SESSIONS star Mick Wilcockson has become the first player to beat Martin Lowe of Coneysthorpe in the York and District Table Tennis League first division this season.

A tense first division battle was edged by Sessions 7-3 with the Wilcockson v Lowe clash central to the action.

Wilcockson's steady defence proved too much for Lowe as time and time again he returned the ball.

Lowe had to wait as Wilcockson floated the ball a lot and eventually lost patience in the later stages of the match and in the end folded to a 9-11 11-4 10-12 11-4 11-2 defeat.

Division Two leaders Bootham CC 'A' beat York RI 'A' 9-1 thanks to three wins each for Jon Wooldridge and Paul Eastwood.

Poppleton 'A', inspired by the unbeaten Richard Moss, gave Bootham a run for their money before going down 6-4.

Three wins from John Farmery helped Holgate WMC 'A' to a 7-3 victory over York RI 'A'. York RI 'B' beat a two-man Groves WMC 'B' 6-4.

Holgate WMC 'B' strengthened their grip on division two with an 8-2 victory over Poppleton 'C', with Bob Young and Ed Wardman being unbeaten.

Nestl Rowntree 'A' whitewashed BT 'A' and third-placed Bootham CC 'B' were held to a draw by Northern Electric for whom Rod Lowery was undefeated.

Trevor Wright won three times for York RI 'D' as they beat Sessions 'B' 6-4.

Bottom team Poppleton 'D' went down 9-1 to BT 'B' whose Brian Milner and Jim Stevenson were three-times winners.

Gareth Bryning was undefeated as Bootham CC 'C' continued to set the pace in division three after beating Poppleton 'E' 8-2. Richard Collier won twice for Poppleton.

Coneysthorpe 'B' beat a two-man Holgate WMC 'D' 9-1.

Despite having only two players, Shepherd 'C', managed a 5-5 draw with York RI 'F' with Shahzad Umar winning all his games.

A trio of wins from Mike Surtees helped Shepherds 'A' to a 7-3 victory over York RI 'G'. Richard Church played well to win all three for Norwich Union 'A' in their 8-2 success over Shepherds 'B'.

Division four leaders Groves defeated York RI 'H' 7-3, with Mike Belton reamining unbeaten.

Jeff Brown won three for York RI 'K' in their 5-5 draw with Shepherds 'D'.

Alan Jones was another treble winner as Poppleton 'F' maintained their challenge with a 7-3 victory over York RI 'J'.

Sessions kept up their challenge with a 9-1 win over Poppleton 'G'. Unbeaten Paul Webster could not prevent Norwich Union 'B' losing 6-4 to York RI 'I'.

Teams with matches in hand should arrange to have them played immediately as the league has just four more weeks to run.

Tribute to table tennis stalwart Denis Corner

THE funeral took place this week of Denis Corner, who was well known in York table tennis for more than fifty years.

Mr Corner, who died last week at the age of 84, was a vice-president of York and District Table Tennis Association.

A York man, he played at first for the old Co-op club, which later became INL Club and, since INL's closure, is now Groves WMC.

Mr Corner was awarded a York Badge by the association for exceptional services to York and district table tennis.

He last played several years ago and was mainly active in the middle and lower divisions of the York League.

Clive Warley, match secretary for the association, said that Mr Corner had a very effective side-spin shot which was difficult to play against.

"He was always cheerful, giving younger players encouragement," added Warley. "He was very dependable, playing whenever needed."

Mr Corner's son Peter plays for Bootham Conservative Club in the York League.

Updated: 10:25 Saturday, March 12, 2005