This week’s Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League report includes League matches, the first round of the second series of Junior League matches and Cup matches. Thanks are extended to KO Cup Secretary Matthew Brown for his extensive report on the latest round of Cup matches.
In division one Galleywood A did well to draw with Danbury A. However, both Galleywood A and Chelmsford C look to be doomed to relegation. They both trail Danbury B by 15 points and Danbury B have a game in hand. In a match where no one player stayed unbeaten and no one went home empty-handed Eric Green and Dave Richardson both won twice for Danbury as did James Hicks for Galleywood. James Hicks showed up well. He beat Eric Green (6-11, 11-5, 5-11, 11-8, 11-7) and then Dave Richardson (12-10, 10-12, 12-10, 13-11) – they don’t come much closer; before missing out (5-11, 11-5, 16-18, 6-11) against Babul McLeod. Galleywood’s new signing James Mullane made his mark with a fine 9-11, 11-8, 11-4, 12-10 win over Babul McLeod. In yet another high-octane encounter Dave Richardson defeated Gary Brignall 10-12, 11-3, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9.
In division three second placed Maldon A were narrow 6-4 winners against Writtle D. Lloyd Bennett-Smith was undefeated for Maldon and he sealed the win with a 11-5, 11-8, 14-16, 12-14, 11-9 win over Malcolm Henstock. Peter Layzell impressed with his 11-6, 12-10, 11-8 win over Hamish Innes.
The division four match between Highwood B and Chelmsford H finished tied at 5-5. Chelmsford’s Khalid Davis dominated and he beat Martin Goddard (11-8, 16-14, 11-6), Dave Cockeril (11-4, 7-11, 9-11, 14-12, 11-9) and Russell Downton (11-6, 11-7, 10-12, 11-8).
Buttsbury are well placed in division five, one point behind the leaders Hatfield Peverel D but with a game in hand. Jamie Elliott won his three singles as they beat Danbury N 6-4. Steve Martin edged out Ray Horton 11-8, 7-11, 2-11, 11-7, 11-9 for the losers.
Jamie Elliott was in action again for Buttsbury Bees who beat Chelmsford Leopards 3-2 in division 2A of the Chelmsford Junior League. Elliott defeated Dion Fernandes (11-8, 11-5, 11-6) and Cleon Fernandes (11-13, 11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 11-6). Jamie Elliott was also undefeated in singles as Buttsbury Bees lost 2-3 to Chelmsford Pumas. This time he beat Ben Chivers (11-5, 11-8, 11-6) and Todd Martin (8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 8-11, 11-5).
Buttsbury Badgers were 5-0 winners against Writtle Racoons in Junior division 2B. Harry Hutt and Oscar Hutt carried all before them. The match between Chelmsford Antelopes and Chelmsford Jaguars was closer with the Antelopes winning 3-2 despite the fact that Emilie Guilloux was undefeated for Chelmsford Jaguars. Emilie beat Arnav Kumar (11-4, 11-5, 11-4) and Samaksh Sirohi (11-4, 12-10, 9-11, 11-7).
Buttsbury Bulldogs ran out 4-1 winners against Chelmsford Eagles in Junior division 2C. Tommy Hudd led the way with two wins. He beat Francesca Hart (11-3, 11-9, 8-11, 16-14) and Freya Hart (9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 14-12). Chelmsford Cougars also made a successful start. They beat Buttsbury Beavers 3-2. Felix Reeve was their match-winner. He beat Joseph Hutt (11-8, 11-3, 11-7) and Lucy Elliott (11-5, 11-6, 11-9).
Matthew Brown reports on the KO Cup competitions as follows –
The round of 16 in the Handicap Cup was played in January. As always in the Handicap Cup, we seem to either have very closely fought matches or runaway victories.
The Chelmsford H team of Joachin Mapes, Harry Chivers and Saul Chivers were involved in a very tight contest with the more experienced trio of OC’s B’s Connor Payne, Charles Yeung and Richard Baxter. The match see-sawed with never more than a match between the two sides. Richard Baxter opened proceedings for OC’s with a 17-21, 23-21, 21-9 win over Saul Chivers. Joachin Mapes levelled with a 17-21, 21-12, 21-9 win over Charles Yeung. Connor Payne then restored OC’s lead with a 21-23, 21-17, 21-19 win over Harry Chivers but Chelmsford fought back with two straight set wins for Saul and Harry. It was 21-15, 28-26 for Saul over Charles and 21-13, 21-8 for Harry over Richard. OC’s levelled with a 15-21, 13-21 win for Connor over Joachin. Chelmsford took the lead again with a 20-22, 24-22, 21-13 win for Harry over Charles, only for OC’s to level with a 11-21, 4-21 win for Connor over Saul. This left Joachin to play Richard to decide the tie. In two very close sets, Joachin prevailed 23-21, 23-21 to send Chelmsford into the quarterfinals.
Meeting Chelmsford H will be Danbury G or Chelmsford J. In what was another very closely fought contest, Danbury G prevailed by the skin of their teeth as they came back from 2-4 to just about win 5-4 and that included surviving six match points in game eight where Luca Bailey recovered in both sets two and three to squeeze past Peter Davenport, 18-21, 24-22, 22-20. Six of the matches went to deciding sets (a testament to the handicapping?) and every player won at least one game in a match of styles and grit. Jacqui Smith played brilliantly all evening beating Eamonn Hall, and taking Luca Bailey and Sanjay Saptarshi to three sets. The final game was between the unbeaten Paul Bullock and the winless Eamonn Hall, and yes it went to three long sets before Eamonn saw his team through to the next round winning 21-15, 14-21, 21-16.
