All posts by Paul Strutt

County Juniors, County Seniors, County Veterans, County Vets 60s+, General, Local League News

Liddiard leads the way

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James Liddiard unbeaten in his first two matches

Chelmsford A scored two emphatic wins in division one of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League, beating Danbury A (8-2) and Chelmsford B (10-0) and they look to be the favourites to take the title. Newcomer James Liddiard and Dan Young were undefeated in both matches whilst Gary Young (who only played against Chelmsford B) was undefeated in that match. For Chelmsford B who had won 10-0 themselves last week it might have appeared to have been a sobering experience but the Chelmsford B side actually acquitted themselves pretty well in defeat. Harry Buckle pushed Gary Young all the way before succumbing 9-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-7, 9-11 and he came similarly close against Daniel Young before missing out 11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 3-11, 8-11. Josh Bickles took Daniel Young to five fluctuating ends before he lost 8-11, 6-11, 11-3, 11-2, 4-11.  Danbury A did well to beat Chelmsford C 7-3 in their second match.  Dave Richardson scored an impressive hat-trick which included a 11-6, 7-11, 10-12, 11-9, 11-5 win over Simon Jarvis. Wiktor Delimat impressed for the Chelmsford team with his 11-6, 6-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-7 victory over Babul McLeod.  

One point separates the top four teams in division two and it is Danbury E (13 points) who lead the way after two games. Tony Forster, Dick Wyman and Tim Cramphorn all won twice in their 6-4 win over Writtle B. Dick Wyman set them on their way by beating Trevor Collin 12-10, 16-18, 11-7, 5-11, 11-9 in a well contested opening encounter. Gary Ward’s hat-trick gave Writtle C the edge as they beat Danbury D 6-4. Ward had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Chris Buer 11-9, 9-11, 5-11, 14-12, 16-14. Quite a battle. Danbury D were in turn 8-2 winners over OCs C. Steve Buer and Chris Buer were both undefeated on this occasion. Writtle C missed out 6-4 against Chelmsford D for whom Harry Chivers, Sudheeep Kamma and Saul Chivers all won twice. They all missed out against Gary Ward who secured his hat-trick with a 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 12-10 win over Harry Chivers.  It was team-work which enabled Hatfield Peverel A to beat Danbury G 6-4. Martin Archie, Neil Freeman and Gareth Davies all won twice to counter Sanjay Saptarshi’s three wins. Saptarshi fought back from a heavy first game defeat to beat Martin Archie 2-11, 12-10, 11-8, 12-10 to seal his third win of the night.

Galleywood B lead the way in division three with 16 points. Mark Glenister, Gary Copsey and John Holland powered their way to a 10-0 win over Hatfield Peverel B.  Maldon A led by an unbeaten Hamish Innes ran out 8-2 winners against Hatfield Peverel B. Gareth Davies won twice for the losers and this included a 11-4, 11-13, 11-9, 16-14 win over Brian Riedling. Danbury J were 6-4 winners against Writtle D. Dave Marsh’s hat-trick gave them the ascendancy. Malcolm Henstock pipped Dave Meah 5-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-4, 12-10 in the best game of the night. Writtle D were also on the wrong end of a 6-4 defeat against Chelmsford F. Andy Swales won his three singles for the Chelmsford side and Alex Tkachuk won twice.  Danbury J impressed by beating OCs D 9-1. Dave Marsh, John Robinson and David Meah won all nine singles but drew a blank in the doubles on this occasion. Tom Barker and Ian Butler were surprisingly comfortable 11-9, 11-2, 11-4 winners against Dave Marsh and John Robinson.  Danbury H ran out 6-4 winners against Chelmsford E. Dave Hancox’s three singles was the difference between the two teams. Hancox secured his third win by beating Dave Parker 12-10, 11-9, 10-12, 6-11, 11-5 in the last game of the night.

Second placed Maldon B (15 points) scored their second win of the Season in division four. Dawn Baldry was undefeated as they beat Highwood B 8-2 and she received good support from Brian Speller and Shirley Carroll who both won twice. Newcomer Roger Patient picked up two wins for the Highwood side. Danbury L ran out 7-3 winners against OCs E and they top the table with 16 points. Denis Crapnell led the way with three wins whilst Dave Goody and Kevin Willis both picked up two wins apiece. Farooq Ahmed won twice for the losers.

Hatfield Peverel C were the week’s big winners in division five. Richard Drozd and Mick Carter were both undefeated in their 9-1 win against Danbury H. Hatfield Peverel E did well to beat Maldon C 6-4, good going as Andrea Alleyne won her three singles for Maldon C. Andrea had to fight back from 2-0 down to get the better of the tenacious Alistair Brown 9-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9, 11-8. Danbury M were 6-4 winners against OCs F who paid the price for being a player short. Stuart Wintle was unbeaten for the Old Chelmsfordians team and this included a hard fought 9-11, 11-7, 5-11, 12-10, 11-6 win against Martin Knights.

Junior League action is underway and Buttsbury Bees made a winning start in division 1A . Jamie Elliott was undefeated as they defeated Chelmsford Panthers 3-2. The game between Pratham Raut and Jamie Elliott went “to the wire” before Elliott sealed victory 7-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-6, 12-10.  Chelmsford Leopards beat Buttsbury Bats 4-1. Cleon Fernandes led the way with a 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 win against George Standish and a 11-2, 11-8, 11-3 victory over George Hagland.

Chelmsford Antelopes were 5-0 winners over Chelmsford Eagles in division 1C. Richard Carter and Arnav Kumar dominated this match.        

Steve Kerns / Press Officer / Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League

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    Back on the table! Chelmsford league returns

    Table Tennis has returned to the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League after the 2020-21 Season had to be abandoned following the Covid induced break. The League has retained it’s five senior divisions and refreshingly it also has three junior divisions which commence shortly. Doubles play has been retained in League play, something that is no longer the case in the neighbouring Braintree League.

