Paul Davison is used to being the favourite for the Braintree Table Tennis League men’s singles title, but this season the odds on him adding to his eight wins are shorter than ever.

Nearly all of his challengers or conquerors of recent years will be absent this time.

Current champion Gary Young has not played in the league this year. Nor have Lee McHugh, winner in 2019, or Michael Andrews, the champion in 2022.

Paul Lucas, beaten by Davison in the 2023 final, has only just started playing again, as has Adam Buxton, winner over Davison in the 2019 semi-final.

One player who is in the draw is Luke Burridge, whose defeat of Davison was the major surprise of last season.

Can he do it again? A relatively modest league return of 73 per cent (and 47 per cent in Colchester) suggests not, but his average was only marginally higher last year before he rose to the occasion in the quarter final.

Seeded to face Davison in the final is his Netts A teammate James Hicks, ultra consistent in the league this year with 32 wins out of 33, the defeat coming at the hands of Burridge.

Burridge is seeded third alongside Scott Dowsett, beaten only twice in his 18 sets this season.

Davison and Hicks are top seeds in the men’s doubles with Burridge and Sam Burrows, or last year’s finalists Karl Baldwin and Ken Lewis the likely challengers.

Sadly there were not enough entries to run a ladies’ singles but the junior boys’ singles could throw up an intriguing contest.

Ethan Collins, at ten the youngest ever winner of the title last year, faces the fast-improving Lucien Nolan-Bradford, beaten only once in 39 sets in division three.

The preliminary rounds of the individual events, plus the finals of some minor events, will be held at the Earls Colne Recreation Centre this weekend, with finals night the following Friday.

A few t’s were crossed and i’s dotted in the final week of league fixtures.

Black Notley B needed to better Sudbury Wanderers’ result by five points to stave off relegation from division one but fell three short.

Notley’s A team did their bit to help by beating Wanderers 10-0, but wresting five points from Rayne B proved beyond the B team.  Adi Kamma was unbeaten in Rayne’s 8-2 win.

Sudbury Nomads had already secured the runners-up spot but had the satisfaction of beating the team immediately below them, Rayne A, in their final match.

Rayne’s Paul Lucas continued his comeback from injury by taking his three singles and the doubles with Steve Pennell in the 6-4 defeat.

In the second division, Sudbury Strollers at last leaped out of the pack into the runners-up spot.

They jumped up from sixth to second with a 6-4 win over Notley C followed by a defeat by the same score against Netts D.

David Fiddeman was unbeaten at Netts but against Notley C he met his match in Jamie Brooks, who repeated his win in the restricted cup the previous week, this time in straight games, compared with 12-10 in the fifth game in the cup.

Netts C and Rayne E, who drew with each other, can still overtake them but Strollers still have two matches left compared with their one.

In the other match in the division, Notley D confirmed they will finish last but they went out with a bang, a 6-4 win over Rayne D, with Graham Chinnery and Matt Stephenson unbeaten.

In division three, Notley E took the point they needed – and seven more – to clinch the title against their own F team.

There were three wins each for their mainstays, Peter Davenport (40 wins out of 44) and Dave Parker (38 from 43).

Finchingfield B ended their four-match winless run with an 8-2 win over Rayne F, a team they had lost 7-3 to the previous week with only one change in each line-up. Ray Bradford and Trevor Laird were unbeaten in the second match.

Netts F finished their programme with a comprehensive 10-0 win over their own E team to claim third spot.  Their top two James Howard and Tom Verrier were unbeaten in both.

Notley G beat Rayne G 8-2 with Steve Baines and Ben Southgate unbeaten, while Sudbury Drifters finished their season with a 6-4 win over Notley H

If the cap fits….  This past fortnight has seen the culmination of the top of the table battles in both Division 1 and Division 2 of the Burnham & District Table Tennis Winter League.  Both Divisions went all the way to the final matches to finally separate the top two teams.

Division 1

In the top division last year’s champions Cold Norton B had a lightning opening half of the season where they went unbeaten and developed a very healthy lead over all their expected rivals.  Fambridge have a collection of table tennis Galacticos at their disposal and despite a slow start they began to rack up the wins as the season developed.  This excellent form shown by Fambridge coincided with a dip in performance from the Cold Norton squad and the two sides found themselves engaged in a pincer movement for the top spot.  In the end Fambridge ran out of games and in the final matches both teams recorded strong 10-0 whitewashes that showed their dominance in the league and this allowed Cold Norton to maintain their slender 2 point advantage to retain the cup they worked so hard for the year before.   Cold Norton fielded their best 3 players for the final match with Cold Norton C and it was no surprise that Sam Lowman, Eric Green, and Ian Wall all recorded final match hat-tricks.  Fambridge were up against the bottom team Stow Maries A but they still put out their best three players in John Poysden, Mark Stones and Keith Adams and as expected they too all finished the season with winning trebles.  An intriguing and very close season yet again.  Roll on next year!

