Stow Maries A have finally loosened their coiled springs and leapt ahead of Maldon A in the race for the Division 2 Title in the Burnham & District Table Tennis League.  It will now go tit-for-tat until the end of the season with the big clash of the titans scheduled for early March – it could be a winner takes all affair!

In the top Division Fambridge were back in action and their emphatic 8-2 disposal of a very competitive Mapledene B side sends out a strong message to the would be challengers.   Fambridge’s Gary Young was in fine fettle with an impeccable evening of sport across both disciplines as he recorded a hat-trick of singles and a doubles bonus point with partner Mark Stones.  Young’s most difficult opponent was the tricky Keith Willett who had the nerve to fight back from 0-2 down to not only square the match but take Young deep into post-deuce territory as the two protagonists fought it out for supremacy – with Young just prevailing, eventually at 14-12 in the fifth and deciding set.  Willett was duly dispatched back to his own territory but no doubt he will return for another trial by combat.  For Mapledene Kieran Skeggs was able to claim the scalps of Stones and John Poysden for his team’s 2 points.  Woodham A bounced back from their recent humblings to just about overcome a defiant Cold Norton C trio.  Everyone came away with at least a point, and the outcome of this one was no way a foregone conclusion and most of the games went to 4 or 5 sets.  Cold Norton’s Kim Shead came away as the player of the match with wins over Daniel Piglet and Tony Bonnici, but he fell to the hard-hitting Chris Hancox in a 5^th set winner takes all encounter.  Bonnici and Piglet went on win their remaining singles and Hancox and Piglet combined for the crucial doubles point to secure the overall 6-4 victory.  Norton’s Tim Cramphorn won the toughest match of the night as he and Hancox battled it out as far as 14-14 into the fifth set before the Hancox defence dwindled and Cramphorn was able to secure the point.  So having won and lost a five-setter already it will come as no surprise that Hancox’s final match also went to a deciding set – although after the first 2 sets at 11-4, and 11-3 one might have thought Hancox would stroll to victory, but the man of nets and edges Mr Neil Want had other ideas and one of these was to fight back from this brink of a disastrous defeat.  So fight he did, winning the 3^rd set with some aplomb before facing several match points in a tremendously even 4^th set that he eventually won 17-15, and finally taking down the exhausted Hancox 11-9 for his only point of the evening.

With leaders Maldon A on a break week, Stow Maries took full advantage of their opportunity to not only overtake their championship rivals but to also post a decent gap for them to chase.  Blackwater A are a tricky side for sure with a selection of players with varied styles and bats.  However this week the somewhat focussed Stow A trio cared very little for variety of rubber or defensive play as they brushed past their opponents – well fought hard and maintained their concentration as it happened.  Lots of long matches in this battle with the Stow boys coming out on top in all 4 of the 5-setters – a bit tough on Blackwater that!  Gary Brignall won all 4 of his matches, although he needed all 5 sets against the loopy Neil Freeman.  Freeman in turn was able to beat both Peter Chastin and Ken Sheard for his team’s points haul for the week, as Chastin and Sheard both came through victorious against Alan Scammell and Roger Slade.  The surprise scoreline of the week saw Blackwater B thump Maldon B by an astonishing 8-2 margin.  Noah Sage recorded a noteworthy hat-trick including a victory over one of the Division’s top players in Steve Aspland.  Sage’s wingmen of Louis Gunn and Simon Quelch each won 2 of their singles both losing out to Aspland.  In the final match of the week Mapledene C and Stow B ended in stalemate in another game where everyone took home a win thanks to the differing styles on show.  For Mapledene Dennis Squirrell and Sue Body both won 2 matches, as did Peter Hance for Stow.  Hance and Dave Marsh combined for the crucial match-saving straight sets doubles victory.

In Division 3 Allan Steel continues his march for the Roy Davis Cup with another hat-trick for his Woodham E side even though they lost out 4-6 to a strong Blackwater D side.  Steel’s oddest and most difficult match was a 3-1 victory over Ron Tam – but by the strangest of scores 7-11, 18-16, 11-0, 11-9 – it was like he played a different opponent in each leg.  The Blackwater trio of Tam, Jason Bush and David Sage all won 2 singles to secure the team victory.   Maldon C stretched their uncatchable lead even further with a commanding 9-1 triumph over Blackwater E.  Keith Thompson’s 4 set victory over Shirley Carroll in the penultimate match of the night was just enough to avoid the dreaded whitewash.  Maldon’s other players, Marty Englander and Chris Ravenhill, both securing their regular hat-tricks for the leaders.   Maldon D displayed some good winning form this week as they took a 7-3 win away from their visit to Blackwater F on the Monday night.  Arthur Shadforth was back to his best with a fighting hat-trick, just surviving an almighty comeback from the improving Oscar Wyman.  Wyman was the best of the Blackwater players with that close loss to Shadforth plus 2 excellent straight set wins over James Raymond and Luca Riedling.

Entries for the Burnham Closed tournament are now open and entry forms and details can be found on the League website :- https://www.tabletennis365.com/Burnham/Pages/Tournament_2025

Pic 1 – Stow A’s Player of the Match Gary Brignall.