    It has been quite a while since we have had an all teenage line-up in division one of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League. The Chelmsford B side of Josh Bickles (aged 15), Harry Buckle (17) and Charlie Craig (17) powered to a 10-0 win over Danbury C. They will be joined by Shirish Basant Rai and should do well this year in a division one which is missing the 2019-20 winners – Maldon A.   Danbury B were impressive 8-2 winners over Chelmsford C. Newcomer Matt Stringer was undefeated and he set them on their way with a last gasp 11-8, 9-11, 11-2, 8-11, 12-10 victory over Simon Jarvis in the first game. Simon Jarvis fought back with wins over Dan Anderson (3-2) and Sam Lowman (3-1). The match between OCs A and Galleywood A finished tied at 5-5. OCs powered into a 3-0 lead and then found themselves pegged back to 3-3, so perhaps a draw was a fair result.  OCs’ Rob Burton produced a display which can’t be bettered. All three of his games were decided at deuce in the fifth end. Burton fought back from 2-0 down to beat James Hicks 12-10 in the fifth end, but lost to Gary Brignall at 14-12 in the decider. He rounded off an excellent evening’s work with a 14-12 in the fifth end win over Steve Kerns. Gary Brignall and James Hicks both excelled by beating Terry Dowsett.

    Division two is often very closely matched. From the look of this week’s results that could be the case this year as well. OCs B drew 5-5 with Danbury G. No player stayed undefeated. Kevin Worthington and Trevor Carter both won twice for Old Chelmsfordians whilst Eamon Hall and Sanjay Saptarshi both bagged two wins for Danbury. Kevin Worthington sealed the draw for OCs by beating Eamon Hall 11-7, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6 in the last game of the night. Chelmsford D edged out Danbury F 6-4 after a hard-fought game. Alan Scammell won his three games for the Danbury side but Adi Kamma and Sudheep Kamma “balanced the books” with two wins apiece. Saul Chivers beat Denis Balic 11-5, 12-14, 5-11, 11-9, 19-17. Quite a tussle !.  Danbury E ran out 7-3 winners against OCs C. Neil Want was unbeaten for Danbury and this included a 11-8, 11-9, 11-13, 9-11, 11-9 victory over Mick Richardson, another nail-biter. Hatfield Peverel A were 6-4 winners against Writtle B. Martin Archie led the way with three impressive wins and he concluded an excellent evening’s work by beating Phil Smith 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9 in the last game of the evening.

    Division three saw all three games decided by 6-4 scorelines. Galleywood B led by the redoubtable John Holland beat Chelmsford E. Adi Kamma won twice for Chelmsford and this included fighting back from 2-0 down to get the better of Colin Blore 9-11, 10-12, 11-9, 11-8, 11-8.  Chelmsford F beat Danbury H, good going as all three of their players lost to Gordon Gatheral. In the game of the night Gatheral hung on to beat Nikita Tkachuk 14-12 in the decider, after Tkachuk pulled back from 10-6 down. It was a similar story when Danbury K beat OCs D.  Danbury K came out on top even though Richard Baxter remained undefeated for the Old Chelmsfordians side. Baxter completed his hat-trick with a 12-10, 11-7, 9-11, 12-10 win over Peter Hance in the final game of the match. Mo Hardy had to pull out all the stops to beat Farooq Ahmed 11-7, 11-7, 10-12, 4-11, 12-10.

    Danbury L are the early leaders in division four. Mervyn Perriman, James Gatheral and Denis Crapnell were 9-1 winners against Chelmsford G. Newcomer Vasile Barbulet was the sole winner for Chelmsford with a 11-6, 11-5, 11-13, 6-11, 11-8 win over James Gatheral. Writtle E beat Galleywood C 8-2. Ian Hockley led the way with a hat-trick and this included a 6-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-4 success against Colin Blore, Galleywood’s best player. Highwood A are also off to a winning start. Melanie Bonnett led the way as they beat OCs E 6-4. Melanie got the better of David Newman 3-11, 12-10, 11-6, 14-12 to secure the win for her side.

    Hatfield Peverel D have made a flying start in division five. Deb Ginn, Kath Little and Davinia Brazier powered to a 9-1 win over Danbury N. Deb Ginn and Davinia Brazier both bagged hat-tricks whilst Kath Little only missed out to Dan Wise. OCs F led by David Bishop’s hat-trick were 6-4 winners against Hatfield Peverel E. Bishop had to work hard to secure his third win, before he pinched the victory by beating Gary Simmons 11-4, 9-11,11-4, 10-12, 11-8 in the last game of the evening. Chelmsford J’s Peter Davenport, Jacqui Smith and Paul Bullock all won twice as they beat Danbury M 6-4. Paul Thirkettle picked up two wins for Danbury M. Maldon C ran out 7-3 winners over Buttsbury after Andrea Alleyne had led the way with an undefeated performance.

    Jan Fuller, the 2018-19 runner-up in the Ladies Singles at the Chelmsford Closed Championships (and who has recently moved to Norwich) was a triple medallist in the 2021 ITTF Parkinson’s World Table Tennis Championships played in Berlin in September. Gold was achieved in the Ladies Singles with wins over Silke Kind (Germany) 11-7, 12-14,11-9, 11-9 in the Semi-Final and against Margie Alley (USA) 16-14, 11-8, 11-7 in the Final. Jan also won a Silver medal with team-mate George Chan in the Mixed Doubles and a Bronze medal in the Ladies Doubles with Chile’s Digna Lopez-Abarca.

    Steve Kerns / Press Officer / Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League

     

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    Top of the League!

    Gallery

    Central Essex Summer Table Tennis League

    Brand Identity are crowned Champions

    Brand Identity made it six wins out of six by beating Cold Norton 13-7 to capture the Central Essex Summer Table Tennis League first division title with 86 points. Simon Jacob, who has been the League’s outstanding player was again undefeated beating Dan Anderson 5-0 and Sam Lowman over five fluctuating ends 3-2;  (11-6, 10-12, 11-4, 8-11, 11-6). Simon Jacob finished his campaign with 11 wins out of 12. His one defeat was against Chelmsford A’s Gary Young who was undefeated in his four games. Rayne and Chelmsford A fought out a tantalising 10-10 draw. Chelmsford A edged the first two games 3-2 and Rayne fought back to take the last two games by the same score. Ian Whiteside beat Wiktor Delimat 9-11, 11-13, 11-7, 11-4, 11-7 to earn Rayne their draw. Danbury A have a match outstanding and they beat Chelmsford B 12-8. Eric Green gave them the ascendancy with 4-1 wins over wins over Harry Buckle and Shirish Basant Rai.