Division 2

Blackwater A consist of a wonderful and eclectic collection of players across the age ranges and playing styles.  It is these attributes that allow them to ‘mess’ with their opposition and the mayhem they bring creates results.  In the second half of the season they have been on a proper roll and have been chipping away at the lead created by pre-season favourites Maldon A.  With just a couple of games to go the top two teams met in what was the defining match of the season.  Blackwater could still catch Maldon but would need a very strong showing in the face-off match.  It didn’t start well for Blackwater as Alan Scammell fell to Lloyd Bennett-Smith and then Colin Napper held his nerve to outlast Denis Balic in 5 long sets to put Maldon 2-0 up.  Neil Freeman then edged past the stoic resilience of Denis Crapnell to pull one back for Blackwater. Napper and Bennett-Smith won their next matches for a 4-1 lead and the match and title dreams were slipping away from Blackwater.  Balic got the better of his defensive nemesis Crapnell to make it 4-2 going into the break.  Maldon took the doubles and Crapnell out pimpled Scammell to secure the win – with Freeman and Balic taking notable consolation scalps of Napper and Bennett-Smith for an overall 6-4 and season confirming victory for Maldon A.  Never in Doubt!

These two victories sit alongside the much earlier crowned Division 3 Champions – Blackwater C.

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Eamonn Hall, Press Officer

Burnham & District Table Tennis League

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Pic 1 – Division 1 Champions 2026 – Cold Norton B (Eric Green, Dan Anderson, Sam Lowman, & Ian Wall)

Pic 2 – Division 2 Champions 2026 – Maldon A (Hamish Innes, Ross Kirby, Lloyd Bennett-Smith, & Colin Napper)

Pic 3 – Ian Wall in the final game for Cold Norton B securing the title

Pic 4 – Mark Stones taking his hat-trick for Fambridge

Pic 5 – Division 1 Table

The Southend League is ready for this year’s prestigious English Leagues Cup competition with their junior boys team commencing their campaign on Sunday 19th April at Plumberow Primary Academy the home of Hockley TTC. They take on teams from Norwich and Cambridge with the winners going through to the final to be held on Sunday 5th July at Draycott and Long Eaton TTC.

The English Leagues Cup competition dates back to 1935 when the Willmot Cup was the prize for senior mens teams. Four years later a senior ladies competition was started competing for the JM Rose Bowl and there was then a gap of 27 years before events were introduced for junior boys and girls teams. The Carter Cup for boys and Bromfield Trophy for girls.

It’s now 91 years since inception and over the years a whole plethora of top players have taken part, a real who’s who of the UK’s top players. Johnny Leach, Diana Rowe, Ann Hayden, Chester Barnes, Nicky Jarvis, Dennis Neale, John Hilton and Desmond Douglas all have their names inscribed here as winners.

So far as Essex teams are concerned there was success for the Romford senior ladies in 1966, Lesley Bell, Shelagh Hession and Linda Henwood. No further wins until the sole win for the Southend junior boys in 1992 Ryan Savill, Richard Lawrence and Chris Sladden. Chelmsford junior girls triumphed in 1995 with Sarah Davison, Karen Mason and Shelley Ruocco and they were followed by the Harlow junior girls in 2001 Grace Brown, Nicole Todd and Emma Weil.

The Southend team of three is made up of Elliot Brackenbury and William Evesham from Hockley TTC and Josh Freeman from Stanford TTC. Two reserves James Evesham (Hockley TTC) and Vivaan Babbar (StanfordTTC) are included in the squad with coach Mitchell Jones (Stanford TTC).

We wish them all the best and good luck in their endeavours.

Report by Paul Strutt

For the second year running Rayne A have denied Netts A a double success in the Braintree Table Tennis League by beating them in the semi-final of the team knockout cup.

It was achieved with an entirely different team from last year, when Maria Boulton, Adam Buxton and Paul Lucas took them through.

This time it was down to Victor Chan, Steve Pennell and reserve Matthew Brown, who won 5-4.

Paul Davison was missing from the Netts team but on paper a line-up of James Hicks, Andy Holmes and Joe Meleschko looks the stronger combination.

Hicks did his bit by taking his two singles, but two from Brown – able to play up from the C team under the new regulation that allows players who have already represented one team to play one match up – and one each from Chan and Pennell plus the Chan/Pennell doubles was enough to upset the forecasts.

