Hutchinson.

There were no unbeaten teams in Division 3 (Group 1), where Foresters E lead by a point from Bristol/Gwent Associates.

It represented a good recovery by Foresters as they had been thrashed 6-0 by Bristol/Gwent in the first round.

Foresters’ Marc Burman won his eight matches to top the averages, ahead of Bristol/Gwent’s Daniel Harris on 9/10.

Loughborough Unicorns are top of Division 3 (Group 2) after winning four and losing one – they sit ahead of Border Reivers, who are unbeaten but drew twice, on sets difference.

It was Reivers who inflicted the defeat on Unicorn, 4-2 in the opening round, Colin Green taking the crucial final match against Geoff Parsons to seal the win.

Of the regular players, Alan Whitton of Reivers is top of the averages having won nine of 10 matches.

Cirencester and Cramlington are joint top of Division 4 (Group 1) having won four matches each and drawn with each other in round two. Cirencester hold a slender advantage on sets difference.

Cramlington’s Duncan Wraight won all his eight matches to lead the averages.

Altrincham Grandpa had a 100% record to top Division 4 (Group 2) and only dropped five individual matches to sit three points clear of Foresters F.

Two of the Grandpas – Chun Sing Leung and Sik Kin Wong – won all eight of their matches, as did Crusaders’ Graham Beaney.

Division 5 is played at Draycott TTC and it is Dun Laoire who top Group 1 and were unbeaten to sit a point clear of Topspin Fusion III. Fusion’s only defeat was 5-1 to the leaders, whose dropped point came in a 3-3 draw with Northwest Nomads, for whom Greg Swan beat Nezih Oktay 3-2 (11-4, 11-13, 9-11, 15-13, 11-3) in the final match.

That was Oktay’s only defeat in 10 matches – he sits top of the averages alongside Tomas Jacko of Draycott V.

In Group 2, Smithy Green were dominant with five victories and lead the way by three points from Draycott IV.

Smithy only lost four individual matches all weekend – two each against Draycott and Kingsway II – and Mike Watson and Tony Worthington both won all eight of their matches to lead the averages.