Chelmsford Juniors start the new season with a bang! | Essex County Table Tennis Association

There were four wins from four week one matches for Chelmsford TTC juniors as the new
C&DTTL season got underway.
Division 1
Galleywood A started their division one campaign with a 7-3 home win over Chelmsford
B as James Hicks and Alistair Hill both hit three wins apiece. Hicks won his first two
matches in straight games before having to recover from 2-1 down to beat Waseem
Qureshi. Qureshi had earlier fallen victim of a Hill fightback from 2-0 behind – this was
after Hill had beaten Wiktor Delimat from 2-1 down. Last year’s runners-up Chelmsford A
started their 2024/2025 campaign with a 6-4 home win against the two-person team of
Writtle A. Harry Chivers won both of his matches though was well tested in his second
match which went the distance. Josh Bickles chipped in with a 3-0 win over Trevor
Carter – Carter had earlier got the better of Kim Shead by the same scoreline. The
Writtle duo bounced back after comprehensively losing the first game to take the
doubles encounter 3-1. Chris Penrose fired a hat-trick as his Danbury A side got the
better of clubmates Danbury B by a 7-3 scoreline – teammate Bruce Kettle chipped in
with two wins. Penrose beat Neil Want in three, Sam Lowman in four and recovered from
2-1 down to beat Sanjay Saptarshi.
Division 2
Newly promoted Buttsbury A started life in division two with a bang as they beat Writtle
B 9-1. Jamie Elliott and Harrison Hill won three matches apiece with two 3-0 wins for
David Gatheral before he was undone by Trevor Carter. Martin Archie fired a treble as
last year’s division two runners-up Hatfield Peverel A started their season with a 7-3
away win at Writtle C. Archie was taken the distance by Writtle’s John Webber while the
match between Writtle’s Gary Ward and Peverel’s Paul Mulley also went to five games –
Ward recovering from 2-1 down. The fixture between Danbury D and Chelmsford C
ended in a 5-5 draw as Chelmsford’s Simon Jarvis won all three matches. Jarvis was
taken the distance by Sanjay Saptarshi who himself beat Dusan Doszkoty and Adi
Kamma. Kamma had battled back from 2-0 down against David Penrose only to see the
Danbury man take the decider.
Division 3
In Division 3, Chelmsford D won 9-1 at Hatfield Peverel B thanks to a hat-trick apiece for
both Alex Tkachuk and Mike Johnson. Peverel’s Neil Freeman may have felt unfortunate
to have been on the losing end of two five gamers – he also lost a close contest with Alex
Tkachuk. Peter Mortensen took the scalp of Adi Kamma for Peverel’s sole point but then
missed out over five games in the doubles when teaming with Mortensen. Matthew
Brown fired a treble as Writtle D earned a close 6-4 home win over Danbury J. Gus
Heath and John Tendler won two apiece for the visitors though both players lost out to
Brown – Heath having led 2-0. Gary Copsey started his season with a treble as his
Galleywood C side got the better of Chelmsford E by a 6-4 scoreline. Chelmsford’s
Alesha Ellis-Austin and James Grimston both won twice – Grimston recovered from 2-1
down to beat Bryn Thomas. Three wins for Harry Sawford backed up by two for Dennis
Squirrell spurred Buttsbury B to a 6-4 away win at Writtle E. Sawford dropped just one
game on the night – the opener in his clash with Dave Moles, while Squirrell came
through a tough battle with Malcolm Storey. A good team effort by Danbury G saw them
take home a 7-3 win from Chelmsford F despite a hat-trick from Cleon Fernandes. Denis
Crapnell and Louis Gunn both saw Fernandes recover from losing positions to earn two
of his victories in deciding games. Danbury H and OCA C were embroiled in an
entertaining contest which ended in a 6-4 win for the home side after two wins apiece
for Scott Perry, Alan Dadswell and Peter Harverson. OCA’s Tom Barker won twice but
was undone by a recovery from Perry when leading 2-0 – Barker got a measure of
revenge in the doubles contest by teaming with Luke Richardson and edging Perry and
Harverson 3-2.
Division 4
Hutton A’s 9-1 home win over OCA D was the biggest margin of victory in week one of
division four. The father-son duo of Alex and Charlie Ware helped themselves to a treble
each while Tina Hutchinson’s only loss of the night was to David Bishop. Marty
Englander hit a hat-trick and there were two wins apiece for Chris Ravenhill and Andrea
Alleyne as Maldon B beat Danbury M 8-2. Englander dropped just two games in his