Brown proved he could live in the first division with straight-game wins over Meleschko and Holmes, the latter probably the pivotal point of the match.

The other semi-final was also a repeat of last season, Sudbury Nomads beating Rayne B 5-2.

Karl Baldwin and Richard Fifield both won two out of two.

In the restricted cup, the Black Notley club narrowly failed to get two teams through to the final when their D team were beaten in the final doubles in their semi-final against Netts D.

Graham Chinnery was unbeaten for Notley D but crucially Netts D won all three doubles.

In the final they will face Notley’s C team, who beat Sudbury Drifters 5-3.  Jamie Brooks’ two singles and two doubles were instrumental in taking them through, notably his deuce-in-the-third win over David Fiddeman, beaten only once – by Matthew Brown – in the league this year.

Netts F will be aiming to make it five wins in a row for a Netts team in the handicap cup after their 5-1 win over Sudbury Drifters.

James Howard and Tom Verrier won two out of two while Terry Hunneybel’s win (off +3) over Reece Arundell was the only one to disturb the scoreline.

They will play Rayne E, who dealt with Sudbury Strollers 5-3, despite three wins from Ian Whipps.

In the league, Finchingfield B’s unhappy run in division three continued, Rayne C at last stretched their lead to an insurmountable gap in division two while in division one Netts A lost their unbeaten record, then got it back again as a result of an oversight by their opponents.

Taking the last one first, Notley A were congratulating themselves on beating Netts A 6-4 with three wins for Tom Hinds, including the first defeat of the season for Paul Davison. However, Hinds had not been registered and so 6-4 turned into 2-8.

Rayne C’s success in division two, which has looked nailed on for more than half the season, finally became reality last week with a 10-0 win over bottom team Notley D. 

Surprisingly it was their first 10-0 win of the season – and Notley D’s first defeat by that score.

In division three, one-time leaders Finchingfield B played twice but could not arrest their winless streak, now four in a row and seven out of nine.

They drew with Yeldham Whitlocks B and then lost 7-3 to Rayne F, where Alastair Brown’s late-season form surge continued with his first unbeaten evening of the season.

Elsewhere in division one, Liberal A turned out one of their strongest teams of the season – Scott Dowsett and Adam Cuthbert in tandem – to register an 8-2 win over Notley A that took them above Netts B, who were beaten 9-1 at Rayne A.

The Rayne team not only included a third appearance for Paul Lucas but a welcome return for Adam Buxton for his first match of the season.

At the other end of the table, a surprise 8-2 win for Notley B over Liberal B lifted them to within four points of Sudbury Wanderers, who drew with Rayne B, for whom Adi Kamma was unbeaten.

The concertina effect in the middle of division two has now squeezed down to just six points between second place and ninth.

Three teams, Netts C, Notley C and Rayne D, are level on points immediately behind the leaders.

Netts C unexpectedly tumbled 8-2 to Finchingfield A, where John Barrett and Peter Clark were unbeaten, while Rayne D were also on the wrong end of a scoreline, in their case 6-4 against Sudbury Strollers, who borrowed Graham Turner from the third division and were rewarded with his three singles.

In division three, Notley E need only one point to secure the title after their 9-1 win over Rayne G.

Netts F increased the likelihood of finishing third with a 6-4 win over Rayne F, the team just behind them, a position enhanced by one more point in rearranged matches when they beat Rayne G 8-2 while Rayne F dropped three points against Finchingfield B.

Yeldham B and Notley H shared the points while Notley F racked up their first 10-0 of the season with a win over Sudbury Drifters, an occasion also marked by Wendy Day’s first unbeaten evening in her first full season of competitive table tennis.

Report by Ron Fosker

This year’s Clacton and District League Handicap Cup Final will be between current Division One leaders Brotherhood A and Nomads Tigers of Division Two.

In the first semi-final, Brotherhood A defeated cup-holders Nomads Lions 5-2, Daniel Young, Kevin Gowlett and Gary Young the winning trio.

In a high-class match between the top two teams in the League which would have graced any final, Brotherhood always had the edge, with Gary Young remaining unbeaten in his one singles and two doubles.

Paul Hume took the two wins for the Lions, defeating both Gowlett and Daniel Young in matches played off scratch, the latter 11-9 in the decider.

The second semi-final was an all-Second Division affair between Nomads Tigers and Brotherhood D, and a repeat of a Group stage match earlier in the competition where the Tigers had edged it 5-4.

