SOUTHAMPTON table tennis legend Chris Shetler proved he has lost none of his old skill as he toppled current city champion Christos Hannides.

Shetler, who has won the Southampton singles title on an amazing nine occasions stretching 26 years from 1972 to 1998, was drafted in for Snows A in a rare Premier division outing.

But he showed that class is permanent as he beat Hannides in four games and then Howard Davies and hard-hitting Michael Yin by the same margin.

His win helped secure a five-all draw for Snows to keep them second in the table as Malcolm Cummins also chipped in with two excellent victories.

For Waterside Yin performed well to win twice.

Shetler was also in fine form for his regular Division One Snows E team, but his hat-trick could not prevent a 6-4 win for Waterside B after braces from Geoff Willis and Chris Willsher.

Generation remain on track for the Premier title although they were pushes all the way by Alpha, eventually winning 6-4 thanks to another hat-trick from in-form captain Charlie Childs.

Peter Richardson and Chris Bone were both winners for Insurance but they could not quite get a point as they went down 6-4 to Snows D.

Dave Russell continued his comeback with a hat-trick in the five-all draw between Snows B and C.

After crushing Four Ts A 8-2, Alpha B are pushing hard on the top slot in Division One with Alister Turner and Alan McAlpine leadinb the way.

Phil Alan almost helped two-man Ordnance Survey A pull off an unlikely win but they went down

6-4 to Alpha C.

The Butts of Hedge End A also had no trouble in crushing strugglers Alpha D 10-0.

Waterside D have opened an eleven point gap at the top of Division Two, but have played more games than some of the other teams.

Second place Snows F were held to a draw by mid-table Hedge End B with Keith Hewitt unbeaten for Snows.

BAT B had no trouble in whitewashing St. Denys B 10-0.

Colin Jones and Dennis Cox both recorded maximums as Hedge End C thrashed Waterside F 9-1.

Dennis Elkins won the only game for Waterside when he defeated Tim Saunders in a nail-biting match,

21-23, 12-21, 22-20.

Waterside J were overwhelmed when they were given a 10-0 whitewash by the Four T's C team of Martin Ceresa, Steve Lumb and Tony Fern, who appear to be forging a commanding lead at the top of Division Three.

Waterside K had a good win when they defeated Ordnance Survey B

6-4, despite a maximum from Doug Taylor for Survey.

This takes Waterside into second place but with only three points separating the second to fifth there is still much to play for.

Waterside G gained four points with an 8-2 victory over a depleted Hospitals who again had problems fielding a full-strength team.

Waterside H did not fare so well when they went down 4-6 to Alpha E, Paul May winning all his games for Alpha.

Southampton West A produced a convincing 9-1 win over their B team. John Mcbeath winning three, including a win over seasoned campaigner, Ro Bennett.

The young Southampton West D side were overwhelmed 10-0 by Insurance B.

Wimpey were held to their fifth draw of the season by Four Ts E, Dave Mason being undefeated for Wimpey with one each from Derek Parsons and Bill Bull.

Pirelli A produced a decisive 10-0 victory over Alpha F whilst their B team also gained maximum points by beating Four T's D 8-2.

Results:

Kings Volvo Southampton and District Table Tennis League Premier Division: Waterside A 5 (Howard Davies 1, Christos Hannides 1, Michael Yin 2,) Snows A 5 (Malcolm Cummins 2, Chris Shetler 3). Snows B 5 (George Cole 2, Robin Plunkett 2, Don Child 1) Snows C 5 (Dave Russell 3, Julian Walton 1). Alpha A 4 (Rod McMullan 2, Stuart Williams 1) Generation II 6 (Charlie Childs 3, Miki Sinanan 2, Graham Toole 1). Snows D 8 (Glenn Wilshere 2, Chris Prince 3, Vincent Uppleschoten 2) Insurance A 2 (Peter Richardson 1, Chris Bone 1). Division 1: Alpha D 0 Hedge End A 10 (Chris Butt 3, Ken Butt 3, Colin Butt 3). Ord. Survey A 5 (Phil Allen 3, Ivan McMorran 1) Alpha C 6 (Ben Hibberd 1, David Praine 1, W/O 3). Snows E 4 (Chris Shetler 3, Adrian Hunt 1) Waterside B 6 (Geoff Willis 2, Rick Morris 1, Chris Willsher 2). Alpha B 8 (Alan McAlpine 3, Alister Turner 3, Glenn Medcalf 2) Four Ts A 2 (John Butcher 1). Division 2: Hedge End C 9 (Colin Jones 3, Tim Saunders 2, Dennis Cox 3) Waterside F 1 (Dennis Elkins 1). Hedge End B 5 (Colin Browning 2, Terry Mills 1, Shapour Mehrkar 1) Snows F 5 (Mark Waughman 2, Keith Hewitt 3). Waterside D 8 (Dave Goodyer 2, Malcolm Bunce 2, Julie Eldridge 3) NF Nalgo 2 (Terry Littlewood 2). BAT B 10 (Jason Lockyer 3, Keith Male 3, Garry Green 3) St. Denys B 0. Division 3: Four Ts C 10 (Martin Ceresa 3, Steve Lumb 3, Tony Fern 3) Waterside J 0. Alpha E 6 (Paul May 3, Mike Adams 2) Waterside H 4 (Pasky Pakaran 1, Rob Hansen 1, Mike Paterson 2 ). Waterside G 8 (Mark Heathorn 2, Luke Riche 1, Colin French 1, W/O's 3) Hospitals 2 (Alan Man 2). Waterside K 6 (Gordon Long 1, Dan Long 2, Shaun Newcomb 2) Ordnance Survey B 4 (Doug Taylor 3, Keith Nolan 1). Division 4: Southampton West A 9 (John McBeath 3, Mark Knowles 2, Gary Longland 3) Southampton West B 1 (Ro Bennett 1). Southampton West D 0 Insurance B 10 (Dave Saxby 3, Adrian Aldis 3, Terry May 3). Pirelli A 10 (John Hall 3, Bob Haly 3, Barry Fanchi 3) Alpha F 0. Four T's E 5 (Ian Bingham-Hall 2, Jim Leppard 2) Wimpey 5 (Dave Mason 3, Derek Parsons 1, Bill Bull 1). Pirelli B 8 (Terry Gentle 3, Meg Stapenhill 2, Ray Underhill 2) Four Ts D 2 (Brian Gange 2).