three victories while Danbury’s Graham Naggs recovered from 2-0 down to beat
Ravenhill. Alex Wilson won all three singles matches and he was backed up with braces
by Greg Cooper and John Manning as Danbury L claimed a 7-3 away success at
Highwood A. Highwood’s Melanie Bonnett won two five-gamers for the hosts but lost out
to Wilson in four close games. Nick Rounce dropped just one game enroute to his three
victories in Galleywood D’s 7-3 away win at Buttsbury C. Stewart Ireland and Lewis
Armstrong both won twice for the visitors – each losing out to Buttsbury’s Kevin Willis.
Willis pushed Rounce in their contest but couldn’t quite get a game on the board losing
out 10-12, 8-11, 13-15. Dave Powell’s three wins led his Danbury K side to a 6-4 home win
over Buttsbury D. Kevin Willis was in action again for Buttsbury and he won twice as did
his teammate Phil Shippen – Shippen squeezed past Dave Oxley-Goody in the deciding
game. After a successful campaign in division five last season, Mark Nolan fired a
hat-trick in his first appearance in division four as his Chelmsford G team drew 5-5 with
Hatfield Peverel C. Deb Ginn won twice for the visitors though she was taken to five
games by Martin Brunker. Nolan had to recover from 2-1 down against Peverel’s Bob
Hillis in the evening’s opener.
Division 5
Steve Webster and Charlie Gould won three matches apiece as Hutton B opened their
division five campaign with a 9-1 away win at Highwood B. Webster dropped just one
game while Gould squeezed past Martin Goddard and Keith Pallett by identical 3-2
score lines. Jenne Seibolt and Lucy Elliott both hit hat-tricks in Buttsbury E’s 8-2 away
win at Galleywood E. The closest contest of the evening was Steve Peacock’s
come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Freya Hart. Three wins for James Raymond and two
each for Arthur Shadforth and Kym Eames fired Maldon C to an 8-2 away victory at
Hatfield Peverel F. Peverel’s David Benstead won twice for the hosts – his victory over
Kym Eames being a nail-biting 10-12, 8-11, 11-7, 13-11, 14-12. There were three wins for
Writtle F’s Michael Anthony and two for Paul Aarons as the visitors beat Hatfield Peverel
D 6-4. Peverel’s Richard Drozd won twice but lost out to Anthony despite leading 2-1.
James Grindlay won three in Chelmsford H’s 5-5 home draw with Hatfield Peverel E. The
closest match of the night was the first of Jackie Treacy’s two wins whereby she held off
a Shengbing Zhu fightback from 2-0 down to take the decider. Zhu later lost to Davina
Brazier by the same 3-2 scoreline.
Chelmsford Junior League division 1A
The all-Hutton clash went in favour of the Hawks as Jago Ware won twice in his side’s
4-1 victory over the Harriers. Ware recovered from going a game down to James
Williamson to win six games in a row, while teammate Noah Middleton let a 2-0 lead
against Oliver Davies slip before edging out Williamson over five games. The Chelmsford
Lions and the Chelmsford Tigers posted identical 3-2 wins against the two teams from
Buttsbury who fielded the same two players for both matches. Joshua Freeman won all
four of his singles matches dropping just two games in the process – his most
competitive match looked to be his 11-9, 14-12, 13-11 win over Amir Chetitah. Chetitah
and Callum Walker were involved in a tight contest with the Chelmsford player earning a
3-2 win. Chetitah and Ethan Collins clinched the match victory in the Lions-Bats doubles
encounter with a fine recovery from 2-1 down.
Chelmsford Junior League division 1B
There were two wins for Chelmsford teams in week one of junior league division 1B as
the Jaguars beat the Hutton Hyenas 4-1 and the Leopards beat the Buttsbury Bulldogs
5-0. Tianfu Liu and Sean Kwan were undefeated in their singles matches for the Jaguars
though Liu was taken the distance by both Hutton players Jacob Fernandez and Shayan
Torne. Liu’s recovery against Fernandez was especially impressive having lost the first
two games 11-1 and 11-5. Torne and Fernandez staged a fine turnaround of their own as
they won the doubles contest 3-11, 3-11, 11-9, 13-11, 16-14. Sai Suresh and Archie Spurrier
won twice apiece for the Leopards in their victory at Buttsbury. The closest match of the
night was Spurrier’s 3-2 win over Ethan Bird which finished an entertaining 9-11, 13-11,
9-11, 11-9. 13-11 to the Leopards ace.

Jeremy Hill, Press Officer, Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League

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