Writtle A are the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League 2021/2 Open Knock out Cup Champions after beating Chelmsford B 5-4 in a top-class final.  It was a match the young Chelmsford side came very close to winning having stormed into a stunning 4-2 lead. The opening doubles is always a vital encounter if a team is planning an upset and Chelmsford B (Harry Buckle and Saul Chivers) made a great start by beating Lee McHugh / Arron Chandler 11-5, 7-11, 11-7, 11-6. Game on. Writtle hit back in the second game – Duncan Taylor arguably the most experienced player in the League, despatched Charlie Craig (10-12, 11-8, 11-2, 11-8). The third game was a big one and Harry Buckle restored the Chelmsford lead with a fine 11-9, 11-3, 6-11, 11-6 win over Lee McHugh. Game four was another big one, and Arron Chandler levelled the scores, to 2-2, by fighting back from 2-0 down to beat Saul Chivers 9-11, 4-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-5. The middle doubles saw Harry Buckle and Charlie Craig secure a fine 12-10, 13-11, 11-8 win over Duncan Taylor and Lee McHugh and Charlie Craig extended his side’s lead to 4-2 by defeating Arron Chandler 11-6, 11-5, 9-11, 9-11, 11-7. Chelmsford B had one hand on the trophy. However,  Writtle were far from finished and they fought back strongly. Lee McHugh beat Saul Chivers 11-9, 3-11, 11-8, 11-8 and Duncan Taylor defeated Harry Buckle 11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 15-13.  It all came down to the final doubles and Duncan Taylor and Arron Chandler sealed the victory for their team with a 12-10, 11-8, 11-8 win over Charlie Craig and Saul Chivers. What a good final !.  Lee McHugh, the Chelmsford League Coaching Officer deserves the final word on what was a great match – “Competing against those I coach (especially juniors) is not an experience I can say I genuinely enjoy, however what I can say is that I’m very proud of how far they have come in the sport…….”. Hear, hear.

The Chelmsford Junior Knock Out Cup Final was between Chelmsford A and Chelmsford B and  Chelmsford A (Harry Buckle, Charlie Craig and Josh Bickles) ran out 5-1 winners. All games were well contested and Saul Chivers was on target for the B team with a 11-6, 8-11, 12-10, 11-3 victory over Charlie Craig. Charlie Craig / Josh Bickles had given their side a vital winning start by beating Saul  Chivers / Nikita Tkachuk 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9 in a hard fought opening doubles encounter. Josh Bickles eventually sealed the win for his side with a very hard fought 11-9, 2-11, 19-17, 11-9 victory over Harry Chivers. With Chelmsford Mens Singles Champion Daniel Young also eligible it has to be said that the strength in depth of the Junior players at the Chelmsford Club is fantastic.

All players are reminded that the 2022 Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League Annual General Meeting will take place at 19.30 hours at Old Chelmsfordians Association, Lawford Lane, Roxwell Road on Thursday 26 May 2022. All clubs should be represented.

Galleywood A were in action twice in the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League. By beating Danbury C 8-2 they moved off the bottom. Both sides fielded reserves and Galleywood fared best. The evergreen John Holland led the way with a hat-trick and this included a 11-7, 8-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-3 win over Sam Phillips and a really hard fought 14-12, 1-8, 7-11, 9-11, 14-12 win over David Gatheral. Steve Kerns saw off Ken Sheard 11-5, 10-12, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7. Galleywood rounded off their Season with a 4-6 defeat to Danbury B. Dan Anderson was undefeated for Danbury B and this included a desperately close 11-13, 12-10, 6-11, 11-6, 15-13 win over James Hicks. Gary Brignall scored the stand-out win of the night – a superb 11-9, 11-7, 17-15 victory against Sam Lowman.

Division two produced a remarkably close finish for second place. Hatfield Peverel A (95 points), Chelmsford D (95 points), Writtle C (94 points) and Danbury D (94 points) were all involved in what must surely be the closest finish on record. Danbury D beat Danbury G 6-4 in a match where no one player stayed undefeated. Gus Heath and Ian Cranstone both won twice for Danbury D as did David Gatheral and Sanjay Saptarshi for the G team. Gus Heath gave his side a perfect start with a 11-8, 12-10, 1-11, 11-7 win over Sanjay Saptarshi whilst Ian Cranstone did well to beat David Gatheral 11-7, 9-11, 14-12, 6-11, 13-11.

