Founder member of Hockley TTC. Former Treasurer and Chairman now Committee member.
Press officer for Southend and District Table Tennis League
Press officer for Essex County Table Tennis Association
The Burnham & District Table Tennis League recently held their Annual Presentation evening at Forresters Park Golf & Country Club presided over by League Chairman Alan Dadswell. An enjoyable evening ensued and the prizes for the years league, cup and tournament events were presented to the winners by League President Peter Ballard. The highlights saw Peter Harverson up and down like a yoyo as his haul was immense this year, winning the Junior Singles, the Bob Partridge trophy, the Handicap Singles event as well as the Team Knockout Cup – plus a runner-up award in the Singles Plate event, and Arron Chandler winning two of the prestigious events in the Mixed Open Singles and the Hardbat Singles. The league presented the most improved junior award to Luca Riedling of Maldon TTC with a vastly increased set of averages over the season. A special Recognition Award was presented to Maldon’s Shirley Carroll for an incredible 50 years of competing in and winning the Ladies Doubles event – this year saw her 17th victory in that one event, exactly 50 years after she first triumphed back in 1976. There were some emotional moments too – especially when Wendy Richardson was able to present the Restricted Singles Cup named after her son Daniel to this year’s winner Hamish Innes. The final award of the evening was the President’s Cup which is awarded to someone who has provided great service to the league over many years, and this year we had a most worthy recipient in Dawn Baldry the current Social Secretary and Welfare Officer.
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Eamonn Hall, Press Officer
Burnham & District Table Tennis League
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Pic 1 – Dawn Baldry receives the President’s Trophy from Peter Ballard
Pic 2 – Wendy Richardson Seen presenting the Dan Richardson trophy to Winner Hamish Innes with runner-up Graham Briggs
Pic 3 – Arron Chandler collecting the Mixed Open Singles Cup
Pic 5 – Bob Partridge Award Winner – Peter Harverson
Dawn Baldry and Peter BallardGraham Briggs (left) Hamish Innes and Wendy RichardsonPeter Ballard and Aaron ChandlerShirley Carroll (left) Peter Ballard and Dawn BaldryPeter Harverson receives the Bob Partridge award
The top two teams in Division 1 of the Southend Summer League, Basildon A and Hockley A, both recorded 9-0 wins this week to maintain their positions at the top of the table.
League leaders Basildon walloped Hockley B with Les Hoey, Andy Seaman and Rob Burton unbeaten and only dropping four sets between them all night. No match went beyond four sets.
Hockley A’s win at Matchpoint was much harder with three matches going the distance. Hockley’s Dan Patynski found himself 2-1 down in both his singles before winning the deciding sets 11/2 in both matches. Dan Stewart and Robert Harris were Matchpoint’s unlucky losers.
The initial doubles match of the evening, Robert Harris and Samuel Morgan against Elliot Brackenbury and Sanjay Saptarshi, also went to five sets and also saw Hockley fight back from 2-1 down before winning the decider 11/4. Teenager Brackenbury took the Player of the Match award.
Whilst the leaders swept all before them fellow title contenders Rawreth and Stanford A took points off each other with Rawreth winning 6-3 to keep them in third place twelve points behind Hockley but with a game in hand.
Kevin Read was Rawreth’s star winning all his singles and doubles with Aaron Chandler providing the other two points from his singles wins. Stanford, without their star player Mitchell Jones, had Peter Weatherall and Ian Sangster to thank for their victories over Norbert Fullerton and they combined to win the doubles against Fullerton and Chandler.
Stanford stay fourth but are now ten points behind Rawreth.
Invicta A gave a debut to Charles Morris in their match against Hadleigh Forum but it turned out to be a baptism of fire as Hadleigh eased to an 8-1 victory. The match was actually level after two games with Paul Sims chalking up Invicta’s only point by beating Anthon Ranjit-Singh after Simon Jacobs and Richard Jackman had won the opening doubles for Hadleigh. After that it was pretty much plain sailing for the Hadleigh boys with just two matches going the full five sets. In the doubles Sims and Ayliffe had a 2-1 lead at one point before Ranjit-Singh and Jackman fought back to win in five sets. Sims almost claimed another point for Invicta but lost 11/8 in the fifth to Jackman.