    Ramsden Rockets ran out 12-8 winners against Danbury B in division two. Arron Chandler gave Ramsden the edge with two 3-2 wins. He beat Chris Buer (12-10, 11-7, 4-11,11-8, 7-11) and Steve Buer (12-10, 8-11, 11-5,  8-11, 11-5). Similar sets of scores although the two games didn’t follow the same pattern.

    Danbury F are the division three Champions with 84 points. They captured the title with a 14-6 win over OCs B. Sanjay Saptarshi (10 wins out of 10) led the way with two commanding 5-0 wins over Richard Baxter and Richard Upson. Danbury E finished second on 70 points. They defeated Danbury G 14-6 as well. Ken Sheard and Tim Pulham won all four games against Denis Crapnell and Dave Marsh.  Tim Pulham set them on their way with a 7-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 victory against Dave Marsh.   Chelmsford D did well to beat the higher placed OCs C 13-7. Sudheep Kamma scored two 4-1 wins with his 11-6, 11-9, 10-12, 12-10, 11-7 victory against Mick Hayes looking to be the pick of the night’s action.

    Sudheep Kamma was also in action for Chelmsford G in division four. He scored 4-1 wins over Peter Wright and Dave Hancox as Chelmsford G defeated Cold Norton C 13-7. For those who look out for  the unusual, Sudheep’s win over Peter Wright offered a slightly unusual score line – 11-7, 11-7, 11-13, 11-7, 11-7 – the first time a player has won four games by the same score.

    OCs E ended their season in division five with a handsome 17-3 win over Danbury H to finish second. Dave Newman and Russ Hall were both on good form with Dave Newman concluding proceedings with a 5-0 (11-8, 11-3, 11-5, 11-4, 11-3) victory against Ken Wilding. Hockley B are the Champions of this division and they made it five wins out of five by beating Danbury H 16-4. Jorg Poeschus (six wins out of six) and Brian Bissenden (four wins out of four) carried all before them.  Jorg Poecshus ramped up the pressure by beating Paul Thirkettle (5-0) 11-4,11-8, 11-8, 11-3, 11-5.

    Division six isn’t decided yet. Buttsbury C have 49 points from four games but Chelmsford Leopards with 42 points from three games have them firmly in their sights. Buttsbury C were clear cut 16-4 winners over Buttsbury B. Jamie Elliott and Jacob Lawrence were both undefeated. Ironically the one game which was decided 5-0 produced the closest set of scores with Jacob Lawrence beating George Standish 12-10, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7.

    Congratulations to Kent’s Will Bayley for taking the runners-up medal in the class seven Men’s category in the Paralympic Games in Tokyo where he lost in the Final 3-1 to World no. one Yan Shuo. Bayley who soared to national attention after appearing on TV’s Strictly come Dancing where he suffered a very bad injury would surely have missed the Tokyo Games had they not been rescheduled. He had been Champion in Rio in 2016 as well as runner up in London in 2012.

    Steve Kerns / Press Officer / Central Essex Summer Table Tennis League

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    Simon sets the pace in Summer League

    Gallery

    Brand Identity have been the outstanding team in the first division of the Central Essex Summer League and their record of 73 points out of 100 is testimony to that. This week they beat Chelmsford B 13-7 after Simon Jacob won both of his games. With 9 wins out of 10 Simon has proved to be the player to beat. Josh Bickles impressed for the losers with a 11-9, 11-2, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9 win over David Jacob whilst David atoned for this loss with a fine 11-8, 11-8, 11-9, 11-3, 11-8 victory against Shirish Basant Rai. Cold Norton B (Dan Anderson and Sam Lowman) impressed this week with a 16-4 win over Chelmsford A. All matches were won 4-1, the first time this has happened. The smooth flowing Sam Lowman excelled by stopping Victor Chan 11-4, 11-6, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7. Hockley A have climbed into second place. Matt Stringer dominated proceedings as they beat Danbury A 14-6. Stringer scored 4-1 wins over both Babul McLeod and Bruce Kettle. Ian Wall made his mark with a fine 11-13, 11-8, 13-11,  11-5, 11-3 win over Bruce Kettle. Hockley A also beat Rayne 13-7, although Rayne were a player short. Ian Whiteside made his mark with a 4-1 victory over Dan Patynski and a 3-2 success against Tim Pang.

    There is everything still to play for in division two. Chelmsford C lead the way with 61 points from five matches whilst Cold Norton A have 60 points from five matches and Danbury C have 52 points from four matches. Danbury C fared best this week. They beat Writtle A 16-4. Gus Heath and Sanjay Saptarsh were both undefeated. Sanjay  gave Danbury a winning start with a fluctuating 11-9, 10-12, 11-1, 11-5, 9-11 victory against Ryan Pitt.   Cold Norton also did well, beating Danbury B 12-8. Tim Cramphorn who had beaten Steve Buer 4-1 came through a real hum-dinger of a fourth game against Chris Buer (9-11, 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 12-10).  Danbury B in turn ran out 14-6 winners against OCs A. Charles Yeung was on target for the losers with an 8-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-5 win over Steve Buer. Further down the table Ramsden A beat Writtle A 13-7. Arron Chandler and Trevor Collin won all four games, three of them by 3-2 margins.

    In division three the leaders Danbury F were 15-5 winners against Chelmsford D. Sanjay Saptarsh  was undefeated whilst Sudheep Kamma was on target for the losers with a 4-1 win over Eamon Hall. Danbury E also won, with Ken Sheard scoring 4-1 wins over David Meah and Mervyn Perriman as they saw off the higher placed Danbury D 13-7.