And they repeated their success this time with a close-fought 5-3 victory. There was a singles win each for Tom Wilkin, Matt Sage and Sam Watling while, crucially, the Tigers took both the doubles played.

Fred Gallone won a couple for Brotherhood, including (on -3) an 11-8 in the fifth victory over Watling (+1), whilst Lily Liu (+1) enjoyed success over Matt Sage (-1) 11-9 in the fifth.

For most of the Tigers’ players, who played last season as the Jaguars in Division Three, it will be a second visit to the Cup Final in successive years where, in 2025, they finished as runners-up to another top Division One side, Nomads Lions.

The final takes place on Tuesday 21st April at the Brotherhood Hall with play starting at 7.30 pm.    

* In Division One of the League, the all-Windsor clash ended 6-4 in favour of the Eagles over the Hawks. Gary Cattermole’s three for the Eagles included an 11-7 in the decider win over Andy Vincent, while there were two for John Pattrick and one for Gavin Price. Vincent took two for the Hawks and Scott Campbell one, the pair sharing an 11-6 in the decider doubles success over Cattermole and Pattrick.

Brotherhood B beat Windsor Buzzards 10-0 but it was something of a disappointment as the Buzzards fielded only one player plus a guest.

Just one match in Division Two saw leaders Brotherhood G defeat Lawford 6-4. Mark Boyland remained unbeaten, John Gallagher and Paul Metcalf each won one, while Boyland and Gallagher took the doubles. For Lawford, there were two each for Charlie Denholm and Richard Spence. So, fifteen points for the ‘G’ team in their final two matches against Nomads Tigers and Windsor Harriers will guarantee them the title.

Brotherhood H edged ever nearer the Division Three title with a 7-3 victory over Brotherhood E. There were two each for Danny Still, Dan Grindrod and Gary Simpson but none of them could get the better of Jack Hillier who remained unbeaten for Brotherhood. Tony Edmonds came close to adding a point, narrowly going down 11-8 in the decider to Grindrod.

Trebles for Gary Stallwood and Ian Gwillim, and two for Gerry Widnell, saw Holland Hurricanes home 9-1 against Nomads Ocelots. Andrew Cousins picked up the consolation point for the Ocelots.

There was an excellent hat-trick for Matt Thomas of Windsor Falcons against Windsor Magpies but the Magpies, who were able to field a full-strength side for the first time in two months, won 6-4. For the Magpies there were two each for John Plummer and the returning Dave Sweetland, and one for Alan Rutledge. Three of the Magpies’ points came from close five-setters, Plummer beating Gary Barnes 11-6 in the fifth, Sweetland beating Nigel Rolph 11-5 in the fifth and Rutledge defeating the same player 11-7 in the fifth.

Both the Magpies and Falcons are good standard Third Division teams but the fact that they’re both languishing in the bottom half of the table is a testament to the overall strength of Division Three which is the highest it’s been for very many seasons.

* The Closed Championships, sponsored by Gary Cattermole and The Survey Initiative, take place this Saturday and Sunday (11th and 12th April) at the Lift School (formerly Clacton Coastal Academy) Sports Hall.

Play starts at 9.00 am on both days. The finals of the Saturday events are scheduled to begin from 2.00 pm onwards and the finals on Sunday from 3.00 pm. All entrants will receive further details, including check-in times, by next Tuesday (7th April). Any player who does not receive these details should contact Isabel Barton on     07706 450488.

RESULTS

Handicap Cup : Semi-finals

Brotherhood A 5 Nomads Lions 2;

Nomads Tigers 5 Brotherhood D 3.

League

Division One

Windsor Eagles 6 Windsor Hawks 4;

Brotherhood B 10 Windsor Buzzards 0;

Division Two

Brotherhood G 6 Lawford 4.

Division Three

Windsor Magpies 6 Windsor Falcons 4;

Holland Hurricanes 9 Nomads Ocelots 1;

Brotherhood H 7 Brotherhood E 3.

Report by Tony Oswick

Netts A have clinched the Braintree Table Tennis League title, their fourth win in five years and ninth overall.

They are now out of reach of Sudbury Nomads, despite the latter’s 8-2 win over their clubmates the Wanderers.

Aron Jordan and Richard Fifield were unbeaten in Nomads’ latest success, which leaves them needing only two points in their final match to ensure the runners-up medals.

That would put them out of reach of Rayne A, who beat Liberal B 9-1.  Doubtless they would have been closer had Paul Lucas been available, but this was only his second match of the season.

Netts B moved into fifth place – Chris Parr unbeaten – with an 8-2 win over Black Notley B while Brandon Crouchman made a rare appearance to enable Liberal A to draw at Rayne B.