Second-placed Maldon A produced a strong performance in division three to beat Chelmsford F 8-2, their seventeenth win of the season. Lloyd Bennett-Smith led the way with a hat-trick whilst the emerging Nikita Tkachuk won twice for the Chelmsford team. All four Maldon players – Hamish Innes (83 %), Brian Riedling (58 %), Dawn Baldry (80 %) and Lloyd Bennett-Smith (89 %) had excellent seasons and they look well equipped to make their mark next year in division two.  Danbury K led by a hat-trick of wins from Peter Hance were 7-3 winners over Danbury H. Hance was pegged back to 2-2 by Dave Powell but he pulled through to win 11-5, 11-7, 5-11, 8-11, 11-8. OCA D also won 7-3. Richard Baxter and Connor Payne were both undefeated against Hatfield Peverel B.

Chelmsford Pumas beat their nearest rivals – Buttsbury Bees 4-1 in junior league division 2A. Cleon Fernandes led the way with wins over Jamie Elliott (11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9) and Ben Brown (11-6, 11-7, 11-6). Cleon Fernandes was also in action for Chelmsford Leopards against Buttsbury Bats and his wins over George Hagland (11-6, 11-7, 11-6) and Oscar Hutt (9-11, 11-8, 11-2, 11-13, 11-7) were again instrumental in his side winning 4-1.  In yet another match which was decided 4-1 Chelmsford Pumas beat Writtle Rattlesnakes. Harrison Hill was undefeated this time beating Mime Pummell (11-7, 11-9, 11-8) and Archie Pummell (11-5, 9-11, 18-16, 11-9).

Buttsbury Badgers took two big strides towards winning junior league division 2B. They beat Chelmsford Jaguars 5-0 with Oscar Hutt and Harry Hutt carrying all before them and they also beat Chelmsford Antelopes 4-1. Oscar Hutt again dominated proceedings with wins over Samaksh Sirohi (11-6, 11-7, 11-3) and Richard Carter (14-12, 8-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-7). Chelmsford Jaguars scored their first win of the season by beating Chelmsford Wildcats 4-1. Emilie Guilloux shone here, retaining her 100 % record with wins over Atharv Srivastava and Richard Carter. Chelmsford Jaguars made it win number two with a 4-1 victory against Writtle Racoons. Emile Guilloux was again undefeated beating Luv Goel (11-4, 11-9, 11-7) and Kush Goel (11-4, 11-5, 11-5). In yet another game decided 4-1, Writtle Racoons ran out 4-1 winners against Chelmsford Antelopes. Luv Goel won twice and Kush Goel picked up one win, a close one (11-4. 9-11, 3-11, 11-8, 11-9) against Aryan Gupta.

The leaders Buttsbury Bulldogs were in action three times in junior division 2C. They beat Chelmsford Jaguars 5-0. Callum Walker and Joseph Hutt had to work hard for this victory and Joseph Hutt was stretched to beat Daniel Lewis (9-11, 11-8, 15-13, 15-13). They also beat Buttsbury Beavers 3-2 although Lucy Elliott won twice for the Beavers. Good wins as well; (6-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-7) against Callum Walker and (11-9, 11-8, 11-6) against Joseph Hutt. They made it three wins by beating Chelmsford Eagles 4-1. Joseph Hutt was undefeated this time. Lucy Elliott was again to the fore as Buttsbury Beavers defeated Chelmsford Lions 3-2. She won her two singles and partnered Noah Middleton to a hard-fought doubles success (11-7, 8-11, 9-11, 14-12, 11-7) against Atharv Gupta and Aarav Toshnival.  Felix Reeve won twice to guide Chelmsford Cougars to a 4-1 win over Chelmsford Eagles and Buttsbury Beavers edged out Chelmsford Eagles 3-2. Lucy Elliott was again undefeated although Yishai Choo went down battling. Lucy won this one; 11-5, 11-1, 10-12, 11-9.     Yishai Choo also beat Noah Middleton in five ends (9-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-8).

Chelmsford H are the 2021-2 Handicap KO Cup Champions in the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League. Their team of Nyree Marsh (handicap of 30), Cleon Fernandes (21) and Harry Chivers (63) beat Buttsbury B (Jamie Elliott, Lucy Elliott and Oscar Hutt) 5-1 in the final. For Nyree Marsh, the winner of the Handicap Singles at the Chelmsford Tournament in January this was an impressive and possibly unique double. Nyree sealed her team’s win by beating Jamie Elliott (48) 21-17, 22-20. Harry Chivers who has progressed from division four (where he had a 100 % record) to division two (where he has a 70 % record) in the same season gave his side a winning start by beating Oscar Hutt (21) 21-19, 21-15, whilst Cleon Fernandes (21) played his part by beating Oscar Hutt 21-13, 21-18. In their Semi-Final Chelmsford H overpowered Danbury M – Ken Wilding, Paul Thirkettle and Anne Mills 5-0 whilst Buttsbury B defeated Maldon C (Dawn Baldry, Andrea Alleyne and Ella Sach) 5-1.