    Drawn matches have been pretty rare, although that was the result of the division four clash between the leaders OCs D and Ramsden A. Mick Richardson retained his 100 % record for the Old Chelmsfordians side whilst Dave Carter earned his side a share of the spoils by beating Luke Richardson 5-0 in the last game. The scores here 11-9, 18-16, 11-8,  12-10, 13-11 denote just how well contested that game was. Cold Norton C scored their second win beating Buttsbury A 13-7. Dave Hancox scored 4-1 wins over both Kevin Willis and Tomasz Krolikowski. Cold Norton C were also on the wrong end of a 17-3 setback against Chelmsford F. Saul Chivers and Harry Chivers called the shots here.

    In division five Danbury H beat Maldon A 12-8, good going as Marty Englander was undefeated for Maldon A . He beat Ken Wilding 9-11, 11-9, 11-7, 12-10, 10-12 and David Smith 7-11, 3-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-7. Marty Englander was also in action for Maldon B against OCs E, but it was the OCs team who powered home 18-2. Russell Hall and Farooq Ahmed dominated.

    In division seven there was a first win for Writtle Racoons. They beat Chelmsford Panthers 12-8, with Luv Goel dominating proceedings. Goel defeated Lotte Mills 14-12, 9-11, 11-9, 16-14, 11-9 in a hotly contested opening encounter.

    Thanks to Steve Kerns, Press Officer, Central Essex Summer League

     

    County Juniors, County Seniors, County Veterans, County Vets 60s+, General

    SUMMER LEAGUE UP AND RUNNING

    The Central Essex Summer League is up and running and no less than 45 teams have been entered spread across 7 divisions. Teams consist of just 2 players but each individual match consists of five sets with points being awarded for each set won so a team could win 20 -0 on the night or even draw 10 -10.  This is giving players a great opportunity to prepare themselves for when normal league competition returns and thanks go to Ken Sheard who has  organised it. The following report on the latest round of matches has been provided by Steve Kerns.

    Chelmsford C, leaders of division two of the Central Essex Summer League tasted defeat for the first time, losing 12-8 to Danbury C. Gus Heath caused them the most problems with two impressive 4-1 wins over Wiktor Delimat and Rajeev Mejta. Rajeev Mehta won once, a really hard fought 9-11, 11-8, 16-18, 14-12, 12-10 victory against Sanjay Saptarshi.

    It was honours even in the first division with Cold Norton drawing 10-10 with Chelmsford B. Chelmsford’s fast improving Harry Buckle scored a fine 11-9, 11-5, 11-8, 11-7, 8-11 win over Dan Anderson although Anderson hit back with a really hard fought 15-13, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 12-10 victory against Shirith Basant Rai. Danbury A were impressive 15-5 winners against Rayne A. Danbury finished the match strongly with Babul McLeod beating Steve Pennell 4-1 and Eric Green seeing off Ian Whiteside 5-0. Chelmsford A were a player short against Hockley A and the 5-15 scoreline reflected that. Chelmsford’s new signing Kim Shead was on target with a 9-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 win over Dave Chenery. Shead was beaten 11-2, 11-7, 12-10, 13-15, 11-3 by an impressive Ian Wall.

    Danbury F top the division three table and they surged to an 18-2 win over OCs C. Alan Scammell had to work hard to beat Tom Barker 3-2 in the opening game but it was Scammell and Sanjay Saptarshi who dominated the next three games with three 5-0 wins. The match between Danbury E and OCS B was much closer with Danbury shading it 11-9. All four players won once, with Richard Baxter’s hard fought 5-11, 11-8, 6-11, 12-10, 11-9 win over Ken Sheard perhaps representing the pick of the action.  There was a first win for Chelmsford D, who beat Danbury G 13-7. Keith Martin beat both Dave Meah and Dave Marsh 3-2.

    Chelmsford G rocketed up the table in division four and into second place by beating Buttsbury A 20-0. Nikita Tkachuk and Sudheep Kamma dominated the action.  Ramsden Rockets also won impressively, beating Chelmsford F 15-5. Colin Barham won twice, and this included a fluctuating 6-11, 11-7, 1-11, 11-7, 11-6 success against Harry Chivers. Chelmsford E secured their second win, a 14-6 victory against Buttsbury A. Adi Kamma and Alex Tkachuk came out on top although Kamma missed out 11-5, 14-12, 11-13, 6-11, 6-11 against Kevin Willis. Chelmsford E also lost 12-8 to Cold Norton C.  Three of the four games were decided 3-2, and in that context the 5-0 win for Dave Hancox against Alex Tkachuk proved decisive. Hancox came through 11-8. 11-7, 11-8, 11-7, 11-4.

    Hockley B lead the way in division five with 57 points out of 80 and Brian Bissenden scored two 4-1 wins as they beat OCs E 15-5.

    Writtle Rattlesnakes shaded their match 11-9 against Buttsbury B, in division six.  Elliot Gardiner stood out with a 5-0 win over George Standish and a 5-0 victory against George Hagland. Rattlesnakes found it harder against the leaders Chelmsford Leopards and were despatched 16-4. Dion Fernandez and Cleon Fernandez dominated proceedings. Luv Goel came close against Cleon Fernandez, racing into a 2-0 lead before being pegged back and losing 11-9, 11-7, 3-11, 4-11, 8-11.

    Chelmsford Pumas scored their first win in division seven. Malachi O’Leary and Pankil Sharma won decisively 17-3, against Writtle Racoons.  although Blake Webster did will to beat Pankil Sharma 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9. A very well contested game. Buttsbury D ran out 13-7 winners against Writtle Racoons. Jamie Elliott was the difference between the two sides with 5-0 wins over both Luv Goel and Kush Goel.  Chelmsford Wildcats are well clear and they made it four wins out of four by beating Chelmsford Panthers 16-4. Harrison Hill and Alesha Ellis Austin were both undefeated. Alesha had to work hard to beat Lotte Mills 11-7, 8-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-4.

