Nottingham make their move at top of SBCL Championship

November 17, 2025 | Paul Stimpson

A 100% second weekend saw hosts Nottingham take charge of the Senior British Clubs League, Championship division.

Just a point clear of fellow unbeaten sides BATTS II and Urban after Weekend 1, Nottingham won all four of their matches to open out a three-point lead over BATTS – while Urban plunged down the table to sixth after a winless weekend.

The top two met in the first round of matches on the Saturday (8 November), and it was Nottingham who made their move as they came from 3-2 down to win 5-3.

The hosts led 1-0 and 2-1 but, after Josh Bennett had beaten Maxim Stevens in three, it was BATTS who would have fancied their chances of at least sealing a draw.

However, Adam Dennison (pictured above) completed a personal double as he beat Ryan Choong in four, and Adam Fuzes then staved off a Jack Bennett comeback to win 3-2 (11-6, 11-4, 9-11, 8-11, 11-2) to put Nottingham in front. It was left to James Hobson to complete the overall victory, and a double of his own, as he beat Ethan Walsh in three.

Urban preserved their unbeaten record with a 4-4 draw against Hurricane, though they did so with only three players and led 4-2 before Joe Sawyer won the seventh match for Hurricane and the walkover gave them a point.

In the other matches, Wymondham had an emphatic 7-1 win over Ormeau II and it was 6-2 for Perry Dale against Ormesby II. Finsbury, meanwhile, earned a 5-3 win over Woodford Wells in a match which see-sawed and in which four matches went the distance.

That proved to be the first of four wins over the weekend for Finsbury, who moved up to third in the league, a point behind BATTS, as a result.

They also won 3-2 on Saturday afternoon, their victims on this occasion Wymondham. Ho Yin Tamâ€s double, with fifth-game wins over Gabriel Schogger and Umair Mauthoor, proved important and added to his double from the first fixture.

There were three 6-2 scorelines on Saturday afternoon as Woodford Wells beat three-man Urban, Ormesby overcame Ormeau and leaders Nottingham defeated Hurricane. It was 8-0 for BATTS against Perry Dale, though three of those matches went to the fifth.

Round 7 on Sunday morning saw Finsbury blitz Urban – the latter now up to a full complement – 8-0, while it was 7-1 for BATTS against Ormeau.

Continuing the pattern of ever decreasing scorelines, Nottingham were 6-2 victors over Woodford Wells and Perry Dale beat Hurricane 5-3 – they were 4-1 up but pegged back to 4-3 before Neil Pickard completed the win by overcoming Adedapo Onakomaya 3-2 (11-8, 8-11, 6-11, 12-10, 11-7).

To complete a round in which every possible result occurred, it was 4-4 between Ormesby and Wymondham. Ormesby were never behind but were pegged back from 1-0, 2-1 and 4-2 ahead. Oleh Biletskyi won the seventh match against Tom Rayner to complete a personal double and David McKenzie sealed a point by defeating Josh Harland. For Ormesby, Graeme Barella and Josh Weatherby both won twice.

The Sunday afternoon match-ups saw both Finsbury and Nottingham complete their 100% weekends and both by 6-2 scorelines against Ormesby and Urban respectively.

It was 8-0 for BATTS against Wymondham and 7-1 for Perry Dale over Woodford Wells, leaving Hurricane versus Ormeau as the closest match of the round.

The victors were Hurricane, who were never behind but were pulled back to 1-1 and 2-2 and then saw a 4-2 lead become 4-3 when Sophie Earley completed her double by beating Paul Cicchelli in four. Onakomaya made sure of the win for Hurricane by beating Thomas Earley in three.

The ‘pivot†weekend of the Championship is on 17 January, when Rounds 9 and 10 will take place.

In the averages, two players remain on 100% – Paul McCreery of Ormeau did not play across this weekend and remains on 8/8. He is joined on that ratio by James Hobson, who again won 4/4, as he had on the first weekend. Of the more regular players, the best rating belongs to Adam Dennison of Nottingham who has won 14 out of 16 for an average of 87.5.

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