Sunday 01 November 2009

Writtle A, moved into first place in division two of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League by hammering a two-player Hatfield Peverel B 10-0, their fourth win of the Season. 10-0 victories are pretty rare at this level, a good indication that Writtle are almost certainly the team to beat in this Division. Their very strong side of Gary Ward, Kevin Worthington and Paul Cuming were all undefeated. Previous leaders Chelmsford B fell back. They were beaten 8-2 by Hatfield Peverel A. New signing Ray Eldridge remained undefeated and John Gagg and John Webber won twice apiece. Hatfield Peverel C also did well, beating Liberal 7-3. Chris Buer scored three excellent wins over Steve Pennell, Robin Armstrong and Barry Pritchard as Liberal found wins hard to come by. Buer completed an excellent evening’s work by getting the better of Steve Pennell, (Liberal‘s best player) 11-13,9-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-8. A Gary Brignall’s hat-trick was the difference between the sides when ECC B beat Danbury B 6-4. Gary was supported by Trevor Collin (two wins) and Ken James (one win). Chelmsford C had Sam Clarke and Duncan Elloy on top form as they beat OCs B 7- 3. Ryan Pitt only won once, but he completed their victory with a last-gasp 11- 9, 11-13, 5-11, 11-8, 15-13 victory over John Watts in the last game of the evening.

ECC A are the surprise leaders after five rounds of matches in the first Division. Steve Kerns (three wins), Lucy Wang (two wins) and David Evans (two wins) all played their part in a 8-2 victory over Danbury A. The evergreen Ian Whiteside was Danbury’s best player beating both Lucy Wang and David Evans three-straight. It was a case of honours shared when Maldon A met Maldon B. Newcomer Minda Sinkus took his three singles for the A side, but the B team hit back through Peter Ballard and Paul Stephens who both won twice.

Writtle B moved into the lead in Division three by beating ECC D 9-1.Trevor Carter (three wins), Brian Cook (two wins) and Matthew Brown (three wins) all played their part in what was an excellent performance. Bocking B had their leading player - Richard Jennings to thank as they beat Danbury D 6-4 whilst ECC D also won 6-4. Trevor Roberts won his three singles and this included a hard-fought 7-11, 7-11, 11-8, 12-10,11-7 success over Dave Richardson in the last game of the evening.

EPHQ moved into first position in Division five, by getting the better of Excalibur D 6-4 after a hard-fought match in which five games were decided in the fifth end and EPHQ won four of them. Excalibur’s Steve Cheesman was the most successful player on view, and he won his three singles which included a fighting 5-11, 5-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-2 success against Ian Hockley in the final game of the evening. Third-placed ECC G slipped back, finding themselves well beaten 8-2 by Danbury K in a match where a Power failure incurred in the last game of the night. Graham Briggs, Lee McHugh and Alan Dadswell all played well for Danbury. Lee McHugh also turned out for Danbury H in their match against Chelmsford F and he again won twice. With support from Roger Tiffin and Tony Reece-Ford who both picked up two victories they ran out 7-3 winners.

Hatfield Peverel E, a side which rather uniquely features all three generations of the Carter Family look the team to beat in Division six, and they ran out 8-2 winners against Writtle D. Dave Carter and his son Adam both stayed undefeated and his grand-son Ryan won once. After five rounds of matches they have a three point lead over Chelmsford J who were held to a draw by OCs E. Rob Shrimpton and Ian Austin (Chelmsford J) and Tony Cohen and Matthew Porter (OCs E) all won twice. OCs G moved into third place by beating Chelmsford G 9-1. Tom Adam (three wins), Matt Newton (two wins) and Farooq Ahmed (three wins) dominated the match.

Chelmsford L moved into pole position in the CLICK League. They had Oliver Hicks undefeated as they beat Chelmsford K 4-1. Hicks just prevailed against Ryan Gooday, pulling through 11-8, 10-12, 11-7, 11-13, 11-9 in the closest game of the evening.

All players are reminded that the Closing date for entering the 2010 Chelmsford Closed Tournament is Monday 07 December 2009. Entry forms which can be found in the League Handbook should be returned to Arthur Clark (address on Form) with the correct entry fee, either directly, or via Club Secretaries.

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