Division two leaders Rayne C can’t get the champagne out yet but a 6-4 win over Sudbury Strollers, the only team who could technically overtake them, means it won’t be long.

Against Strollers, Matthew Brown gained revenge on David Fiddeman, one of only two people to beat him so far, and with almost identical scores.  In November Fiddeman won 11-8, 11-6, 11-8.  This time Brown took it 11-6, 11-8, 11-9.

The rest of the division swapped places as usual with Notley C moving back up to second place despite a 6-4 defeat at the hands of Yeldham Whitlocks A. Jamie Brooks won his three singles for Notley plus the doubles with Jim Davy.

Netts D shared the points with Finchingfield A, with JJ Calisin unbeaten, while Notley D’s hold on their place is looking more unsteady after their 8-2 defeat by Rayne E.

In division three it is Finchingfield B’s grip that is unravelling – in their case on the top spot. After establishing a comfortable lead at the top when they won their first seven matches, they have now won only twice in the last seven, the latest defeat coming at the hands of Netts F, where James Howard’s three sets led them to a 7-3 victory.

That enabled Notley E to stretch their lead at the top after an 8-2 win over bottom team Netts E, for whom Lindsey Dodd won twice but couldn’t get past Dave Parker.

Fourth-placed Rayne G lost 6-4 to Notley G, the team immediately below them while Sudbury Drifters had an 8-2 win over Rayne G and Notley F beat a two-person Yeldham B 9-1.

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Wayne Wilson, Matthew Brown and Peter Davenport were the major winners at the first individual championships weekend.

Wilson won the handicap singles while Brown was successful in the division two singles and Davenport in the division three equivalent.

Wilson, giving away a three-point start, beat James Howard in the final of the handicap 21-13, 21-17, and Davenport 21-15, 21-17 in the semi-final, this time receiving three start.

Davenport’s success in the division three event came at the expense of Howard’s Netts F teammate Tom Verrier 11-4, 11-8, 4-11, 12-10 in the final after a win over Howard in the semi-final.

Brown had a close match with Charles Calisin in the semi-final of the division two event, pulling through only at 11-8 in the fifth game, before beating David Fiddeman 11-4, 11-7, 12-10 in the final – just four days after beating him in the league.

Alesha Ellis-Austin and Ashley Skeggs will contest the division one final on finals night on April 24.  They progressed via Rev Matthews and Ken Lewis respectively in the semi-finals.

The final of the handicap doubles, where partners are randomly drawn on the day, was won by Adam Clift and James Grimston, on minus 12, over Cley Dearsley and Ethan Collins 24-22, 21-19.

Skeggs won the hardbat singles with an 8-11, 11-4, 11-8 victory in the final over Steve Noble.

Report by Ron Fosker

This week saw the culmination of the annual Burnham & District Table Tennis Closed Championships.  Finals Night was held at Champions Manor Hall in South Woodham, and a baying crowd got to witness some superb sport across an evening that revealed the final 5 winners.  Dan Young was the big winner – taking the coveted Singles Crown – adding this to several other league titles won this season.

Mens Singles 2026

There were no major upsets in the preliminary groups so all the big dogs were battling it out from the round of 16.   The first upset of the day saw Simon Jacob take out 4^th seed Kevin Read and then in the quarters Jacob continued his dominance of his draw as he got the better of John Poysden.  So Jacob was through to the semi-finals, and on the other side of his half of the draw top seed Daniel Young came through unscathed.  Sam Lowman was a man on a mission at the weekend events and in the last 16 he faced multiple previous winner and #2 seed Duncan Taylor.  Lowman came out like a rocket and went 2-0 up in record speed with Taylor unable to counter any of his ferocious attacks.  Taylor is no fool and he tightened up his play in the latter sets and forced Lowman into an over aggressive stance that did not pay dividends.  Taylor, using all his nous, had recovered the match to 2-2 and looked the favourite going into the decider.  The final leg was a bit more considered and with a pinch of patience added to his play Lowman was connecting more effectively and eventually just edged this one to progress to the quarter-final stage.  Lowman came up against team-mate Ian wall but no favours were asked for or given and Lowman prevailed.  Third seed Keith Adams came through his draw to set up the semi with Lowman by getting the better of Charles Sweeny and then Kieran Skeggs in a volatile encounter.

