TWO of the favourites advanced towards the Basingstoke and District table tennis league title with good wins.

For their 8-2 win, FM Print rested Dave Salisbury for John Goodyer, who started his season with a five-set win over Steve Rollason. He then found George White and John Ahlan too strong, however.

Kevin Macken and Tony Reynolds remained unbeaten but Reynolds was pushed before winning 11-9 in the fifth set against Ahlan.

Fellow title challengers St Peters A dropped three games in their win over Cannons. Terry White picked off James Wright, who earlier took the scalp of Paul Rattue. Rattue replied with a noteable three-set win over Peter Matthews but lost in five sets to Sean Pickin.

Queens A got off to a winning start without the Palaczky brothers. Peter Martin led the way in a 6-4 win over KG A with an undisturbed treble, whereas team-mate Alex Garlick was denied his maximum by losing 11-6 in the fifth set to Dave Kimberley. Claudia Achu played her first game for Queens and beat Steve Grover but found Kimberley and Pete Millie too strong.

Newly-promoted Ashford Hill have found division one tough going but were not shamed in their 9-1 loss to Winklebury. Phil Davenport picked up the losers' point with an 11-8 win in the fifth set over Dave Wise while Denise Weller narrowly lost out to John Golding, eventually going down 11-9 in the fifth after being two sets up.

In division two, Labour continued their impressive start with an 8-2 win over Hannington B. Keith Dickenson led the way with a faultless performance.

Labour's Paul Robinson came unstuck against George Freeman and Colin Chapman bowed to Avril Waters but still showed that the team will be hard to beat this season.

Brian Edwards shone in an unbeaten display, leading his KG C side to a 6-4 win over Oakley A. Charles Smith picked up two wins while Chris Smith recorded a landmark win over Frank A'Court. A'Court replied with a three-set win over Dave Smith.

Mike Chamberlain picked up his first-ever win in division two after promotion from division three. Chamberlain joined team-mate Roy Pike by beating KG B's Duncan Sibbeck but could not stop their Queens B side from losing 8-2 to KG B, who had Roger Bielby and Tony Amies unbeaten. Bielby sealed his treble with a 13-11 win in the fifth set over Nigel Cooper.

RAF Odiham fielded a new player in their 6-4 victory over St Peters B. A Ferguson had no joy but witnessed a solid performance from captain John Edbrooke, who recorded a treble after an 11-8 win in the fifth set over Steve Armstrong.

Edbrooke was supported by Roger Barnacle, who notched a brace with a commendable win over Richard Faulkner but found Armstrong's new rubber and unorthodox game too tricky.

In division three, Queens D had a 5-5 draw with two-man AWE, thanks to another great performance from Lorraine Watkins. Watkins was unbeaten with notable three-set wins over Paul Rampton and division three star John McLarty.

The Lions clashed with the Tigers as the two Coaching sides battled it out with the Lions coming out 7-3 winners.

Lions Sue Tompsett, Patrick Garlick and Graham Quinn all defeated Tom Vince and Jared Binner but all were unsuccessful against the more experienced Ian Short. The capable Binner was playing his first-ever match in the league.

Mike Wood was the toast of KG D as he hit a fine treble in the team's 8-2 win over Oakley B. The evening included a three-set win over Doug Adam, who was pleased with his two wins, including the scalp of Dave Partridge. Partridge then kicked into action with an 11-9 win in the fifth set over Ivan Jewell.

Time and Precision, playing for the first time in the league, hit a 5-5 draw with Queens C. The experienced Alan Gustar was untroubled for the new team and team-mate Clive Lewin recorded a four-set win over Ron Cleave and also nearly defeated George Hellans but Hellans pulled out an 11-9 win in the fifth set.