Basildon B and Wakering, both winless, met in a bottom of the table clash but it was Wakering who emerged winners 7-2 after a hardfought match. Three matches went the distance and four to four sets. Martin Shaughnessy and Barbara Chabior both won their two singles with Shaughnessy also winning both his doubles to take the Player of the Match award and Paul England added a further singles win. Chudi Ukpaka was Basildon’s best player beating England in four sets and combining with Dave Reynolds to win their doubles. He almost added another doubles win when he and Jenne Seibolt went down in five sets to England and Shaughnessy. Wakering jump to sixth in the table.
Despite losing his unbeaten record in the last match of the season, Paul Davison reigned supreme in the Braintree Table Tennis League individual averages.
Given his eight men’s singles titles, it is something of a surprise to find it is only the third time he has done so.
It was Scott Dowsett who beat him in the open singles this time and he was the one who denied him a 100 per cent record in league matches.
Dowsett finished third in the averages, up eight places from last year, with just two defeats, by James Hicks and Ashley Skeggs.
Hicks finished above him, losing only to Dowsett in their second meeting, Skeggs and Luke Burridge.
Adi Kamma could put in a claim to being the success of the year, vaulting up from a 74 per cent average in division two last year to 75.8 and fifth place in the top flight.
For the second year running Matthew Brown tops the division two table, although his three defeats compared with only one last year.
This time he lost to Kamma before his rise into division one, Dave Fiddeman and James Grimston.
Fiddeman’s three defeats, to Brown, Jamie Brooks and Richard Whiteside, secured second spot while Charles Calisin, 20 last month, jumped from 14th place to a commendable fourth.
Youth was to the fore in division three too, where 18-year-old Lucien Nolan-Bradford remained unbeaten until Ben Southgate got the better of him in late February.
He was followed by Graham Turner, who lost only twice before moving up to division two, and Peter Davenport, whose four defeats compare with nine last season.
Individual averages (qualificationone-third of team’s matches)
Division 1 (last season in brackets:
1 (2) Paul Davison 25 wins in 26 sets, average 96.2; 2 (5) James Hicks 33-36, 91.7; 3 (11) Scott Dowsett 19-21, 90.5; 4 (10) Aron Jordan 27-32, 84.4; 5 (-) Adi Kamma 25-33, 75.8; 6 (6) Andy Holmes 15-20, 75; 7 (9) Luke Burridge 26-36, 72.2; 8 (-) Richard Fifield 31-44, 70.5; 9 (30) Szczepan Ziobro 14-20, 70; 10 (13) Karl Baldwin 27-43, 62.8; 11 (22) Ian Whiteside 15-24, 62.5; 12= (26) Steve Pennell 27-45, (28) Neil Freeman 21-35, 60; 14 (20) Zach Harrington 19-33, 57.6; 15 (19) Chris Parr 30-54, 55.6; 16 (25) Sean Clift 28-51, 54.90; 17 (27) Ashley Skeggs 23-42, 54.8; 18 (16) Steve Noble 18-33, 54.6; 19 (21) Sam Burrows 19-36, 52.8; 20 (-) Steve Kerns 12-23, 52.2
Division 2
1 Matthew Brown 48-51, 94.1; 2 Dave Fiddeman 33-36, 91.7; 3 James Grimston, 21-24, 87.5; 4= Charles Calisin, Richard Whiteside 35-42, 83.3; 6 Roy Hooper 38-48, 79.2; 7 Dean Andrews 22-29, 75.9; 8= Jamie Brooks 36-48, John Colvin 30-40, 75; 10 JJ Calisin 26-36, 72.2.
