Round 5 Results: Illawarra and Brisbane still on top

Brisbane and Illawarra remain the only undefeated teams after 5 rounds of the 2011 ARTTSL Championship.

Perth finally got their first win of 2011, crushing North Queensland 11-0, as Jimmy Spring finally started to find some form off the bench.

In another lopsided result, Sydney beat Singaore 11-0 in Sydney in front of a capacity crowd that included former NSW Premier Kristina Kh'neally.

The only team yet to manage a win now is Adelaide.

2010 runners-up Gold Coast (minus Tweed Heads) continue their climb back up the ladder after their third successive win, following losing their first two matches of the season.

ARTTSL Premiership 2011, Round 5 Results
Gold Coast 12 d Darwin 10 at Darwin
Perth 11 d North Queensland 0 at Perth
Sydney 11 d Singapore 0 at Sydney
Greater Blacktown 11 d Geelong 5 at Geelong
Illawarra 13 d South New Zealand 11 at Christchurch
Newcastle 11 d Ipswich 3 at Ipswich
Canberra 11 d Adelaide 3 at Adelaide
North Melbourne 11 d Melbourne 8 at North Melbourne
Brisbane 11 d Sunshine Coast 2 at Maroochydore
Tasmania 11 d North New Zealand 7 at Launceston

ARTTSL Premiership 2011, Round 5 Fixtures

Can Illawarra and/or Brisbane continue their great start to the season and make it 5 from 5?

ARTTSL Premiership 2011, Round 5 Fixtures:
Darwin vs Gold Coast (at Darwin)
Perth vs North Queensland (at Perth)
Sydney vs Singapore (at Sydney)
Geelong vs Greater Blacktown (at Geelong)
South New Zealand vs Illawarra (at Christchurch)
Ipswich vs Newcastle (at Ipswich)
Adelaide vs Canberra (at Adelaide)
North Melbourne vs Melbourne (at North Melbourne)
Sunshine Coast vs Brisbane (at Maroochydore)
Tasmania vs North New Zealand (at Launceston)

Round 4 Results: Brisbane, Illawarra Undefeated

Brisband and Illawarra remain the only sides undefeated after the first four rounds of the 2011 ARTTSL Premiership.

Brisbane comfortably accounted for Darwin 11-6 in Brisbane, while Illawarra narrowly beat a hard-fighting Ipswich in extra time, 13-11 in Wollongong.

Premiers and last week's leaders Newcastle were upset at home by Sydney 11-9.

Rumours are intensifying that Jimmy Spring's return to Rebound Table Tennis is under threat after Perth fell to its fourth straight loss, this time 12-10 to North New Zealand in Wellington.

ARTTSL Premiership 2011, Round 4 Results
North New Zealand 12 d Perth 10 at Wellington
Sydney 11 d Newcastle 9 at Newcastle
Brisbane 11 d Darwin 6 at Brisbane
Melbourne 11 d Adelaide 6 at Melbourne
Gold Coast 11 d North Melbourne 7 at Gold Coast
North Queensland 11 d Geelong 9 at Cairnes
South New Zealand 11 d Greater Blacktown 7 at Blacktown
Canberra 12 d Tasmania 10 at Canberra
Illawarra 13 d Ipswich 11 at Wollongong
Singapore 11 d Sunshine Coast 7 at Singapore

ARTTSL Round 4 Fixtures

Round 4 of the 2011 ARTTSL Premiership kicks off this weekend with North New Zealand hosting Perth in Wellington. Rebound Table Tennis Legend Jimmy Spring will again play off the bench as he tries to regain match form and Perth hope to finally get their first win for 2011. Ian McGovern remains Perth captain. North New Zealand are also yet to win a match this year.

Rumours have swirled this week that Perth may not be satisfied with Spring's early difficulties in regaining form, but the club say it has no plans to replace Spring in the first-grade squad this early in the season. They say they expect it will take him several matches to start hitting his old stride.

Reigning Premiers and current table leaders Newcastle host Sydney.

ARTTSL Premiership 2011, Round 4
North New Zealand vs Perth (at Wellington)
Newcastle vs Sydney (at Newcastle)
Brisbane vs Darwin (at Brisbane)
Melbourne vs Adelaide (at Melbourne)
GoldCoast vs North Melbourne (at Gold Coast)
North Queensland vs Geelong (at Cairnes)
Greater Blacktown vs South New Zealand (at Blacktown)
Canberra vs Tasmania (at Canberra)
Illawarra vs Ipswich (at Wollongong)
Singapore vs Sunshine Coast (at Singapore)

ARTTSL 2011 Premiership Table after Round 3 of 19

Newcastle On Top, Hotdog Maniac Ejected in Sydney

Newcastle lead the ARTTSL 2011 Championship after a third decisive victory, this time over the fancied Sunshine Coast in Maroochydore 11-3. The 2010 Premiers now have a +20 points difference after only 3 matches, an average win of 6.67 points per match.