In the semis Keith Adams came through 3-1 against Sam Lowman.  The match was tight with the tense 3^rd leg going to 15-13 after an unauthorised towelling down incident at 13-13 that clearly upset the Lowman focus.  Adams then got a good start in the 4^th leg and Lowman was unable to regain the focus required to compete.  The semi between Dan Young and Simon Jacob seemed closer than the scores suggest even though Young won in straight sets. Jacob was close in the first two sets but every time he got within a point Young would go through the gears to stay ahead.   So to the Final where Young got off to a flying start as he took the opening leg 11-3 in record time.  Perhaps it was too easy for Young as he relaxed too much and this allowed Adams to work his way not only back into the game but to take the lead winning the next 2 legs 11-7, 11-7.  Young came out fired up in the 4^th and quickly went to 6-0 with some rapid shooting, but again Adams retaliated and actually got back to 8-9, and then deuce before losing out 11-13.  The final leg was tense and points were shared tit-for-tat until Adams found himself 8-6 up and in touching distance of the Bob Cole Cup.  But like a caged animal when it is cornered, it is at its most dangerous, and the beast in Young was released and he fired off the next 5 points with some aplomb to take back the crown he last held as a 17 year old in 2019.

Mixed Doubles 2026

After a couple of years out through injuries the Duncan Taylor (Cold Norton) & Andrea Alleyne (Blackwater) partnership is back in full swing and in the early rounds everything went well as the top seeds overcame the tricky Mapledene pairing of Simon Jacob and Sue Body in the first semi-final that went to 5 legs.  On the other side of the draw Ian Wall (Cold Norton) & Lin Roff (Mapledene) had their own tough 5 setter with George Reeves and Tina Hutchinson.  The Final itself was an enjoyable affair where Wall & Roff took an early 2-0 lead being the most consistent of the pairings.  The 3^rd leg was awesome and a fitting finale to any match as Taylor & Alleyne found they needed to attack more and so the game opened up and we had a plethora of fantastic rallies – with Alleyne often hitting the winners.  As we went past deuce and up to 14-14 the lead had switched several times until eventually Wall & Roff broke the defence of their opponents to claim the Kevin Briggs Trophy

Men’s Doubles 2026

Sam Lowman & Charles Sweeny (Cold Norton) were a scratch pair establish by the seeding committee based on a desire to compete – even though seeded #4 they played superbly, really complementing each other and look a good bet to go all the way.  In the quarters they bested George Reeves and Steve Muth, and followed that by knocking out the top seeds Duncan Taylor & Kevin Read – that’s some passage!  Their Final were the unseeded Simon Jacob & David Jacob (Mapledene) – affectionately known as the ‘Jacob Crackers’ – who had to come through the preliminaries before they faced #2 seeds Ian Wall and Dan Young in a remarkable match where the Jacob brothers faced and rescued match points in both the 4^th and 5^th legs which they eventually won 14-12 and then 15-13 – that’s some True Grit for sure.  After that drama they still had to face another tricky battle with #3 seeds Keith Adams and Dan Zeffie – but again they triumphed.  So all top 3 seeds fell before Finals Night and the Seeding Committee are considering their hara-kiri options as we speak. 

In the Final the scratch pairing of Lowman and Sweeny failed to catch up with the honed technique of the Jacob Brothers who have years of experience of playing together.  The surprising element was the attacking prowess of David Jacob – we are all aware of how both of the brothers have great control around the table with superb defensive capabilities but it was the slapped forehands of David that made the difference in the first two legs where the Mapledene duo took an early 2-0 lead.  In the 3^rd set Lowman in particular was on fire and his low and forceful loops were hitting the back of the net more often than not and this turned the tide in favour of the chasing duo as they pulled back a leg.  The 4^th leg was a much closer affair and at 9-9 it looked like we might be in for a 5 setter, but a couple of loose shots from Sweeny gave the Jacobs their first Burnham Title.  They went Crackers!

Veteran Singles 2026

The Seeding Committee are pleased with this one as the top 2 seeds made the Final but there was some drama along the way.  In the round of 16 Eamonn Hall came back from a seemingly unassailable 0-2 deficit to score a notable scalp over Eric Green, and then in the quarter-finals Simon Jacob repeated his earlier antics when he upset the seedings by beating John Poysden again.  Jacob was now pitted against Duncan Taylor in the first semi, after Taylor had beaten George Reeves in the quarter-final.  An appealing mismatch of styles saw Jacob unable to get to grips with the best tactic against the defence minded Taylor and Taylor progressed.  On the other side of the draw Keith Adams came through getting past Steve Muth and then Kevin Read in the semi-final.  The Final was one of the most anticipated matches of Finals Night and it didn’t disappoint.  Taylor was out of the blocks very slowly and whippersnapper Adams had him locked down at 2-0 with some very aggressive shooting.  Taylor had a word with himself and fought harder in the 3^rd leg taking it 11-9 to set up the match nicely.  The 4^th leg still remains a mystery to those who witnessed it.  Adams went 6-0 up very quickly with masterful use of nets and edges, and even at 8-2 up it looked like the leg and Title were his – but despite the ongoing influx of further nets and edges Taylor was not for the chop and he ground the most amazing leg victory with a very satisfying edge for an 11-9 win.  The deciding leg went point for point until we reached 9-8 to Taylor.  Adams pulled backed to 9-9 and then forced an error from a Taylor retrieval to have the first match point – at which point Taylor decides to attack and his forehand smash caught the top of the net and sailed just beyond the back of the table for an Adams victory 11-9 in the fifth.