Division 3
1 Lucien Nolan-Bradford 38-39, 97.4; 2 Graham Turner 22-24, 91.7; 3 Peter Davenport 40-44, 90.9; 4 Dave Parker 38-43, 88.4; 5 Ben Southgate 47-54, 87.0; 6= Dave Whiting 35-42, Conrad Gomes 20-24, 83,3; 8 Tom Verrier 33-41, 80.5; 9 Karl Bowden 41-51, 80.4; 10 Wayne Wilson 40-50, 80
The Handicap Singles Tournament is always a fun and interesting event with the tweaked handicaps providing some very close encounters and a few shock results along the way. In the early rounds there was some cracking sport – Terry Hylands gave pre-tournament favourite Eric Green a fantastic run for his money taking Eric to 21-21 in the deciding 3rd leg before succumbing to the Green composure. Dave Marsh and Tony Forster went all out in their long 3 legged affair with Marsh taking the final leg to proceed. Louis Gunn fought hard against Eamonn Hall losing out to 2 very close legs, one going way beyond deuce, and Denis Balic fought valiantly but couldn’t do enough to best Graham Briggs who progressed.
In the Quarter-finals, Alan Scammell provided the upset of the round with a tight 2 legged victory over Green. Briggs and Sam Lowman had an all out 3 legged war which Briggs just scraped through (18,-16,18), and then Sanjay Saptarshi and Hall joined in the 3 legged fun with their own immense battle where the first 2 legs somehow went to the wrong players and then the final leg was a war of will and styles. Saptarshi prevailed (20,-19,17). Marsh was still recovering from his battle with Forster and was unable to ‘figure out’ Kim Shead and lost out before really getting into the game. Into the semis, and Shead didn’t really have any answers to the style and accuracy of a fired up Scammell who rattled through the points in rapid succession giving Shead little to build on. The match was over in a blur and Mr Scammell was Final bound. The other semi was a closer affair with Saptarshi and Briggs swapping forehand rallies – but with Saptarshi just that little bit more accurate and consistent and he was able to retrieve the handicap and progressed to the Final.
The Final handicapping saw Saptarshi on -6 points, and Scammell on +6pts creating a 12 point handicap – but would it be enough? Scammell was up for the challenge – he had a twinkle in his eye and fire in his belly, and it showed as he set off like a bullet train with excellent use of his pimples against a more traditional player in Saptarshi. In the first leg Scammell built up a substantial lead and looked to be in complete control but as the leg was edging towards its conclusion Saptarshi began to relax and was hitting more winners and Scammell was struggling to get his first leg over the line. Somehow we ended up at deuce but the drama only intensified as the Finalists exchanged blows with Saptarshi nicking his customary net or edge at a crucial moment to stay in the leg – we were warned! At 22-22 and Scammell having missed out on 2 leg points Saptarshi took control and stole a leg that should never have been his – superb endurance from the Mumbai Magician. An even more determined and angrier Scammell went on a blitz at the start of leg 2 with Saptarshi unable to stay in touch. By the time Saptarshi had caught up his handicap he found himself 17-0 to the deficit and in desperate need of a local miracle. He managed to nick the next couple of points to dent the over enthusiasm at the opponent’s end of the table but surely it was just a matter of time. But then it was up to 5-17, and then 8-17 and Scammell seemed bereft of his earlier exuberance and he was the one with the pang of worry etched onto his face. As Sanjay racked up the points the drop in energy levels from Scammell was palpable and amazingly Saptarshi levelled out at 18-18 – a truly amazing comeback, and with minimal use of nets and edges for a change, more accuracy and shot selection of the highest order. But we weren’t finished – Scammell took a 19-18 lead and there was still hope in the room. He went for a cross court winner that had Saptarshi flailing but the ball just missed the edge by a cats whisker – the ifs and maybes of sport! So at 19-19 and with his body seizing up Scammell went all out attack and Saptarshi somehow retrieved a forehand smash and the return just clipped the edge to give Saptarshi a very unexpected but extremely well earned match point….. Which of course he took forcing an error from the drained and bewildered Scammell. A very memorable Final that was full of skill, emotion, and the ebbs and flows of sporting chance. Congratulations to both players.