The Open KO Cup final will be between Writtle A and Chelmsford B. Writtle A – Duncan Taylor, Lee McHugh and Arron Chandler were stretched to beat Danbury B 5-3. Lee McHugh played his part in their victory by fighting back from 2-0 down to beat Sam Lowman (9-11, 4-11, 11-2, 11-4, 11-6) and Dan Anderson (14-12, 11-9, 11-9). Duncan Taylor sealed their win by beating Sam Lowman 11-6, 11-8, 7-11, 11-5. Chelmsford B – Harry Buckle, Charlie Craig and Saul Chivers beat Danbury A 5-2.   Chelmsford B suffered an early setback when Eric Green beat Harry Buckle 11-7, 11-3, 11-5 but three five game wins gave them the ascendancy. Charlie Craig beat Babul McLeod 13-15, 11-5, 11-8, 9-11, 12-10 to give them a 2-1 lead and he sealed his side’s victory by beating Bruce Kettle 9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-6.  Saul Chivers played his part by beating Bruce Kettle 11-4, 12-10, 7-11, 11-7.

Danbury D won the division two KO Cup final with a thrilling 5-4 win over Danbury G. David Gatheral scored two big wins for the G side, beating Chris Buer (11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6) and Ian Cranstone (8-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8) whilst Ian Cranstone kept his side in the hunt with a last gasp 11-4, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 12-10 victory against Eamon Hall. The deciding doubles always had a five game look about it and Gus Heath and Ian Cranstone came through in five ends against Sanjay Saptarshi and Eamon Hall 11-2, 11-7, 8-11, 9-11, 11-8. Champions !. In their semi-finals Danbury D beat Chelmsford D 5-2 and Danbury G defeated Writtle B 5-1. Sudheep Kamma had impressed for Chelmsford D with a fine 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 10-12, 11-9 win over Ian Cranstone.    

The division three KO Cup final will be between Danbury J and Chelmsford F. Danbury J beat Chelmsford H 5-3. Dave Marsh scored two important wins beating Joachin Mapes (11-6, 12-10, 11-2) and Paul Nichol (11-9, 11-6, 11-5) whilst Denis Crapnell (playing up from division four) played his part with wins over Todd Martin (2-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8) and Joachin Mapes (11-9, 11-4, 11-4). Chelmsford F ran out 5-1 winners against Writtle D. Andy Swales sealed their win with a hard fought 11-8, 11-6, 6-11, 10-12, 11-8 success against Colin Barham.

Writtle E will face Danbury L in the division four KO Cup final. The semi-finals were contrasting affairs. Writtle E defeated OCA E 5-4. Four games were decided in the fifth end and crucially Writtle won three of them. Neil Thompson beat David Bishop (10-12, 11-7, 11-9, 10-12, 11-8) whilst Thompson and Dave Moles defeated David Newman and David Bishop in the middle doubles (13-15, 7-11, 13-11, 11-9, 11-9). It all came down to the last game and Dave Moles / Colin Griffiths beat David Newman / Russell Hall 11-7, 11-8, 3-11, 9-11, 11-8 to book their final place. The other semi-final saw Danbury L (Mervyn Perriman, Denis Crapnell and Denis Balic) secure a 5-0 win over Chelmsford G.

The division five KO Cup final will be between Buttsbury and Chelmsford J. Buttsbury (Frances Hutt, Jamie Elliott and Oscar Hutt) were 8-1 winners against Danbury N. Frances Hutt played her part with a five game win over Steve Martin (8-11, 11-3, 11-4, 10-12, 11-7). Chelmsford J were 5-3 winners against Danbury M. Jacqui Smith beat Ken Wilding by a last gasp 6-11, 12-10, 9-11, 16-14, 12-10 margin. Peter Davenport made no mistake against Ken Wilding and he won 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 to secure the win for his side.

Chelmsford B are through to the Junior Cup final. Their side of Saul Chivers, Harry Chivers and Nikita Tkachuk were 7-0 winners over Buttsbury. Jamie Elliott gave a great account of himself against Harry Chivers before losing 14-12, 6-11, 9-11, 5-11. Chelmsford B will face the mighty Chelmsford A in the final.