by TYRONE EVELYN

DIAMONDS INTERNATIONAL HENRY'S LANE continued to set the pace in the Division 3 competition with a fighting 4-3 win over arch-rivals Charades at the Table Tennis Centre, Nursery Drive, Constitution Road, on Friday night.

Albert Collymore Snr. was in the vanguard of Henry's Lane's victory, winning his two singles sets and setting the stage for his team's success.

He opened the score for Henry's Lane by overwhelming Richard Evans at 6, 5 and 8, while Megan Steinbok made it 2-0 by bettering Edwin Jordan at 9, 11 and 5.

Stefan Walcott then pulled back a set for Charades after he proved too much for Lisa Collymore who went under at 6, 9 and 6.

The match then came to life as Charades drew level by winning the doubles which pitted Jordan and Evans against the father and daughter combination of Albert and Lisa Collymore.

Destroying

Despite losing the first game at 5, Jordan and Evans came back strong to take the next three 14-12, 11-4, 11-5 to tie up the match.

Albert Collymore Snr., as expected, sent Henry's Lane into a 3-2 lead by destroying Jordan at 4, 5 and 3.

Expectations were high for an exciting finish to the match, but it ended in an anti-climax as defaults settled the last two sets.

In what was obviously a tactical move, Henry's Lane's Lisa Collymore defaulted to Evans and this made the score 3-3. But because Charades' Walcott had to leave and could not play the last set against Steinbok, Charades defaulted that set to Henry's Lane which gave the latter a somewhat fortuitous 4-3 win.

In the night's other encounter, St Matthew's continued their good showing by blanking Combined Schools 4-0.

For St Matthew's, Kryston Wood put away Darren Massiah at 6, 5 and 10; Rakim Hinds was even more dominant in beating Anthony Cadogan at 6, 2 and 3; while Wood and Richards teamed up in the doubles to beat Massiah and Cadogan 3-2 in what was arguably the best set of the night.

Compelling

Wood and Richards appeared to be romping to an easy straight games win after they had won the first two games at 5 and 4, but Massiah and Cadogan buckled down and played some compelling tennis in the next two games which they won at 9 and 8. The fifth game was just as close but the St Matthew's pair committed fewer unforced errors and went on to win at 8.

St Matthew's other win came via the default route.