Basildon A are starting to impose themselves at the top of the Division 1 table after chalking up their first maximum of the season with a 9-0 win against Matchpoint A. They now have a five point lead from Hockley A in second place. Ian Wall, Les Hoey and Andy Seaman were pretty much in control throughout although Hannah Harbour extended Seaman to five sets leading 2-1 at one stage, and alongside Stephen Heard they took Seaman and Hoey the distance also leading 2-1 before being edged out. Hoey took the POTM award with two straight set singles wins.
Second placed Hockley couldn’t quite match Basildon’s 9-0 win but were only just behind as they beat Invicta A 8-1. It must have been an early finish as no game went beyond four sets and it was left to Tony Ayliffe to claim Invicta’s consolation point as he beat Sanjay Saptarshi clinching victory with a lengthy 19/17 win in the fourth set. Apart from that Saptarshi, alongside Tim Pang and Tarun Goel raced through their games in emphatic style.
Match of the week turned out to be Hadleigh A against Rawreth where the title favourites scraped a 5-4 win. This was down in no small part to Hadleigh revealing what must be the signing of the summer season in England Vets international John Poysden. No Thorpe Bay team in the summer league so an out of contract Poysden has been snapped up by Hadleigh captain Anthon Ranjit-Singh and he made an immediate impact. In a match which saw four games go to five sets Poysden won all his to claim the POTM award ahead of Rawreth’s Keith Adams. Rawreth started in fine style easing into a 3-1 lead with Deborah Auvache beating Simon Jacob and Adams defeating Richard Jackman plus combining to win their doubles with Poysden picking up his first singles win beating Norbert Fullerton. Rawreth extended this lead to 5-2 with the key match being Fullerton’s five set win against Jackman. Jackman was 2-1 down before winning the fourth 11/3 and then fought back again from 8-2 down in the fifth to level at 8-8 but was eventually beaten 15/13 in a great match. Hadleigh made the score respectable winning the last two matches the evening culminating in a five set thriller between Jackman and Poysden and Fullerton and Adams. The Hadleigh boys found themselves 2-1 down, levelled at 2-2, and at 8-9 down in the fifth an extended 20+ shot rally finally went their way and they won the next two points to clinch the match 11/9.
Whilst that win left Rawreth in third place all the top three sides should be wary of Stanford A who have only played three games so far but whilst they have the unbeaten Mitchell Jones in their side they are certainly capable of creating a few upsets. They beat Basildon B 6-3 this week to chalk up their third win and needless to say Jones was outstanding again winning all his singles and doubles and not dropping a set. Teammate Peter Weatherall also won both his singles but Rob Salvage found it a lot harder going but was unlucky to lose both his singles in five sets. Against Peter Hilton he fought back from 2-0 down to lose 11/8 in the fifth and against Dawn Baldry he did exactly the same this time losing by the closest of margins 12/10 in the decider. Hilton and Baldry then combined to beat Salvage and Weatherall in the final doubles in another five set match. Stanford go into fourth place.
Hockley B picked up their first win of the season against winless Wakering in a classic 5-4 victory. The score ebbed and flowed throughout the evening Hockley finding themselves 2-1 and 3-2 down, then leading 4-3 onlyto be taken to a match deciding ninth game in the final doubles of the evening. Up to that point Wakering’s Barbara Chabior had featured in two five set matches coming back from two sets down against Paul Ogden to win the fifth 11/6 only to see exactly the reverse happen as she lost a two set lead against Brian Bissenden eventually going down 11/7 13/11 8/11 10/12 10/12 in a really tight and entertaining game. Callum Turner took the match honours with his two singles wins against Ogden and Stuart Adshead but wins for Adshead and Bissenden against Jaspreet Singh kept the sides level. The deciding doubles between Ogden and Bissenden and Chabior and Singh turned out to be another exciting match as Hockley fought back from a two set deficit to level the match and then win a really tight fifth set 13/11. A fitting way to end an enjoyable evening.