Illawarra have continued their remarkable return to form, beating Sydney 12-10 in a thriller at Leichhardt Oval. The match was marred however by an Illawarra supporter who went berzerk and ran onto the field wielding a hotdog, chasing after ARTTSL President Wilkington Tuffy, who attended the match. Security staff managed to contain the assailant after chasing him around the table several times before finally realising that if one guard went one way and the other the other way they'd cut him off. Tuffy suffered some minor sauce splattering, but later laughed off the incident as the act of a man known to him, identified only as "Paul", who has been letting him know for some time about his frustrations with Tuffy's apparent appetite for revenue through food and merchandise sales. The price of hotdogs had been put up from $12.50 to $14 before the match. The manager of the food outlet, Coreen Saunders, said the price rise had been a direct order from Tuffy himself. Saunders was later fired for her comments.

Rebound Table Tennis Legend Jimmy Spring was again unable to help Perth clinch their first victory of the year, as the side narrowly went down 11-9 to Tasmania at home. Spring made some fundamental errors during his brief stint at the table and was quickly returned to the bench by captain Ian McGovern. The decision, while seemingly justified, appeared to cause some tension between Spring and McGovern.

Previous table leaders Canberra suffered their first loss of the season, going down 11-7 to 2009 Premiers Melbourne.

ARTTSL Premiership 2011, Round 3 Results
Melbourne 11 d Canberra 7 at Melbourne
Gold Coast 11 d Adelaide 4 at Adelaide
Tasmania 11 d Perth 9 at Perth
Darwin 11 d Singapore 9 at Darwin
Brisbane 11 d North Melbourne 6 at North Melbourne
Geelong 12 d North New Zealand 10 at Geelong
Ipswich 11 d Greater Blacktown 8 at Ipswich
Newcastle 11 d Sunshine Coast 3 at Maroochydore
Illawarra 12 d Sydney 10 at Sydney
North Queensland 11 d South New Zealand 9 at Christchurch

ARTTSL 2011 Premiership - Round 3 Fixtures

Rebound Table Tennis Legend Jimmy Spring will make his first home appearance for Perth, again confirmed not to be captain and playing off the bench. He is however expected to see more game time this week as Perth play Tasmania. Both sides are yet to record a win this season.

Other highlights of the week include competition leaders Canberra travelling to Melbourne to play the 2009 Premiers. Adelaide host last year's runners-up Gold Coast, who languish at the bottom of the table aftet two big losses.

Meanwhile Sydney host Illawarra as both sides try to make it three wins from their first three matches in 2011. Illawarra are enjoying a great return to form after finished dead last in the 2010 ARTTSL Premiership.

ARTTSL 2011 Premiership - Round 3 Fixtures:
Melbourne vs Canberra (at Melbourne)
Adelaide vs Gold Coast (at Adelaide)
Perth vs Tasmania (at Perth)
Darwin vs Singapore (at Darwin)
North Melbourne vs Brisbane (at North Melbourne)
Geelong vs North New Zealand (at Geelong)
Ipswich vs Greater Blacktown (at Ipswich)
Sunshine Coast vs Newcastle (at Maroochydore)
Sydney vs Illawarra (at Sydney)
South New Zealand vs North Queensland (at Christchurch)

ARTTSL 2011 Premiership Table after Round 2 of 19

ARTTSL Round 2 Results

Rebound Table Tennis Legend Jimmy Spring played a small role off the bench in Perth's second straight loss of the 2011 season, going down 11-4 to Canberra. The win is Canberra's second after two rounds, with their remarkable +17 points difference launching them to the top of the ARTTSL Premiership table.

In New Zealand, the local derby saw South New Zealand narrowly defeat North New Zealand 11-9 in Auckland. The only injury of the match was South New Zealand mascot The Big Peter Jackson, who injured his groin trying to crash-tackle his arch rival, North New Zealand mascot The Big Pippie, early in the second half. Jackson spent the remainder of the match on a chair but was able to whoop up the large Canterbury contingent in the crowd to get his side home.

In the other local derby of the round, new side Greater Blacktown almost pulled off a miracle when they led the more experienced Sydney 10-9 late in the match, only to go down 12-10 in extra time.

Last year's Grand Finalists the Gold Coast continued their poor start to the season, going down at home 11-5 to Melbourne, leaving them languishing at the bottom of the table.

