Arima Hawks stopped Solo Crusaders "B" 4-1 at the Arima West Government Primary School, on Monday night, to shoot to the top of the Trinidad and Tobago Table Tennis Association (T&TTTA) 2nd Division League standings.

In a keenly contested fixture, Hawks battled past the previously unbeaten Crusaders outfit for their fifth win in seven outings. In their other fixtures, Hawks drew 3-3 with Montrose United and lost 4-2 to D'Abadie Youths.

With Monday's victory, Hawks jumped from third to first on the 11-team standings.

D'Abadie, the only unbeaten team in the League, battled to a 3-3 draw with University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT), at the D'Abadie Community Centre on Monday night. It was the first setback for D'Abadie, who now have a record of five wins and one draw.

In Arima, Wayne Oudit handed Hawks a 1-0 lead when he outlasted Imtiaz Mohammed in five tough games, 11-7, 16-14, 8-11, 11-13, 12-10. Rawle Parsons made it 2-0, but it was no easy task, the Hawk getting the better of national men's "B" class champion Riad Abasali 11-9, 10-12, 3-11, 11-8, 12-10.

Vinoo Maraj pulled one back for Crusaders, the left-handed player beating Kerron Ali 11-5, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9. But Parsons and national women's "A" division champion Linda Partap-Boodhan teamed up for a 6-11, 11-3, 11-5, 6-11, 11-6 doubles triumph over Maraj and Anil Ramlakhan, handing Hawks a 3-1 advantage.

Partap-Boodhan then wrapped up the victory, getting the better of Ramlakhan 15-13, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5.

In D'Abadie, national men's "A2" champion Declan John beat Saddiq Ramsingh 11-3, 11-4, 11-4, and Lawrence Ince 11-5, 11-6, 10-12, 11-6, while John's D'Abadie teammate Edwin Humphreys edged past nine-time national women's singles champion Aleena Edwards 8-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9.

The home team, however, had to settle for a draw with UTT. Ince cruised past Carlisle Cleveland at 9, 7 and 5, Davone Joseph and Edwards battled from behind to outlast Humphreys and Sherdon Pierre 5-11, 3-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 in the doubles, and Joseph got the better of Pierre 11-7, 11-8, 17-15.

UTT were back in action, after press time last night. They squared off against Solo Crusaders "A", at PowerGen, on Flament Street in Port of Spain.

Standings

P W D L SW SL SD Pts

Arima Hawks 7 5 1 1 25 10 15 18

D'Abadie Youths 6 5 1 0 23 7 16 17

Crusaders "B" 6 5 0 1 21 9 12 16

Montrose United 7 3 3 1 22 15 7 16

Carenage Blasters 4 2 1 1 13 11 2 9

UTT 5 1 1 3 10 17 -7 8

UWI 4 1 1 2 10 13 -3 7

Crusaders "A" 4 0 2 2 8 14 -6 6

Under 15 Boys 4 0 1 3 10 15 -5 5

Under 18 Boys "B" 4 0 1 3 5 15 -10 5

Under 15 Girls 4 0 0 4 3 16 -13 4