Team of the Week – Rawreth
Player of the Week – John Poysden
Report by Paul Strutt
John Poysden – a big summer signing for Hadleigh Forum
Division 2
We are roughly at the halfway point of this Summer League season and, in Division 2, it is Stanford B and Canvey A who are setting the pace.
Both teams have an experienced squad of players to call on, but it is Stanford who head the table with 49 points, from Canvey who have 41 points, but have played a game less.
Basildon C, Invicta B and Stanford C* occupy joint 3rd place with 36 points.
Evolve, Hockley B and Hadleigh B are tightly grouped in mid-table, separated by just 2 points.
Runnymede, Matchpoint C, Hockley D and Canvey B are all awaiting their first win and occupy the bottom 4 places.
As far as individual performances are concerned, a number of players have a 100% singles win record, but it is Stanford B’s Adrian Armstrong who leads the way with a 10/10 success rate. He is followed by Miles Bygrave and Teddy Kent from Evolve and Dave Woolmer from Hadleigh B who have all won 6/6. The other unbeaten players have only played 1 or 2 matches.
Netts A may have retained their title in the Braintree Table Tennis League but the story of the year could be said to be the continuing rise of Sudbury.
Their A team, Nomads, have risen from second division champions in 2023 to seventh place in division one in 2024, third last season and runners-up this year.
They also won the team knockout cup, breaking the stranglehold of Netts, Rayne and Liberal, who had monopolised it since 2011.
In addition, Wanderers, promoted last year, kept their place in the top division, and Strollers rose from second place in division three to second place in division two.
They also added a fourth team, Drifters, this year and are likely to add a fifth next season.
With Netts combining their A and B teams it looked at the start of the season that a title challenge might even be possible but the Earls Colne club husbanded their resources well enough to ensure that the title was not going to slip away from them that easily.
Last year’s A team, Paul Davison, James Hicks and Andy Holmes, played 82 sets between them while the B team’s Szczepan Ziobro and Joe Meleschko both made impressive advances, Ziobro from a 36 per cent average to 70 per cent and Meleschko from 25 to 51.
It meant that they ended up with a clear 19-point lead at the top of the table.
The foot of the table featured a close battle for survival between Liberal B (last year’s B and C teams combined), Wanderers and Black Notley B.
Notley B, unexpectedly promoted after finishing third in division two, handled the higher standard well but eventually fell just two points short of safety.
The success of Rayne C in division two was a given almost from the start. A team of Matthew Brown, Dave Marsh, Steve Buer and Paul Wellington did not look likely to give much away and ended with a 24-point winning margin.
Strollers came good after a modest start (33 points from seven matches) once John Colvin and Dave Fiddeman started playing regularly and won nine of their last 11 matches.
At the bottom Notley D may have set a league record, going down despite averaging more than four points a match. League records are patchy before 1970, but it has certainly not happened in the last 56 years.
Division three turned out to be the most interesting of the title races. Finchingfield B looked to be the most likely winners as they won their first seven matches and moved into a seven-point lead.
But Notley E, who had lost to them during that run, gradually picked up the pace and reined them in.
It wasn’t until match 16 that they overtook them but they ended up with a nine-point lead.
It would undoubtedly have been closer if Lucien Nolan-Bradford, who had an outstanding season in which he lost only once, not missed four of the last five matches.
But Notley’s consistency, in particular Peter Davenport (who won 91 per cent of his sets) and Dave Parker (88 per cent), saw them home.
Netts A may have retained their title in the Braintree Table Tennis League but the story of the year could be said to be the continuing rise of Sudbury.
Their A team, Nomads, have risen from second division champions in 2023 to seventh place in division one in 2024, third last season and runners-up this year.
They also won the team knockout cup, breaking the stranglehold of Netts, Rayne and Liberal, who had monopolised it since 2011.
