Sunday 11 October 2009

Last year’s runners-up Rawreth and Hullbridge A showed they are again going to be a force to be reckoned with in the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League. The very strong team of Duncan Taylor, Kevin Read and top-class new signing Adam Brewer showed no mercy to promoted Chelmsford A as they romped home 10-0. Only one singles went to five ends when Duncan Taylor had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Greg Green 10-12, 10-12. 11- 5, 11-6, 11-9. Chelmsford A didn’t fare much better against Maldon B either, losing 9-1. Waseem Qureshi’s four game win over Lee Prentice was their only success as Hamish Innes and Paul Stephens both stayed undefeated for Maldon. Maldon A, many people’s tip to win the division were unable to field their top two players - Neil Charles and Cris Sladden against last year’s Champions - Bocking A and they lost 6-4. Rik James was the difference between the two sides and he took his three singles. This included a 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 11-4 victory over Minda Sinkus. Bocking had also beaten a two-man ECC A side 6-4, which represented a fine effort from the County Council team in the circumstances. Michael Copleston and David Evans both beat Kevin Gowlett. Elsewhere, Danbury A found it hard-going against Excalibur A and lost 7-3. Excalibur’s Gary Baker and George Pavitt both turned in unbeaten performances with Pavitt excelling as he downed the challenge of Eric Green convincingly 11-8, 11-3, 11-7.

Division two is yet to sort itself out, although the two Chelmsford teams have both made promising starts. Chelmsford B had Alistair Piper to thank as they overcame Hatfield Peverel B 7-3 whilst Chelmsford C were also 7-3 winners, beating Hatfield Peverel C. Ryan Pitt won his three singles. Duncan Elloy won twice and this included a hard-fought 9-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4, 13-11 success against Peter Mynard. Writtle A, many people’s choice of favourites in this division failed to impress against OCs A although in fairness they had to field a reserve. Paul Cuming won his three singles and Kevin Worthington won twice. John Watts secured a fine 11-9, 6-11, 11-8, 11-5 win over Worthington as Writtle ‘s win was restricted to a 6-4 margin. Danbury B had to rely on a strong team performance as they beat OCs B 6-4. Glen Laing, Neil Want and Dave Calleja all won twice to counter the three wins that John Watts scored for the OCs side.

ECC E turned in what was arguably the most impressive performance in division three, beating Excalibur B 7-3. Colin Blore was the man in form and he scored three excellent wins over Bill Smith, Alan Tideswell and Linda Attridge. Bill Smith made his mark by beating Bryn Thomas 11-9, 11-9, 4-11, 11-8. Danbury D also won 7-3, getting the better of their slow-starting colleagues Danbury C. All three Danbury D players turned in strong performances with Peter Hance winning his three singles and Herbie Smith and Norman Smith both winning twice. Maurice Hardy who won twice was the best of the Danbury C players. Promoted Hylands School A (without their leading player Terry Dowsett) met their match against OCs C for whom Adrian North won his three singles. Brandon Crouchman was the best of the Hylands players and he won twice as the experienced Old Chelmsfordians side won 7-3. Nat Ravlic was involved in two hard-fought matches. Ravlic lost to Crouchman 5-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-8, 5-11 but beat Scott Dowsett 11-8, 11-7, 10-12, 13-11.

Of the five soreceards received for division four - four of them evidenced 6-4 or 5-5 scorelines, a clear-sign that this division is going to be closely fought. Even Elmtree Graphics’ B’s 7-3 victory over OCs D was very evenly matched with six games decided in the fifth end, of which Elmtree crucially won four times. Phil Smith and Tony Vassallo both picked up hat-tricks. Vassallo just prevailed 9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 14-12 against David Porter in the closest game of the night. Chelmsford D (David Parker, John Barrett and Tom Lee) all won twice as they beat Rawreth B 6-4 although none of their players were able to get the better of the canny Mike Worship. ECC F impressed as they beat Excalibur C 6-4, none more so than Malcolm Storey who included Richard Hiskey in his excellent hat-trick of victories. In yet another 6-4 result Writtle C overcame a two-man Chelmsford E with Frank Neill winning both of his games against the Chelmsford side. Neill secured the victory for his team by getting the better of Bob Francis 11-9, 8-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8 in the last game of the evening. The match between ECC F and OCs D ended in a 5-5 draw after Colin Barham had won his three singles for ECC and David Porter had picked up two wins for the Old Boys. Porter made no mistake against Alan Thompson in the last game of the evening, winning 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 to secure a share of the points for his side.

Chelmsford J were the week’s big winners in division six and they had Robert Shrimpton and Sarah Austin on top form as they beat Chelmsford G 9-1. OCs G were another team to notch up a convincing win, as they overcame Writtle D 8-2. Matt Newton and Tom Adam both picked up hat-tricks. It was very much a Family effort as Hatfield Peverel E (Adam Carter, Ryan Carter and Dave Carter) beat Chelmsford J 7-3. Dave and Adam were both undefeated with Adam’s win over Robert Shrimpton (11-2, 11-5, 4-11, 12-10) appearing to be the pick of the action. Chelmsford J had fared better against Chelmsford H, and they won 6-4. Robert Shrimpton won his three singles, and this included a hard-fought 12-10, 11-5, 12-14, 11-7 victory over Michael Whelpdale.

Report written by Steve Kerns
Press Officer for Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League