     

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    Essex Junior Assessment Trials

    ECTTA – Essex Junior Assessment Trials – 2021/22

    Details of this year’s trials are detailed below provided as usual by Arthur Clark

     

    Arthur. C. Clark, 2 Top Road, Woodham Walter, Nr. Maldon, Essex, CM9 6RQ;Please reply to:

    Tel. 01245 225688

    email: arthurcclark@btinternet.com

    on behalf of Kieran Skeggs, Junior Match Secretary.

     

    21 June 2021

    Dear Junior League Match Secretary/League Secretary/Coaching Officer.

     

    ESSEX JUNIOR ASSESSMENT TRIALS 2021/22

     

    Table Tennis England have issued dates for matches to be played for County Junior and Cadet fixtures for the 2021/2022 season. The Essex Junior Premier Team are scheduled to play their first matches on the weekend of 11/12 December 2021 while the Essex second team are due to play on 3 October and 20 November 2021. The Essex Cadet Team is due to play on 23 January 2022 and 26 February 2022.  Dates could be changed as the June 21 lifting of lockdown restrictions has been delayed.

    Essex County will host the Junior Assessment Trials on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 September at BATTS, Harlow. The address of the BATTS Club is the Norman Booth Centre, Elderfield, Mulberry Green, Old Harlow, CM17 0EY. Trials will commence on Saturday 18 September at 0930am with the U19 Boys event. NOTE THAT THIS EVENT IS AN U19 EVENT INSTEAD OF A NORMAL U18 EVENT. All other events: U15, U13, U11 Boys and all Girls events (U19, U15, U13 and U11) will be held on Sunday as we normally require ten tables for these events. Depending on entries, the U11 events may have to be merged into the U13 events as has happened in recent years.

     

    The purpose of the event is to provide information upon which the Essex Junior Ranking Lists for the season will be based. These trials will also enable the County Junior Committee to select the teams to represent Essex in County Championship and other matches during the coming season and assess the future potential of other players. If you wish to be considered but are unable to play on the appropriate trials day please let me know with a brief explanation.

     

    As stated above, the Boys U19 event will be played on the Saturday 18 September, and it is hoped that all other events will be played on Sunday 19th September. This may depend on the number of entrants for each event, particularly the Girls events. As a rough guide I anticipate that the Boys U13 and Girls U19 events will start at 0900 Sunday with the Boys U15 about 1300. As in previous years I will endeavour to organise the U11 entrants to all play one another during the course of the U13 events. For the Girls remaining events I will have to juggle the event times depending upon how many Girls enter each event.

     

    Players (girls and boys in separate age lists) should be nominated for the following age categories:

    U19 – players must be 18 years of age or under on 31 December 2021.

    U15 – players must be 14 years of age or under on 31 December 2021.

    U13 – players must be 12 years of age or under on 31 December 2021.

    U11 – players must be 10 years of age or under on 31 December 2021.

     

    Players may be nominated to play in more than one age category. Fees payable are £5.50 per player per age category entered. U11/U13 will be considered a single Entry. Please send Entry Forms to me no later than Monday 9 August 2021 together with a cheque(s) in respect of the total fee made out to ECTTA. Alternately payment may be made electronically to the Essex Account No. 70350346 , Sort Code 20-72-89. Please use the word *Trials” and the surname of the first player on the form as payment reference.

     

    Please inform your nominees that normal table tennis clothing must be worn at the Trials, i.e., no white shirts or shorts, no tracksuit trousers when playing matches, no headwear (other than on religious grounds), and all footwear to have rubber soles. All to note that as this is a Closed event the time out provisions DO NOT APPLY.  Some Covid restrictions may still apply.

     

    Refreshments, both hot and cold, may be purchased in the BATTS Canteen.

     

    Please note that I require for each player nominated their Christian and surnames, address and postcode, date of birth, telephone number and affiliated main league or ETTA affiliation in the format of the attached Entry Form. Also, parents E-mail address in the E-mail column should I need to contact them during the season to advise players/parents of other events that may take place (but see below).

     

    Also, Player or Player Member Licence number (i.e., last season’s Licence number or the previous year’s or as a new player this season’s new Licence number). Note that, assuming that there are no Table Tennis England changes from those of last season, a Player Member licence is required to play in local Leagues, One Star Tournaments carrying National Ranking points and National Cadet and Junior Tournaments and a Player licence is required to play in Junior British League and 2 Star and above Tournaments. Payment for these Licences must be made to Table Tennis England before players are permitted to play in any of these competitions.

     

    Please let me know if you require a map showing the location of the BATTS Norman Booth Centre which I can enclose in due course with event times confirmation information.

     

    If you think there is somebody that I have missed out from the circulation list on this page to Leagues, Coaches or you know that they have changed their E-mail address or your League contact has changed please either let me know so that I can forward a copy to them or forward them a copy yourself. I will send a copy of the Entry Form to every Parent/Junior that I have E-mail addresses for as a reminder in due course. I would prefer Entry Forms to be forwarded to me on block from clubs or leagues but I know this will not always be the case.

     

    Note that under the latest Data Protection Regulations I cannot list the E-mail addresses of those players/parents that I send circular E-mails to. I will assume that I can still send E-mails to you on Essex County Table Tennis matters unless I receive an E-mail from you stating that you, or any parent of a player, do not wish to receive communications from me in the future.

     

     

    County Juniors, General, News, Tournaments

    Essex Junior Closed Results

    The Essex Junior Closed was held at BATTS Harlow on Sunday 5 January 2020. By the Closing Date of 10 December there was a doubt that the event would be held but with twenty late entries accepted the event went ahead with 67 entries. The order of play of the events had to be changed from last year with the increased number of girl entrants. The opening events were the Under 11 Open (Boys and Girls), three less than last year, the Under 18 Restricted Boys (two less than last year) and space to squeeze in the Under 15 Girls event, an event that only attracted one entrant last year. These three events could be played at the same time. Basically Groups of three players with the top two going through to the KO stages. This was the first year for many years to hold every event with enough players entered in each event.