In addition, Wanderers, promoted last year, kept their place in the top division, and Strollers rose from second place in division three to second place in division two.
They also added a fourth team, Drifters, this year and are likely to add a fifth next season.
With Netts combining their A and B teams it looked at the start of the season that a title challenge might even be possible but the Earls Colne club husbanded their resources well enough to ensure that the title was not going to slip away from them that easily.
Last year’s A team, Paul Davison, James Hicks and Andy Holmes, played 82 sets between them while the B team’s Szczepan Ziobro and Joe Meleschko both made impressive advances, Ziobro from a 36 per cent average to 70 per cent and Meleschko from 25 to 51.
It meant that they ended up with a clear 19-point lead at the top of the table.
The foot of the table featured a close battle for survival between Liberal B (last year’s B and C teams combined), Wanderers and Black Notley B.
Notley B, unexpectedly promoted after finishing third in division two, handled the higher standard well but eventually fell just two points short of safety.
The success of Rayne C in division two was a given almost from the start. A team of Matthew Brown, Dave Marsh, Steve Buer and Paul Wellington did not look likely to give much away and ended with a 24-point winning margin.
Strollers came good after a modest start (33 points from seven matches) once John Colvin and Dave Fiddeman started playing regularly and won nine of their last 11 matches.
At the bottom Notley D may have set a league record, going down despite averaging more than four points a match. League records are patchy before 1970, but it has certainly not happened in the last 56 years.
Division three turned out to be the most interesting of the title races. Finchingfield B looked to be the most likely winners as they won their first seven matches and moved into a seven-point lead.
But Notley E, who had lost to them during that run, gradually picked up the pace and reined them in.
It wasn’t until match 16 that they overtook them but they ended up with a nine-point lead.
It would undoubtedly have been closer if Lucien Nolan-Bradford, who had an outstanding season in which he lost only once, not missed four of the last five matches.
But Notley’s consistency, in particular Peter Davenport (who won 91 per cent of his sets) and Dave Parker (88 per cent), saw them home.
After a match that ebbed and flowed all evening, Netts D edged to a 5-4 win to take home the restricted cup in the Braintree Table Tennis League.
Against Black Notley C, they were 1-0 up, 2-1 and 3-2 down, 4-3 up and then level at 4-4 before taking the cup with a win in the final doubles.
The doubles win was a father-and-son triumph for Jimmy and JJ Calisin after an evening in which the singles events finished level at 3-3 and the earlier two doubles sets were also shared.
The two Calisins and Chris Gibbons won one singles each while Jamie Brooks won two and Lawrence Grantham one for Notley C.
It may have been the final doubles that settled the issue but the result could be said to have turned on the seventh set of the evening, the clash between Jimmy Calisin and Matt Brooks.
It reflected the match’s seesawing nature in swinging back and forth before Calisin clinched it 9-11, 11-7, 16-14, 6-11, 11-9.
No such drama in the league where Netts A secured the title some time ago. But there was a sting in the tail when they lost their unbeaten record in their final match.
Liberal A’s Scott Dowsett was mainly responsible for the 6-4 win. In a foretaste of the open singles final to come he beat James Hicks, defeated only once in 33 sets up to that point, and also took away Paul Davison’s unbeaten record 6-11, 11-9, 5-11, 13-11, 11-9.
Ashley Skeggs found the form that deserted him on finals night to put a second dent in Hicks’s record.
The bizarre undulations in division two ended with the teams between third and eighth being separated by just two points Even bottom team Notley D finished with 73 points from their 18 matches, an average of more than four points a match that would have been good enough for a mid-table finish in almost any other season.
Sudbury Strollers, as had become gradually more likely over the second half of the season, took the runners-up medals behind Rayne C after victories of 9-1 over Yeldham A and 7-3 over Rayne E.
Champions Rayne C finished with a 9-1 win over Netts C while Finchingfield A climbed to sixth with a 7-3 win over Yeldham A.
The final match in division three was a 6-4 win for Notley F over Notley G.