The tie between OC’s C and Chelmsford E was a little more one-sided with the Chelmsford E side of Adi Kamma, Dave Parker and Chris Young running into a 4-0 lead before OC’s got started. This said, three of those four games were settled in the deciding set, with OC’s Mick Hayes losing out 21-11, 15-21, 27-29 to Chris Young in the opener, Mick Richardson being similarly thwarted 23-21, 20-22, 16-21 by Dave Parker in game two, and Mick Hayes again being on the wrong end of a deuce in the third scoreline, going down 14-21, 21-16, 22-24 to Dave Parker in game four. David Porter and Mick Richardson restored some pride to the score line with straight set wins before Dave Parker finished OC’s off in yet another deciding set, getting the better of David Porter 18-21, 21-13, 21-15.
Chelmsford E’s quarter-final opponents will be Danbury M after they defeated Writtle C 5-4. The Danbury side started well with victories for Ken Wilding and Martin Knights (who got the better of Gary Ward 19-21, 21-10, 25-23) before Writtle levelled with wins for John Webber and John Gagg. Danbury took the lead again with a deciding set win for Ken Wilding over John Webber before Writtle looked to take the initiative with two straight set wins for Gary Ward and John Webber. However, Danbury were not to be thwarted and Paul Thirkettle and Ken Wilding won the last two games in straight sets to prevail 5-4.
The other remaining Writtle team, Writtle D, also came unstuck, losing 2-5 to Buttsbury B. Despite two wins for Malcolm Henstock, the Buttsbury team of Jamie Elliott, Ray Horton and Oscar Hutt were able to run away with the victory.
Buttsbury B’s quarter-final opponents are Danbury N, who completely overpowered the Highwood A team of Melanie Bonnett, Keith Pallett and Keith Fitz-John who commented “Danbury won hands down!”. The Danbury side of Ron Tam, Steve Martin and Graham Naggs were just too strong for their handicaps. Closest match on the night was Keith Fitz-John’s three set loss to Steve Martin (21-19, 10-21, 18-21).
Highwood were on the wrong end of another one-sided match when their B team lost 5-2 to Maldon C. Despite two wins for Highwood’s Roger Patient, the Maldon C team of Ella Sach, Kym Eames and Andrea Alleyne were always in control, leading 2-0 and 3-1, before easing to the 5-2 win in the closest game of the night when Maldon’s Kym Eames prevailed 18-21, 5-21, 19-21 against Highwood’s Roger Patient.
The last match in this round was an all Danbury affair. Their J team hosted the B team and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the match went all the way to a deciding set in game nine. The B team opened proceedings with Eric Green defeating David Meah, only for the J team to hit back and take the next three games with Dave Marsh, John Robinson and David Meah each winning one. The B team did not give up and levelled with a three set win for Eric Green (19-21, 21-13, 21-19) over John Robinson and a straight-sets win for Sam Lowman over Dave Marsh. John Robinson then put the J team in front again with a three sets win over Neil Want (19-21, 21-13, 21-16) before Sam Lowman levelled the tie. So it came down to Dave Marsh against Eric Green, with Dave taking the first set 25-23, Eric fighting back to win the second 21-15, only for Dave to turn the tie in Danbury J’s favour to win 21-12. Their reward is a quarter-final match against Maldon C.
In the quarterfinals this past week Chelmsford H played Danbury G. While Danbury got off to a good start with a three sets win for Sanjay Saptarshi against Saul Chivers (21-18, 13-21, 24-22), it was the Chelmsford team that then took the initiative, with Nyree March, Harry Chivers and Saul Chivers taking the next three games. Danbury gave themselves hope when Gordon Gatheral got the better of Saul Chivers but Chelmsford bounced back taking the next two games and becoming the first team to make the semi-finals.
The remaining quarterfinals are scheduled for the week commencing 7 March.
In the Open Cup a preliminary round match between Chelmsford D and Highwood A was played in January. The Chelmsford team of Sudheep Kamma, Vinny Kamma and Keith Martin powered to a 5-1 win, with only Highwood’s Melanie Bonnett win over Vinny Kamma preventing a whitewash for the Chelmsford team. Their reward, a quarterfinal against their B team.
Two quarterfinal matches have been played, with first Danbury A beating Chelmsford F 5-0 (the winners of the Chelmsford B v D match will meet them in the semi-final). Danbury’s Babul McLeod, Eric Green and Dave Richardson were far too strong for Chelmsford’s Alex and Nikita Tkachuk and Luke Richardson, and didn’t drop a set in any of the five games.
Danbury B have also played their quarterfinal match against OC’s B and in another one-sided affair ran out 7-0 winners. The Danbury team of Sam Lowman, Dan Anderson and Dan Piggott, over-powered the division two side of Trevor Carter, Charles Yeung and Connor Payne. Danbury’s semi-final opponents will be either Chelmsford or Writtle A.
One of the two Division 3 Down quarterfinals has been played with Danbury J getting the better of Chelmsford E, 7-2. The Danbury side of Peter Hance, John Robinson and Sam Phillips, eased to victory against Chelmsford’s Rev Matthews, Adi Kamma and Vasile Barbulet. Rev Matthews scored a good four sets win over John Robinson and the doubles pairing of Rev and Adi had a last gasp 14-12 fifth set win over Peter and John. Danbury will face Chelmsford H in the semi-finals.
All other quarterfinal matches in the Open Cup and the Divisions 2, 3 and 4 Down Knockout Cups are due to be played in the week commencing 7 March.
Steve Kerns Press & Publicity Officer Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League