     

    For the Under 11 Open event there were four Groups with five girls (one girl pulled out that morning with a foot injury) and seven boys. Two girls and two boys were selected as seeds. At the Group stage every seed won their Group and only one match went to a fourth game. In the quarter finals No. 3 equal seed Scarlotte Mills (Sou) had won her first two games 13-11, 11-9 but then lost the next three games 2-11, 3-11,4-11 to Luv Goel (Che). The other three seeds won their matches 3-0. In the semi finals Luv lost to the number two seed Evie Knaapen (Sou) 11-6, 3-11, 11-3, 11-6 but in the other semi there was a titanic battle between number three equal seed Shrinand Vijayakrichnan (Sou) and number 1 seed Charles Donald (Che) in a match that literally went to the wire. Charles eventually won 11-3, 6-11, 11-7, 8-11, 15-13. In the final Charles won 11-9, 11-3, 11-8.

     

     

    The Under 18 Boys Restricted event is for players who have never played for the County. There is no seeding so the Groups are luck of the draw as is the KO stage. There were five Groups as against last year’s seven.

    Matches in four of the Groups were all won 3-0 and Group 2 was by far the strongest Group. In the opening match Mario Ioakim (Woodford Wells) just got the better of Noah Sage (Bur) 9, -14, 9 ,8 while in his next match he was on the receiving end, losing 9, 8, -11, -8, 8 to Joshua Bickles (Che). The final Group match between Noah and Joshua was even closer with Joshua winning the final two points to win 5, 8, -12, -9, 10. In the quarter finals two matches went the full distance,  Charlie Kauders-Boothby (Sou) overcoming Sudheep Kamma (Che) 5, -7, -5, 8, 6 while clubmates Joshua and Vineeth Kamma met in the bottom half of the draw, Joshua coming back from 2-1 down to win 9, -10, -8, 7, 6. Charlie and Joshua both lost their semi-final matches to the Colchester duo Bright Bedding and Toby McLewin respectively and Toby went on to win the final -9, 5, -8, 8, 7.

     

    In the Under 15 Girls event the two seeds, Mabel Shute (Woodford Wells) and Alesha Ellis-Austin (Che) both won their Group matches comfortably. When the other two players in each Group met both matches went the full distance, Rachana Jatla (Mossford) beat Emilie Guilloux (Che) and Daniya Elfallah (Ilford) beat Evie Knaapen. In the final Mabel beat Alesha 7, 7, 6.

     

    The next events were the Under 13 Boys and Girls events. Only five boys Groups as against eight Groups last year. For the girls nine entrants this year as against only three last year. Maliha Baig had requested to be allowed to play in the boys events for experience and which would enable other girls the opportunity of winning events. The request was granted. Four of the five seeds won their Group, the fifth seed had withdrawn as he was required to play football. Number 2 seed Joseph Buscombe (Sou) was defeated by Rees Christina (Woodford Wells) -9, -8, 3, 5, 5 in the quarter final and then Rees lost to Maliha 6, 4, -12, 8 in the semi-final. In the other semi top seed James Donald (Che) beat Sudheep 8, 9, 8. The final was a thriller with some terrific high speed rallies keeping the spectators aghast. Maliha eventually won -7, 8, -9, 6, 2.

     

    Meanwhile the four seeds in the Under 13 Girls event were winning their Groups at a more leasurely pace and all matches by 3-0 margins. Mabel, Evie and Alesha all won their quarter final matches but Katie Tanner (Sou) lost to Rachana Jatla 3-1. Sister Sarah also lost to Evie 3-1. In the Semi’s Mabel a comfortable 3-0 win over Rachana, but the other Semi went to five games, Evie defeating Alesha -8, 9, 7, -6, 6. Mabel won the final 9, 5, 3.

     

    The event with the largest number of entrants was the Under 15 Boys with nine Groups. Here again seven of the nine seeds winning their Groups with the other two withdrawing to play football. Two matches went to a fourth game and two to a fifth game, seed Tobie Zeffie struggling to beat Rees Christina to win his Group. At the quarter final stage top seed Ralph Pattison (BATTS) beat Joshua Bickles 8, 6, -11, 9, Ben Porter (Che) beat Toby Zeffie 11. 8, 8, James Donald beat Rees Christina 7, 3, 3, and Maliha Baig beat Liam Harris 7, 7, 4.

     

     

     

    In the semi-finals Ralph beat Ben 5, 8, 5 and in a repeat of the earlier match Maliha again beat James, this time 10, 8, 7. In the final Maliha took the first game 11-7 but lost the next three games 6, 13, 2, that third game being the match decider.

     

    There were nine girls in the Under 18 event this year, a major improvement on last year’s two entries. Emily Kidd (Sou) won her Group but Annabel Sweeney (Che) lost to Mabel Shute -10, -5, 9, 8, -7 to finish runner up in her Group  while Nyree Marsh (Che) was taken the full distance by Melinda Abraham Victor (Che) 8, 7, -7, -7, 4 in the last Group match to win the Group. Having beaten Melinda in the quarter final Annabel beat Emily Kidd 6, 6, 9 in the semi to get to the final and meet Nyree who had beaten Mabel 12, 6, 12 in their semi. In the final Nyree won 4, -8, 3, 5.

     

    In the Under 18 Girls Restricted there were two Groups and Annabel had to withdraw from the event. Melinda defeated Joanna Gaudini (Sou) 7, 9, 12 to meet Nyree in the final. No marathon this time with Nyree winning 2, 11, 10.

     

    The final event of the day was the Under 18 Boys Singles. Same number of Groups as last year. Ray Yan had to withdraw two days before with illness and the remaining seeds all won their Groups.  In the quarter finals number one seed Jaden Aulakh (Fusion) beat Toby Zeffie 9, 10, 11, Jesse Bath (Wanstead) beat Ralph Pattison 9, -5, 10, -8, 9 for a very narrow win, Daniel Zeffie (Sou) beat Toby McLewin (Col) -4, 13, -5, 7, 8 and Daniel Young (Cla) beat Joshua Bickles 6, 1, 6. In the semi finals Jaden beat Jesse -7, 9, 9, 3, and Daniel Zeffie beat Daniel Young 6, -8, 8, -10, 8. Jaden won the final 8, 7, 3 over Daniel Zeffie.