Aivars Taimins, who has had an excellent first season in the league, crowned it with a win over Ben Southgate, unbeaten in his previous four matches and with an average of 87 per cent.
In their first meeting Southgate had won 11-3, 11-5, 11-5.
The final two matches of the seasons sorted out a few positional dramas for Division 1 of the Burnham & District Table Tennis League. Woodham A secured 3rd place with a tight 6-4 win over 2-player Mapledene B, and Cold Norton A brought out their stars in the battle to avoid relegation and duly dispatched Woodham B into relegation mires with a 9-1 comprehensive victory.
Cold Norton A trio Duncan Taylor, Kevin Read, and Charles Sweeny all took singles hat-tricks in their final match together for Cold Norton A. Eamonn Hall and Peter Harverson took the doubles glory with a comfortable 4 set win over Taylor and outgoing Skipper Steve Maltby. The unluckiest player on the night was Woodham’s Harry Sawford who went all the way to 5 against Sweeny, and then had 3 match points at 10-7 up in the 5th against Kevin Read before experience got the better of exuberance and Read won out 14-12 for the narrowest of wins. Read had also had tough battles with both Harverson and Hall earlier in the evening losing a leg to each. This victory preserves Cold Norton A’s Division 1 status should they wish to continue next season – that fate of Woodham B is in the balance with 2 teams keen to be promoted from Div 2.
In the delayed final fixture of the season Woodham A just needed a victory to secure 3rd place, and the probability of this happening was dramatically increased when Mapledene could only field a 2 player team. So Woodham had a 3-0 headstart, and Men’s Singles Champion Dan Young in their squad – so things were looking good. In the end they limped through 6-4 despite some inspired performances from the Mapledene duo. Young won his 2 singles both in 4 sets, and Dan Piglet defeated the in-form Anthon Ranjit-Singh for the 6 points to secure 3rd place. Mapledene won the rest with Keith Willet taking 2 singles, and Ranjit-Singh finishing the campaign on a high with his first win of the season. Willet and Ranjit-Singh then paired up for an inspired 5 set doubles victory over Young and Piglet. That final point was enough to take Mapledene B above Mapledene A and secure 4th spot in what has been a phenomenal season for the team.
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Eamonn Hall, Press Officer
Burnham & District Table Tennis League
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Pic 1 – Anthon Ranjit-Singh finishes the campaign on a personal high
Pic 2 – Harry Sawford versus Kevin Read in that 5 set thriller
Hockley A handed out an 8-1 thrashing to Basildon B to leave themselves top of Division 1 at this early stage of the season in the Southend Summer League. Basildon actually started the match by winning the first doubles but it was downhill after that as Hockley won all the remaining games. Credit, though, to Peter Hilton who took Tarun Goel and Tim Pang to five sets but just couldn’t manage the crucial fifth. Joseph Odegbami made up the Hockley team winning both his singles without dropping a set and winning both his doubles also to make him an easy choice as player of the match. Jenne Seibolt and Dawn Baldry completed the Basildon team.
Sitting just one point behind Hockley are the Basildon A team who chalked up their third win by beating the highly rated and pre-season favourites Rawreth 6-3. Les Hoey was their star performer on the night winning all his singles and doubles closely followed by Ian Wall who also won both his singles and his doubles with Hoey. Rob Burton completed the team but he found it hard going on the night losing his singles to Kim Shead and Norbert Fullerton. Fullerton was actually two sets down against Burton but edged it 11/8 in the deciding set. Shead and Russell Mills combined to win the final doubles.
