In a week of closely fought matches in division two of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League the 7-3 win for Hatfield Peverel A over Chelmsford D stands out. This result has enabled Hatfield Peverel A to leap-frog over Chelmsford D into third place. Chelmsford Tournament legend Julie Johnson led the way with a fine hat-trick of wins beating Adi Kamma (11-8, 11-6, 11-8), Nikita Tkachuk (11-6, 11-7, 6-11, 11-8) and Paul Nicol (11-6, 11-5, 11-7). Adi Kamma was on target for Chelmsford beating Gareth Davies (11-9, 11-8, 8-11, 10-12, 11-9). Team-work enabled Danbury E to beat Galleywood B 6-4. Dick Wyman and Tony Forster picked up two wins for Danbury with Bryn Thomas winning twice for Galleywood. Thomas pipped Tony Forster (13-11, 11-8, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9). Maldon A were also 6-4 winners, at the expense of Chelmsford C. Lloyd Bennett-Smith’s three wins gave Maldon the ascendancy and he completed his hat-trick with a (11-7, 5-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-8) win over Robert Shrimpton. Bennett-Smith also fought back from 2-0 down to beat Victor Chan (9-11, 12-14, 11-9, 13-11, 11-3). Second placed Danbury D have been without their leading player Sanjay Saptarshi (who is on holiday) and they were held to a draw by Writtle C after Gary Ward had won his three singles. Ward beat David Gatheral (7-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-6, 11-4) to complete his hat-trick. A hard-fought clash between OCA C and Writtle B finished tied at 5-5. Phil Smith picked up three good wins for Writtle B whilst Mick Richardson and Mick Hayes both won twice for the Old Chelmsfordians team. Mick Hayes defeated Dave Moles (10-12, 15-13, 10-12, 11-7, 17-15). Quite a battle !.
Danbury A were impressive 7-3 winners over Chelmsford B in division one. Dave Richardson led the way with three wins beating Kim Shead (11-7, 11-7, 11-5), Rob Shrimpton (2-11, 12-10, 11-13, 11-7, 11-7) and Simon Jarvis (9-11, 11-9, 15-13, 11-7). Rob Shrimpton picked up two good victories for the Chelmsford side. He defeated Babul McLeod (7-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-4) and Bruce Kettle (11-3, 11-5, 11-3). Danbury B ran out 7-3 winners over Writtle A. Sam Lowman led the way with a hat-trick which included an excellent (11-8, 12-10, 6-11, 13-11) victory over Kevin Read. Writtle are currently bottom of the table but with players of the calibre of Duncan Taylor, Lee McHugh and Kevin Read available they should be able to climb out of the relegation zone quite easily. Leaders OCA A scored their sixth win out of seven, brushing aside the challenge of Chelmsford A 9-1. Matthew Mulley (18 /18 wins) retained his unbeaten record whilst Paul Lucas (86 %) was also undefeated. Saul Chivers made his mark with a fine (9-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8) win over Keiran Lally.
Danbury F scored their seventh win of the season in division three and they lead the way with 71 points. Gus Heath (90 %) and Chris Buer (95 %) were both undefeated in their 8-2 victory over OCA D. With John Tendler to call on as well this team must be odds-on favourites. Danbury K are a distant third with 48 points. Denis Balic won his three singles in their 7-3 win over Maldon B, and he clinched his hat-trick with a (11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 12-14, 11-6) success against Dawn Baldry. Danbury K also drew 5-5 with Danbury H. Denis Balic was again unbeaten, downing the challenges of David Meah (11-4, 8-11, 11-6, 13-15, 11-7), Terry Hyland (11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7) and Dave Marsh (11-8, 14-12, 11-7). Danbury G (Alan Scammell, Peter Lucraft and Ken Sheard) are second and they turned in an all-conquering performance to beat Writtle E 10-0. Peter Lucraft had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Neil Thompson (15-17, 11-13, 11-8, 11-5, 15-13). Not much to choose between these two players !. Team-work saw Danbury H beat Chelmsford F 6-4. David Meah, Dave Marsh and Peter Hance all won twice with Dave Marsh pipping Alex Tkachuk (7-11, 11-5, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9) in the closest game of the evening. Chelmsford E were “big” winners over Hatfield Peverel B. They won 9-1 after Charlie Donald and Aidan Lees had both bagged hat-tricks. Roger Slade was on target for the losers with a (11-8, 8-11, 11-6, 11-7) victory over Rev Matthews.
Division four leaders Danbury L scored their seventh win, an impressive 9-1 victory over Hatfield Peverel C. They top the table with 56 points out of 80. Alan Dadswell and Dave Powell were both undefeated whilst Peter Mortensen secured a (14-12, 11-5, 11-7) success over Dave Goody for the losers. Chelmsford G beat Hatfield Peverel D 7-3. Alisha Ellis-Austin led the way with an excellent hat-trick of wins. She beat Deb Ginn (11-5, 6-11, 11-5, 12-10), Bob Hillis (16-14, 5-11,11-7, 11-6) and Alistair Brown (11-4, 11-4, 7-11, 11-2). Galleywood C ran out 8-2 winners against OCA F. Colin Blore and Will Goodchild were both undefeated.
Just two scorecards for division five. In the current climate you might ask if the players have gone on strike ?. Hatfield Peverel E ran out 7-3 winners against Galleywood D. Davina Brazier, Phil West and Kath Little all won twice to subdue the Galleywood side for whom Nathan Blore was undefeated. Kath Little was poised at 2-2 against Paul Cockrell but she stormed ahead in the fifth game to win (11-6, 12-10, 10-12, 8-11, 11-4). Chelmsford J beat a two player Hatfield Peverel F side 7-3. Peter Davenport was unbeaten although he had to pull out all the stops against Dave Benstead. He eventually won (11-7, 13-15, 7-11, 13-11, 12-10).
Danbury Dragons beat the higher-placed Chelmsford Tigers 3-2 in Junior division 1(A). Oliver Martin and Oliver Ware both won once but they both lost to Pavanaj Srinavasmurthy. In four ends. Pavanaj beat Oliver Martin (11-6, 11-1, 9-11, 11-6) and Oliver Ware (11-6, 10-12, 11-9, 11-9).
All players are reminded that the 2022/3 Chelmsford Closed Table Tennis Championships take place at Anglia Ruskin University, Mildmay Hall, Alan Cherry Drive, Chelmsford, CM1 1QT from Friday 06 January 2023 to Sunday 08 January 2023. The closing date for entries is Saturday 24 December 2022. There are various new events this year so players are requested to check the entry form closely to ensure they don’t miss out on events they are eligible for.
Entry forms have been distributed and the link is below
Steve Kerns Press Officer Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League