Ladies’ Singles Final

The preliminary groups brought the top 4 players together for the semi-finals but perhaps not in the predicted order, and with recent champion Dawn Baldry not in the field the bookies were at a loss for this one.  Lin Roff had to face off her Mapledene team-mate Sue Body in her semi, whilst Tina Hutchinson had to battle it out with Debbie O’Neill to reach the Final.

Roff was a firm favourite to reclaim the Ladies Singles title but she didn’t have it all her own way in a final that saw plenty of attacking table tennis, mainly from Hutchinson on both forehand and backhand.  Roff took the opening set 11-8 as Hutchinson had a nervy start.  But in the second leg those nerves dissipated and we got to see the free flowing Hutchinson attack as she blasted her way to an 11-7 leg.  The pattern of play was now established but Roff was defending well and over the next two legs was the most consistent and this culminated in a 3-1 victory.

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Eamonn Hall, Press Officer

Burnham & District Table Tennis League

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Pic 1 – Men’s Singles Final – Young v Adams

Pic 2 – Mixed Doubles Final 2026

Pic 3 – Men’s Doubles Final 2026

Pic 4 – Veteran Singles Final 2026 – Taylor v Adams

Pic 5 – Ladies Final 2026 – Roff v Hutchinson

Pic 6 – Men’s Doubles winners – David and Simon Jacob.

Last weekend saw the Burnham & District Table Tennis Annual Closed Championships where we were able to sort out the wheat from the chaff and crown the various discipline, divisional and age group champions.  In the events that were finalised over the weekend’s play there were 3 players that shone the brightest each taking two titles – Arron Chandler, Peter Harverson, and the ever young John Poysden.

John Poysden was totally dominant in the Super Vets categories where he won both the Over 60s and Over 70s Singles.  In the Over 60s Poysden beat Eric Green in the Final to retain his trophy, whilst in the Over 70s Poysden was deemed a youngster and a new kid on the block.  He quickly earned the respect of his elders mind as he quickly rampaged through the field defeating Hamish Innes in straight sets in the Final.  Innes had come through a very tricky semi-final to meet Poysden in the glory match – eventually winning 11-9 in the deciding leg against a hard-working Dick Wyman, the now ousted holder of the trophy (can we have our cup back please?).

Innes was not overly disappointed at his loss in the Over 70s Final as he had already secured a phenomenal win in the Dan Richardson Trophy for players from Division 2 and down.  A really tough field to crack.  Innes upset the seeding as far back as the group stages where he beat Graham Briggs to reverse the seeding order.  This led to Briggs meeting and defeating top seed Colin Napper early in the knockout stages.  Innes had a hard road to the Final with victories over Pat White, holder Adi Kamma, and then Briggs (again) in the Final.  The Final itself was immense – one of the best for years – with Briggs throwing everything he had at the stoic defence of Innes.  But the Innes wall held stern and the game went back and forth with Briggs levelling at 2-2.  The final leg was more of the same with Briggs attacking at full pelt but the legs and lungs of Innes held good and his control and calmness just got the better of the more ebullient Briggs.  A worthy Final in honour of our departed friend Dan Richardson, and a very worthy winner. 

Peter Harverson is one of the most improved players on the circuit this year, and it was no surprise when he took the Junior Singles title without dropping a set, with Oscar Wyman pipping Luca Riedling for the Runner-Up spot.  Harverson continued his good form into the Handicap Singles where he came through several rounds including a tricky win over Arron Chandler before meeting Colin Napper in a semi-final that went to a deciding leg before Harverson won out 21-17 against the defensive king.  His opponent in the final was Eamonn Hall who had come through a remarkable 55 minute 3 legged semi-final battle with Harry Sawford.  Hall, Harverson, and Sawford all come from the Woodham B stable and it is no wonder they have made it to the Team Handicap Final this year.  The Final was another long and tough battle with Hall taking the first leg before Harverson got his loopy lefty forehands going.  Harverson’s forehand loops gave him the edge and despite lots of long rallies he eventually took the deciding leg 21-16 for his second title of the day.