Creeping up into third place with two wins from two games are Matchpoint A who came back from 3-0 and 4-3 down against Hockley B to win the final doubles and clinch a 5-4 victory. This condemned Hockley to a third successive defeat. The evening had started so well for Hockley winning the opening doubles and then good wins for Paul Ogden against Dan Stewart and Stuart Adshead against Samuel Morgan. Matchpoint then took their turn to win two singles and a doubles Hannah Harbour and Stewart both defeating Paul Strutt in four sets and then Stewart and Morgan combining to win the doubles. Harbour carried an unbeaten record from the winter league into this match but after winning the first set against Adshead he ground out a four set victory winning the fourth 14/12. Young Samuel Morgan then took centre stage and showed just how much he is improving as a player beating Ogden in straight sets to level the scores at 4-4. The final doubles between Strutt and Ogden and Stewart and Morgan lived up to expectations going all the way to five sets before Matchpoint sealed the win 7/11 11/7 16/14 9/11 6/11.
Hadleigh A picked up their first win of the season in fine style beating Wakering 8-1 and condemning them to a third straight defeat. Michael Grout got the consolation point for Wakering beating Anthon Ranjit-Singh and Martin Shaughnessy almost added another as he lost in five sets to Simon Jacob but otherwise Hadleigh were very much in command. Keith Willett took the POTM award and also demonstrated a new trick shot, playing the ball from behind his back while facing away from the table and still winning the point! Not surprisingly he gets my vote for Player of the Week!
Scott Dowsett made history in the Braintree Table Tennis League open singles final when he became the first son of a former winner to become league champion. His dad, six-times champion Terry, was there to watch him. Thirty-one-year-old Dowsett has had an up and down career since his days as an Essex-ranked junior. And it was an up and down performance in the final that brought him the title. There was a point when it looked as if it might have slipped away from him. After narrowly losing the first game and then equally narrowly winning the second, Dowsett was looking good after winning the third before Davison hit his stride to take the fourth 11-2. That could have deflated him, but Dowsett stormed back as more and more of his booming forehands began to trouble his opponent and he hung on to take the final game 11-8. Dowsett did not have it his own way in the semi-final either when James Hicks stretched him to five games before he finally got in the groove to win the final game 11-8. Davison was also pushed by Luke Burridge in his semi-final, but did just enough in each game to win 15-13, 11-9, 13-11. There was double consolation for Davison as he came away with both the veterans’ singles and the men’s doubles trophies. The veterans’ event against Hicks featured two Netts A teammates who must know each other’s game backwards and it was one in which Hicks was never overawed, often matching his opponent in the quick rallies. It looked all over as Davison led by two games and 8-2 in the third before Hicks staged an unlikely comeback to lead 10-8. He let two points slip but took the next two to stretch it to four games, only for Davison to bounce back to win the fourth 11- 5.
The two of them teamed up to take the men’s doubles, Hicks’ first win in the event, Davison’s eleventh. Dowsett was at the other end of the table again, partnered by Ashley Skeggs, and again there was a surprise comeback. The Liberal pair trailed by two games and 6-0 but rallied to win 11-9. It was the end of their challenge, though, Davison and Hicks easing to an 11-3 victory in the fourth game. Skeggs was also in action in the division one singles but put in a strangely subdued performance against Alesha Ellis-Austin, apparently believing that defence was the best form of attack, hoping that he could induce his younger opponent into mistakes. There were a few but not enough and Ellis-Austin became only the third female player – after Sarah Davison and Lucy Wang – to win the event. She dropped a game but won comfortably in the end 11-9, 6-11, 11-4, 11-4. One of the most impressive performances of the evening came from 18-year-old JJ Calisin in the junior boys’ singles. He gave reigning champion Ethan Collins little chance to settle against his all-out attack on both wings. Collins’ probing defensive style could not contain his opponent who won in three straight games. There was more probing and more defence in the restricted singles and this time it was enough as Dave Fiddeman took the title against the more adventurous Peter Davenport. Like Collins, Davenport has unorthodox rubbers on his bat, which caused Fiddeman some problems but he had sufficient control to wear him down in three straight games. Results: Men’s singles final: Scott Dowsett beat Paul Davison 9-11, 15-13, 11-5, 2-11, 11-8. Semi-finals: Dowsett beat James Hicks 11-4, 11-13, 11-7, 10-12, 11-4; Davison beat Luke Burridge 15-13, 11-9, 13-11.