Meanwhile 2010 Premiers Newcastle continued their great start to the season, crushing Darwin 11-3 in front of a capacity home crowd at Newcastle International Rebound Table Tennis Centre.

ARTTSL Premiership 2011, Round 2 Results
Melbourne 11 d Gold Coast 5 at Gold Coast
Illawarra 12 d Sunshine Coast 10 at Wollongong
Singapore 11 d North Melbourne 2 at Singapore
North Queensland 11 d Ipswich 6 at Townsville
Geelong 11 d Tasmania 9 at Hobart
Canberra 11 d Perth 4 at Canberra
Newcastle 11 d Darwin 3 at Newcastle
South New Zealand 11 d North New Zealand 9 at Auckland
Sydney 12 d Greater Blacktown 10 at Blacktown
Brisbane 11 d Adelaide 9 at Brisbane

ARTTSL Round 2 Fixtures

Rebound Table Tennis Legend Jimmy Spring will travel with his new club Perth to play Canberra in the National Capital this weekend.

Perth have provided no further information except to confirm that Ian McGovern will remain as captain, while Spring will play off the bench this week, replacing round 1 reserve Marlon Pruitt.

Auckland will host the New Zealand local derby between North New Zealand and South New Zealand. No doubt their mascots, the Big Pippie and the Big Peter Jackson, will be at it again on the sideline.

Meanwhile in another local derby, Sydney will travel to Blacktown to take on new western Sydney-based club Greater Blacktown, who went down gallantly to Sunshine Coast in Maroochydore in the first ever match last weekend.

ARTTSL 2011 Premiership - Round 2:

Gold Coast vs Melbourne (at Gold Coast)
Illawarra vs Sunshine Coast (at Wollongong)
Singapore vs North Melbourne (at Singapore)
North Queensland vs Ipswich (at Townsville)
Tasmania vs Geelong (at Hobart)
Canberra vs Perth (at Canberra)
Newcastle vs Darwin (at Newcastle)
North New Zealand vs South New Zealand (at Auckland)
Greater Blacktown vs Sydney (at Blacktown)
Brisbane vs Adelaide (at Brisbane)

Late Mail: Jimmy Spring Signs With Perth

No further details are known at this time. More as it comes to hand...

Gold Coast, Newcastle, Perth All Race To Sign Spring

Returning Rebound Table Tennis legend Jimmy Spring has been linked with three clubs: Gold Coast, Newcastle and Perth.

Spring's shock announcement that he plans to return to competitive Rebound Table Tennis seemingly did not fall on deaf ears, with all three clubs (and possibly more) reported to have offered deals.

Gold Coast are believed to be the front-runner, having reportedly offered Spring a contract including pay and endorsements totalling over $1 million. This would make Spring Rebound Table Tennis's first million-dollar player.

The question, of course, is how Spring would perform and if he really would be the silver bullet the struggling but cashed-up Gold Coast club would be hoping for.

A signing with Premiers Newcastle would no doubt further strengthen their credentials as 2011 favourites, while signing with Perth may lead to Captaincy disputes after the young Ian McGovern recently took over the Captaincy. Once source suggested that Perth had been aware of Spring's imminent return for some time and that McGovern was installed only as a caretaker captain while Spring prepared for his stunning return home.

Spring is expected to confirm a contract signing by tomorrow (Wednesday) to meet ARTTSL's registration requirements to be allowed to commence play in Round 2.

Rebound Table Tennis Legend Jimmy Spring

ARTTSL Premiership 2011, Round 1 Results

Canberra have taken the early lead after Round 1 with a crushing 11-1 victory over the Gold Coast. The Gold Coast appeared to be suffering as expected from its separation from the Tweed Heads component, which left the joint venture after losing last year's Grand Final to Newcastle.

New club Ipswich recorded an emphatic victory, overcoming North New Zealand 11-2.

2010 Premiers Newcastle accounted for new club North Melboourne 11-7.

South New Zealand narrowly defeated Tasmania in a 13-11 thriller in Christchurch.

ARTTSL Premiership 2011, Round 1 Results
Canberra 11 d Gold Coast 1 at Gold Coast
Ipswich 11 d North New Zealand 2 at Ipswich
Newcastle 11 d North Melbourne 7 at North Melbourne
Singapore 11 d Adelaide 9 at Adelaide
South New Zealand 13 d Tasmania 11 at Christchurch
Sunshine Coast 11 d Greater Blacktown 6 at Maroochydore
Sydney 11 d North Queensland 7 at Sydney
Illawarra 11 d Darwin 7 at Darwin
Geelong 11 d Perth 8 at Geelong
Brisbane 11 d Melbourne 7 at Melbourne