    Under 18 Girls Restricted winner Nyree Marsh (left) and runner-up Melinda Abraham Victor (right) with coach Lee Mchugh

    Under 18 Girls Restricted winner Nyree Marsh (left) and runner-up Melinda Abraham Victor (right) with coach Lee Mchugh

     

    Under 11 Open Event winner and runner up Charles Donald and Evie Knaapen

    Under 11 Open Event winner and runner up Charles Donald and Evie Knaapen

    Arthur C. Clark

    Essex Junior Match Secretary and Tournament Organiser.

     

    County Juniors

    Essex Cadets on form

    Gallery

    Essex Cadets

    Essex Cadets

    CADET COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS

    DIVISION 1A, 30 NOVEMBER 2019

     

    A GOOD DAY FOR THE ESSEX CADET TEAM

     

    The first rounds of County Cadet Division 1A matches were played on Saturday 30 November 2019 with three rounds of matches to be played. To reduce traveling distances this first round was split in to two halves, the eastern half Essex, Middlesex 1, Middlesex 2 and Suffolk to play one another at NETTS, Earls Colne whilst the southern half of the Division, Buckinghamshire 1, Surrey 2 and Sussex 1 played one another at the Graham Spicer Centre, New Malden, Surrey.  All matches were played on two tables.

     

    Cadet Rankings are shown in red. The Essex Team was Ralph Pattison (744), Liam Harris (391), Toby Zeffie (280), Maliha Baig (877) and Mabel Shute (292). Oliver Rampton had originally been selected but then withdrew for another commitment.

     

    In their first match the team had Middlesex 1 to play who were the team likely to be one of the front runners. The opening match was a cracker with Ralph and Jenson Moreno (699) closely matched. Ralph took the first game 11-5 but Jenson took the next two games 8 and 10.  A tight fourth game went narrowly to Ralph 11-9 so all to play for in the decider. Narrowly behind at the change round Ralph just could not pull the deficit back and lost 9-11. On the other table Toby lost to Charlie Nabarro (612) 3-1.  Next on the table was Mabel in her first match for the County, a big initiation as she had to play the highest ranked girl in the room, Scarlett Anders (954). A slightly nervous start but came back to win five consecutive points and the first game 11-9. Scarlett upped her game to win the next two easily but Mabel had a couple of chances to take the match to a decider, finally losing that fourth game 13-11. For Maliha her match against Tianer Yu (not ranked) was one she will wish to forget quickly losing 3-0. For Liam a marathon match against Toby Crawcour (815) on his first match for the County. Taking the first two games narrowly 14-12 and 11-9 he lost the next two 7 and 5. The decider was a nail biting game which Liam finally won 11-9, a great start for his County debut. Toby then lost 3-0 to Jenson and Mabel 7, 6, 12 to Tianer. Ralph’s match with Toby was identical to the Liam/Toby match. Win the first two games, lose the next two and win the fifth. For Maliha she now had to play Scarlett. Could she win and recover some of the ranking points she had lost in the earlier match. Yes she could – with both players looking for supremacy Maliha eventually won the first game 16-14 and then lost the second 9-11. No stopping Maliha now and she roared through the next two games 5 and 3 to win that match. Liam was back on the table against Charlie for the final match. A close match and another win after losing the first game, -8, 5, 9,10. A 4-6 loss and a great effort to win the last three matches.

     

    The Essex Team now had to play neighbours Suffolk. Liam and Toby both lost 3-0 to Isaac Kingham (542) and Joseph Fortnam-Adams (499) respectively. Maliha and Mabel quickly made the score 2-2 with 3-0 wins over Aiva Tendengu (9) and Ruby Williams (112). Ralph seems to delight in five game matches and he was involved in another two here. Firstly against Henry Shaw (591) winning 11-9 in the final game and later on 11-7 in his match with Joseph. Toby took a game off Isaac and Maliha and Mabel both won their remaining girls matches 3-0. In the final match Liam lost 3-0 to Henry but still a Team win 6-4.

     

    The final match was against Middlesex 2. Ralph played Brandon Sangchin (540) and yet again another five game match. Winning the first two games 10 and 7 the third was a disaster and the last two games were lost 9 and 7. On the other table Toby won his first match of the day, a 9, -5, 5, 5 win over Joel Osaghai (571). Mabel lost a close match to Mia Lakhani (232) 6, 12, -6, 9, letting a 9-6 lead slip away in the fourth game while Maliha winning 3-0 against Halle Toulon (161). Liam lost 9, 8, 8 to Ben Barbarash (602) and Toby 3-0 to Brandon. Mabel and Maliha both won their final matches, Maliha 3-0 over Mia and Mabel the closest match of the day, 10, -11, 13, 11. Ralph finally decided it was time not to have to play five games in a match so he beat Ben in four, -10, 12, 4, 8.  Liam rounded off the day with a 7, 8, 9 win over Joel. By winning the last four matches a potential defeat was converted into a 6-4 win.

     

    A good day all round and the debutants, Liam, Toby and Mabel all won matches. A date and venue for the final round of matches is yet to be finalised.

     

    Ralph 4 out of 6, Liam 3 out of 6, Toby 1 out of 7, Maliha 5 out of 6, Mabel 3 out of 6.

     

    CURRENT TABLE INCLUDING THE MATCH RESULTS FROM NEW MALDEN, SURREY.

     

    P          W         D          L          F          A          Pts

    Middlesex 1                  3          3          0          0          21           9        6

    Essex                           3          2          0          1          16         14         4

    Surrey 2                        2          2          0          0          15           5        4

    Buckinghamshire 1        2          1          0          1          11           9        2

    Suffolk                         3          0          1          2          12         18         1

    Middlesex 2                  3          0          1          2          11         19         1

    Sussex 1                      2          0          0          2            4        16         0

     

    Arthur C. Clark

    Essex Junior Match Secretary and Cadet Division 1A Organiser.

