It’s that time – final push for honours.
It’s that time in the Season when teams in the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League take stock of how their Season is going. Is a final push for promotion required or is a slight but achievable improvement needed to avoid relegation ?.
Danbury C stay second in division one. They beat Danbury A 6-4, good going as the inform Chris Penrose was undefeated for Danbury A. Penrose downed the challenges of Paul Davison (11-6, 11-9, 11-6) and 2023 Chelmsford Mens Singles Champion Keith Adams (2-11, 11-8, 11-7, 7-11, 11-6). Danbury A fared better against Chelmsford B and they won 8-2. Bruce Kettle and Dave Richardson both bagged hat-tricks. Richardson fought back from 2-0 down to beat Simon Jarvis (9-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-2). Chelmsford A are third, and they beat Danbury B 8-2. Brothers Saul Chivers and Harry Chivers were both undefeated and they both defeated Sam Lowman.
Danbury D are second in division two and they beat Galleywood B 6-4. Sam Phillips won his three singles which gave them the edge. John Holland beat David Gatheral (11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-4) for the losers. Danbury E were the week’s big winners, defeating a two-man OCA B 9-1. Dick Wyman and Tony Forster were both undefeated. Dick Wyman had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Bertie Makoli (5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 12-10). Writtle C emerged as 6-4 winners of a close match against Chelmsford C. Gary Ward was undefeated and he fought back from 2-0 down to defeat Victor Chan (11-13, 13-15, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8). Writtle B defeated Maldon A 8-2. Richard Storey and Phil Smith carried all before them in what was a very impressive performance from Writtle B. Chelmsford D also won 8-2, beating OCA C, with Nikita Tkachuk winning his three singles. He saw off Mick Richardson, who won twice for the Old Chelmsfordians team (6-11, 11-4, 6-11, 11-6, 11-3).
Division three “Champions elect” Danbury F produced a superb performance to beat second placed Danbury G 10-0 (yes 10-0 !). Gus Heath, Steve Buer and Chris Buer were all unbeaten. They lead the table by 29 points and have a game in hand. Danbury F also beat Chelmsford E 9-1. Gus Heath and Chris Buer again carried all before them. Joachin Mapes was on target, beating Steve Buer (9-11, 11-2, 11-3, 11-4) in the last game of the evening. In a week where this division included some “big wins” Chelmsford F beat Writtle E 9-1. Waseem Qureshi and Alex Tkachuk were both undefeated. Neil Thompson was on target for Writtle E, beating Dusan Doszkoty (8-11, 13-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-5). Danbury K also won 9-1, and they also overcame Writtle E. Denis Balic and Mervyn Perriman were both undefeated. Perriman managed to beat Malcolm Storey 3-0, but the scores speak for themselves (12-10, 11-9, 15-13). Writtle D emerged as 8-2 winners against Danbury H. Peter Layzell was undefeated for Writtle; just; he saw off John Robinson (11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 19-17, 11-5). In a closer match OCA D beat Maldon B 7-3. Richard Baxter led the way with three wins. Brian Riedling responded with two wins for Maldon and he missed out narrowly against Richard Baxter (8-11, 11-13, 15-17). Second-placed Danbury G missed out 6-4 to their club-mates Danbury K. Denis Crapnell was on top form for Danbury K and he remained unbeaten. This included a (11-6, 3-11, 11-7, 11-6) win over Ken Sheard – the best of the Danbury G players.
Buttsbury A look to be the favourites in division four. They trail Chelmsford G by three points but they have three games in hand. Buttsbury A beat OCA F 8-2. Jamie Eliott won his three singles and he was well supported by Kevin Willis and Frances Hutt who both won twice. Frances Hutt beat Stuart Wintle (8-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-5, 13-11) in the closest game of the evening. Chelmsford G fell back losing 6-4 to third-placed Danbury L. Harrison Hill was unbeaten for the Chelmsford team and he avenged his first half defeat against Dave Powell (his only loss) in no uncertain terms. He powered home (11-4, 11-6, 11-5). Dave Goody did well to beat Alesha Ellis-Austin (8-11, 11-9, 11-8, 3-11,11-6). OCA E ran out 9-1 winners against Hatfield Peverel D. David Newman and Farooq Ahmed both won their three singles. Chris Rollinson replied for Hatfield Peverel D beating Russell Hall (8-11, 11-8, 11-4, 8-11, 11-9). Chelmsford H also won 9-1, an impressive result against the higher placed Hatfield Peverel C. Cleon Fernandes and Felix Reeve were both undefeated.
Maldon C were in action twice in division five. They came very close to securing a draw against leaders Highwood A, eventually losing 6-4. Roger Patient was undefeated for Highwood whilst Marty Englander and Kym Eames won twice for Maldon. Kym Eames beat Nicola Pippen (4-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8). Maldon C also beat Galleywood D 7-3. Kym Eames won her three singles and she gave her side that all important winning start by beating Steve Peacock (12-14, 11-8, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8) in the opening game. James Grinston won his three singles as Chelmsford J beat Hatfield Peverel 6-4. Davina Brazier provided the sternest test, succumbing narrowly (2-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9, 8-11).
Chelmsford Tigers made it four wins out of four in Junior division 2A. However, their 3-2 win over second placed Buttsbury Bears was a close one. Pav Srinvasmurthy beat both Lucy Elliott (9-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-9) and Joseph Hutt (10-12, 6-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-5) to give the Tigers the ascendancy. Buttsbury Bears were in turn decisive 5-0 winners against Buttsbury Bees. Callum Walker and Lucy Elliott carried all before them. Chelmsford Lions beat Danbury Dragons 3-2. No single player won twice and the Chelmsford duo of Luka Ha and Grace Liu and Danbury’s Alex Wilson all picked up wins.
Junior division 2B produced two 4-1 results. Buttsbury Bulldogs were in action on both occasions. Freya Hart won twice as they beat Buttsbury Bats. She had to dig deep to beat Noah Middleton (11-2, 15-13, 6-11, 8-11, 11-9). They also lost to the leaders Chelmsford Cougars for whom Atharv Srivastava and Joshua Freeman won all four singles. Atharv Srivastava beat Francesca Hart (3-11, 11-9, 11-9, 10-12, 13-11) in a very well contested opening encounter.
Chelmsford Jaguars are the team to beat in Junior division 2C. Gil Martins and Paras Jinturkar ran out 5-0 winners against Chelmsford Leopards. Chelmsford Leopards did better against Chelmsford Panthers and lost narrowly 3-2. It all rested on the doubles and Harry Trefletts and Mark Locke-Wheaton beat Sean Kwan and Ryan Peiris (15-13, 11-9, 4-11, 8-11, 11-6). Buttsbury Beavers were 4-1 winners against Chelmsford Panthers. Thomas Hall was the stand-out performer and remained undefeated.
Steve Kerns Press Officer Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League