The Mixed Open Singles is a randomly drawn event for all players except the top 12 ranked players at the tournament.  Another bumper field this year saw lots of preliminary round ties before we got to the last 16 knockout phase.  Despite lots of tough matches there were no real big shocks up to the semi-finals where Arron Chandler got the better of Eric Green and then Harry Sawford got one over on Charles Sweeny.  So a young and athletic Final was on the cards.  Actually it was a bit more cagey as both players went looking for the right shots to hit – and on the day Chandler’s hit rate and accuracy was enough to get past the extensive reach of Sawford who was playing in his first Burnham Final.  In the final event of the day Chandler took to the hard bat discipline like an otter to water.  Different bats and a slightly different format but no bother to Chandler.  In the quarter-final he ousted team-mate Dan Anderson for a semi-final match-up with hardbat specialist Eric Green.  On the other side of the draw Dan Young had made it through for a semi with Ian Wall.  A high-quality final four in this one.  Both semis kicked off together and in the opening legs both games went to a sudden death winner takes all golden point at 14-14.  Coming from behind Chandler took the opener against Green, and Young nicked it against Wall.  Both Chandler and Young went on to win tight second legs to set up an all action Marty Supremesque Final.  The Final saw Young more defensive than expected and Chandler quickly took the opening leg 15-8, before a more accurate Young hit back to square the final with a second leg 15-13 score.  The deciding leg was tight with the lead being shared with Young looking the most likely to succeed as he led in the final stages.  That was until Chandler gave up the ghost and forced Young into some unnecessary attacking shots that didn’t quite land and Chandler took the final few points for a 15-13 final leg victory.  Two in the bag for Chandler!

In the Fambridge Trophy event, Woodham’s Simon Thomas was looking to recover the trophy he last won in 1998.  Despite reaching the Final he couldn’t get the better of the hard-hitting and deserved winner Neil Thompson who won in 4 sets for his fist Burnham title.

On Sunday the Ladies’ Doubles proved a popular event that saw the amazing Shirley Carroll pick up her 17^th winners medal in this event as her and partner Dawn Baldry went undefeated in the round robin schedule.  Carroll first won this event in 1976 – 50 years ago – a truly amazing feat.  Runners-up were Sue Body and Debbie O’Neill from Mapledene TTC.

In the Veterans Doubles (over 40s) Kevin Read and Duncan Taylor maintained their stranglehold on this event with another masterful display of doubles.  On the way to the Final they had to overcome the in-form duo of the weekend in the guise of David and Simon Jacob.  Their opponents in the Final were Steve Muth and George Reeves who themselves had upset the apple cart when they just about knocked out Keith Adams and Eric Green after a ding dong of a post deuce final set.  The Final was pretty close in the first 2 legs despite Read and Taylor taking both with Reeves hitting some cracking forehands.  Alas the third, and as it turns out final leg, just got away from Muth and Reeves and Read and Taylor were able to maintain this crown they have held for so long.

The only other Final of the weekend was The Consolation Plate Final for all players knocked out in the Group Stages of the main Singles events.  This one produced another set of semi-finals featuring 3 Woodham players.  In the first semi Dan Piglet outplayed Dan Anderson to reach the Final, and in the all-Woodham semi-final Peter Harverson was up against Eamonn Hall again.  Another close one but again Harverson was too strong on the day as he came through in 4 sets.  The Final was a proper rollercoaster with Harverson taking legs 1 and 4 with Piglet taking the middle two for a final leg winner takes all finale.  Throughout this match both players had been back from the table swapping long hard-hitting rallies and the final leg was no different with Piglet just doing enough to take home his plate of bacon.

A huge nod of thanks and appreciation for the chief organiser of the event Tim Huxtable for a smooth and fun tournament.

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Eamonn Hall, Press Officer

Burnham & District Table Tennis League

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Pic 1 – Junior Singles Winner and Runner-up 2026 – Peter Harverson and Oscar Wyman

Pic 2 – Ladies Doubles Winners 2026 – Shirley Carroll and Dawn Baldry

Pic 3 – The ever young John Poysden triumphing in the Over 60s and Over 70s Singles.

Pic 4 – HardBat Final 2026 – Dan Young v Arron Chandler

Pic 5 – Action from the Dan Richardson Trophy 2026 Final between Hamish Innes and Graham Briggs

Pic 6 – Mixed Open 2026 Finalists – Harry Sawford and Arron Chandler.