    County Juniors, News, Tournaments

    Essex girls top the table

    The Final round of County Junior Championship Division 1B matches were played at BATTS Harlow on Saturday 9 November 2019. For the first round of matches they had been played at Burgess Hill, Sussex, and at BATTS on 12 October to reduce travelling. Sussex 1 led the southern sub-division with six points from Dorset 1, Sussex 2 and Surrey 2 whilst the northern sub-division comprised Essex 1, Norfolk, Middlesex 1 and 2.

    However, on the day before these matches were due to be played Middlesex reported that neither of their teams could field a team so they conceded their matches to Norfolk and Essex 1 leaving just this one match to be played which Essex won 10-0. Junior Division 2C were also playing their first round matches at Burgess Hill and BATTS.

    The Essex team for the Final round of matches when all eight teams met at BATTS was Jaden Aulakh (702), Daniel Young (639), Ray Yan (502), Gracie Edwards (730) with Maliha Baig (378) promoted to the first team now that Tiana Dennison was no longer a Junior player, this being the same team as that that beat Norfolk. The current Ranking points of all the players are shown in red where known. After that first round match and the two concessions Essex were equal first with Sussex 1 with Dorset and Norfolk two points behind.

     

    The top two teams met in the opening round of matches. Both the two opening matches went the full distance and both finished with 11-5 scores and fluctuating games. Daniel won 4, -9, 5, -7, 5 against Owen Brown (816) while Ray lost to Keigo Burnham (616) 9, -5, 5, -10, -5. Next was the first of the girls matches and these four girls were the top girls on the day.  Gracie quickly accounted for Joelle Bennett (357) 7, 10, 3 while Maliha needed four games to beat Jodie Morris (675) 7, 5, -2, 8 who she had lost to a month or so ago, so a very good win for her. Jaden won both his matches comfortably, both 3-0, against Fraser Kent (837) and Keigo while Ray did just enough to beat Owen 9, 9, 8. Maliha beat Joelle 8, 7, 8 but Gracie had to work really hard to overcome Jodie 9, -13, 7, 10. An unexpected score line win to put Essex two points ahead which could become welcome later on.

     

    Surrey 2 were the new opponents who had lost all their matches in the first round of matches at Burgess Hill. It was only when writing this report that I noticed that Surrey had changed four of their team for higher ranked players. Jaden lost to Howard Onweng (801) 9, 9, 7 while on the other table Ray had lost the first game 11-4 to Ojasvii Borah (points not known) but came back strongly to win the next three games 8, 9, 9. Maliha beat Gabriela Lee 3-0 (points not known) but Gracie’s match with Yuvathi Kumar (points not known), the only Surrey player to play in the previous round of matches, went to a fifth game. In that last game Gracie trailed all the way until two consecutive points brought the score to 9-9. After Yuvathi called a time out Gracie had to save a match point but eventually won 10, -7, -9, 9, 11. Meanwhile on the other table Daniel lost to Nahom Goitom (874), the highest ranked boy om the day, 3-1 and then Ray beat Howard 3-1. Maliha’s 3, 7, 6 win over Yuvathi got the team at least a draw but alas the win could not be achieved, Gracie losing to Gabriela 7, 15, -12, 9, Jaden losing the fifth game to Nahom 11-7 and Daniel losing to Ojasvii 11, 13, 6.  With Sussex 1 beating Middlesex 1 6-4 Essex now only had a one point lead.

     

    Dorset were a boy and girl player missing so Essex starting the match 4-0 up. Jaden and Maliha soon made that 6-0 with 3-0 wins over Nathan Carlton (345) and Sophie Storey (272) respectively. Daniel then lost to Jamie Blair (856), the second highest ranked boy on the day, 3-1 and Ray beat Nathan 3-1. Jaden then had to play Jamie. He won the first two games 12-10 but Jamie hit back winning the next two games 4 and 7. A good start in the final game and Jaden went on to win it 11-5, a good win. With Gracie a 3-0 win against Sophie a 9-1 win the result.

     

    With Sussex 1 winning their match Essex needed a draw to win the Division on Sets difference. Their opponents were Sussex 2 who had won their matches 10-0, 9-1 and 8-2 and if they beat Essex Sussex 1 could win the Division by winning against a Norfolk team who had lost their three previously matches heavily.

     

    Not a good start for Essex with both Ray and Daniel each losing 3-1 to Will Mitchell Jamar McGlashan (730) respectively. Along came the cavalry to the rescue with Maliha and Gracie two easy wins against Sasha

     

     

     

    O’Halloran (241) and Sacha Ward. Jaden then lost to Martin Kapusta 3-0 but the match of the match was that between Jamar and Ray. Having lost the first two games 9, 6 Ray came back to win the next two games 10 and 9. Behind all the way in the decider Ray arrived 5-10 down. Clawing back those five match points and then another he finally won that game 13-11, a welcome win towards the draw that was needed. Maliha beat Sasha Ward 3, 4, 2 and Gracie won 3-1 against Sacha O’Halloran for the five points Essex wanted. Daniel lost to Martin after leading 2-1 but Jaden finished the day with an 8, 6, 6 win over Will. Essex were champions of the Division and could look forward to promotion to the Premier Division next season. Alas Gracie and Ray will be unable to play for the team as they will no longer Junior players next season. We wish them well in their Senior careers.

     

    Including the one match on 12 October  Jaden Aulakh 7 wins out of 10 matches; Daniel Young 4 out of 9; Ray Yan 7 out of 9; Gracie Edwards 8 out of 9; Maliha Baig 9outof 9.

     

    FINAL TABLE

    P          W         D         L          F          A          Pts

    Essex 1                       7          6          1          0          59        11        13

    Sussex 1                     7          6          0          1          49        21        12

    Sussex 2                     7          4          0          3          44        26          8

    Dorset 1                      7          3          2          2          30        36          8

    Surrey 2                      7          3          1          5          44        26          7

    Norfolk                                    7          2          0          5          26        44          4

    Middlesex 1                 7          0          1          6          10        48         1

    Middlesex 2                 7          0          1          6            6        52         1

     

     

    Arthur C. Clark

    Essex Junior Match Secretary