BATTS moved to the top of the Senior British League Championship with two hard-fought wins as previous leaders London Academy dropped points in both their fixtures at the ‘pivot’ weekend.

There was just one day of action at Carlton Le Willows Academy as the teams played their final match of the first half of the season, followed by the first match of the second half.

London Academy went into the day two points clear of BATTS at the top, having won the meeting between the two at the previous weekend.

And although Academy remain unbeaten, two draws meant the Harlow club were able to leapfrog them and take top spot by the tightest of margins – BATTS have a sets difference of 56-24 as against London Academy’s ratio of 55-25.

It could have been very different for London, as they held three match points in their opening fixture against Fusion.

They led 4-2, having started with a walkover due to Fusion’s Josh Bruce arriving late and then seen Fusion win the first two matches on the table – including a 14-12 in-the-fifth triumph for Tianyi Yu against Gabriel Achampong.

Niall Cameron came from 2-0 down to beat Francesco Bonato and wins for Achampong and Jerry Fung over Bruce and Robert Domingo made it 4-2 to London.

When Cameron led Yu 10-8 and 11-10 in the fifth, London were on the cusp of victory, but Yu hit back to take it 13-11 and Bonato then overcame Shahuraj Nimse in three to rescue a point for Fusion.

At the same time, BATTS were facing a minor crisis at 2-1 down to Urban, who were back to something nearer their full strength while BATTS were without Ralph Pattison and Joe Ferguson.

Felix Thomis beat Luc Miller and Alim Hirji overcame Mollie Patterson to put Urban 2-1 ahead after Adam Nutland’s opening win for BATTS over Shohei Nishi.

But Jack Bennett’s five-game win over James Hamblett levelled for BATTS and they made sure of the points as Miller, Nutland and Bennett won the next three matches, all in four. Hamblett’s win over Patterson in the final game put a gloss on the score for Urban.

Elsewhere in the morning fixtures, Brighton were defeated 6-2 by Perry Dale, despite Joseph Langham-Ferreira winning twice in the fifth. One of those was against Ash Facey, who hit back from 2-0 down to win a five-setter of his own against British Para colleague Billy Shilton – the final scoreline was 9-11, 10-12, 11-4, 11-5, 11-9).

Sam Perry and Sammy Kaye both won two for Perry Dale – the latter coming from 2-1 down to beat 12-year-old Ryan Goodier.

It was also 6-2 for Wymondham against PPong, with doubles for Ashwin Subramanian and, making a return to the sport, James Hobson. For PPong, Joe Marlor ended Issac Kingham’s 100% record 11-9 in the fifth.

Finally, hosts Nottingham edged Ormesby 5-3. They led 3-1 by saw Ormesby hit back to level at 3-3 as Adam Dennison took a double, including 12-10 in the fifth against Olly Cornish, and Djen Bakx then beat Owen Brown, also 12-10 in the decicer.

The final two matches were also close but Nottingham took them both – Joe Sawyer beating Gabriel Schogger 3-2 (7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 10-12, 13-11) and then Aleeko Hazarika clinching the points by beating Hannah Silcock 3-1 (11-9, 11-13, 11-4, 16-14).

And so to the first group of return fixtures and London Academy, as they had back on Weekend One, drew 4-4 against Ormesby. They led 4-2 as Achampong and Fung took a double apiece, but Schogger hit back from 2-0 down to Cameron to win 3-2 (9-11, 2-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-5) and then Silcock completed her own double and claimed a point for Ormesby as she also clawed back from 2-0 down to overcome Nimse 3-2 (10-12, 8-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-7).

So BATTS had their opening at the top – but at 3-0 down to Brighton they looked in no position to take it, wins for Langham-Ferreira, Aaron McKibbin and Shilton putting the south coast side in control.

Bennett started the fightback by beating Goodier and then Miller won a classic against Langham-Ferreira 3-2 (11-13, 11-13, 11-7, 12-10, 11-8). Nutland’s win over Shilton in three made it 3-3 and Bennett then turned the tables to beat McKibbin 3-2 (9-11, 5-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-7).

So BATTS led for the first time, but still they needed Patterson to dig deep against youngster Goodier, who led 2-1 and stood at 10-10 in the fourth before Patterson asserted her authority to take it 3-2 (11-8, 11-13, 8-11, 12-10, 11-6).

Hosts Nottingham are third in the table, but they gave up a 6-2 defeat to Wymondham, who are now fourth and looking strong. Yorkshire left-hander Hobson won another double, notably against Owen Brown, who he beat 3-2 (11-6, 11-9, 11-13, 5-11, 13-11). Connor Whitehead also won two for the Norfolk side, including 13-11 in the fifth against Sawyer and by an eye-catching 3-2 (11-6, 8-11, 15-17, 15-13, 11-6) scoreline against Hazarika.

It was 5-3 for Perry Dale against Fusion, Perry earning another personal double – both in the fifth – against Bonato and Yu. The latter was a good 3-2 (12-10, 9-11, 11-13, 11-8, 11-7) margin. Facey also picked up a double, 3-0 against both Bruce and Domingo.

PPong remain winless at the foot of the table and were beaten 8-0 by Urban – though Marlor came very close to putting his team on the board as he pushed Alim Hirji to 3-2 (11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 8-11, 19-17).

The next round of the Championship is on February 24-25.