Pic 2 – Cold Norton C’s in-form Kim Shead

Pic 3 – Gary Young of Fambridge fame in full swing

Pic 4 – Mapledene’s tricky Keith Willett

Report by Eamonn Hall

Galleywood A won the battle of the bottom two teams in division one with a 9-1 home victory over Chelmsford B, the result moved Galleywood off the foot of the table for the first time since Week 10. Peter Barrett and James Hicks went undefeated for the hosts with Kelvin Edeh the sole point scorer for the visitors. All three Galleywood players produced recoveries from losing positions, Gary Brignall from 2-0 down against Waseem Qureshi, James Hicks from 2-1 down against Edeh and Peter Barrett from 2-1 behind Christopher Denyer. This victory was Galleywood’s first league since Week one when the two sides last met. The fearsome duo of Eric Green and Bruce Kettle went unbeaten once more as Danbury A moved up to second place following an 8-2 win over fourth placed Danbury B.  Green didn’t drop a game in his three wins while Kettle dropped just two. Neil Want won one for the A team but was undone by a Dan Anderson comeback from 2-1 down.

Week 20 saw division two’s bottom two teams Old Chelmsfordians B and Danbury F go toe-to-toe with neither team getting their noses in front by more than one point during the course of the evening. The OC’s found themselves 3-2 and 4-3 up and were on the verge of their first victory of the season before Danbury took a 5-4 lead with one match remaining. OC’s Mick Richardson managed to get the better of Denis Crapnell in four games to earn his team a 5-5 draw but the OC trio may look back at the David Porter-Ian Whiteside matchup (which finally went to Whiteside 11-5, 10-12, 7-11, 11-8, 14-12) as a missed opportunity. Leaders Buttsbury A saw their unbeaten run ended 6-4 by an inspired Hatfield Peverel A side who had lost their previous seven matches – albeit many by narrow 6-4 scorelines. Julie Johnson put in a player of the match performance with three wins though her biggest test came from youngster Joshua Freeman who she managed to see off in the fifth game: 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-8. Freeman put on a good show in his loss to Martin Archie and showed no ill effects from the Johnson match when beating Alastair Piper in an epic encounter 9-11, 12-10, 10-12, 12-10, 12-10.  Ninth placed Galleywood B put a spanner in the works of third placed Chelmsford C when restricting them to a 5-5 draw thanks to a treble from Gary Brignall. Brignall’s hat-trick didn’t come easy as both Chrisopher Denyer and Adi Kamma took him to four games with Kelvin Edeh going down in five having led 2-1.  Sixth placed Danbury E beat eight placed Writtle B 7-3 thanks to three wins from Tim Cramphorn, two from Tony Forster and one from Dick Wyman. The closeness in league positions was reflected in the matches on the night as six of the nine singles matches went to fifth game deciders with Wyman’s sole win and two losses all going the distance.

It was a busy week for division three’s Chelmsford E who played fixtures on Monday and Friday – gaining 12 points to consolidate 6th position. First, Andy Swales and James Grimston hit trebles in the 8-2 away win at 11th placed Writtle E before they fell 6-4 to a Paul Sturton inspired Buttsbury B. Sturton dropped just one game for his three wins while teammate Harry Sawford’s only defeat was to Chelmsford’s Kuzey Musabak – a two match winner himself. The result means Buttsbury B move level on points with leaders Chelmsford D who were not in action in week 20. Danbury G remain third despite a 7-3 loss to Writtle D who benefited from another hat-trick from Matthew Brown, The result means fourth placed Writtle D are just 3 points behind third placed Danbury G with a fixture in hand.  The fixtures between Hatfield Peverel B and Old Chelmsfordian C as well as Danbury J and Galleywood C both resulted in 5-5 draws with trebles from OCA C’s Richard Baxter and Danbury J’s Peter Harverson.

Hutton A sit 18 points clear at the top of division four following three wins by Alex Ware and two apiece by Nick Giles and Oladapo Owolabi in an 8-2 win at Chelmsford G.  Third placed Buttsbury C cruised to a 10-0 home win over Old Chelmsfordians D thanks to perfect outings from Lucy Elliott, Frances Hutt and Oscar Hutt. The  closest match of the night across the two fixtures was Chelmsford’s Martin Brunker – a two match winner – who recovered from 2-1 down to beat Hutton’s Nick Giles.  Both Buttsbury C and Hutton A have won their last eight league matches.  A 5-5 home draw with Buttsbury D meant second placed Maldon B not only lost more ground on the leaders but will be looking over their shoulders at a Buttsbury C side who are 14 points behind them with two fixtures in hand.  Chris Ravenhill and Brian Riedling won two matches each while Buttsbury’s Jenne Seibolt and Kevin Wills also won two of three. Danbury K moved from fifth to fourth with a 7-3 victory over Danbury L, K’s Dave Powell didn’t drop a game as he fired his second treble in three matches. Stewart Ireland and Nathan Blore were undefeated as Galleywood D cruised to a 9-1 away win over Danbury M while Neil Wood and Bob Hillis won three apiece in Hatfield Peverel C’s 9-1 success at Highwood A.

A sixth treble of the season from Lyndon Bubb fired second-placed Buttsbury E to a hard-fought 6-4 away win at Highwood B in division five. Bubb dropped just one game from his two wins while teammate Ray Horton chipped in with two wins though lost out to Galleywood’s Keith Pallett who won two himself.  Buttsbury’s Chris Hughes will feel unfortunate to have not registered a win when taking two of his matches to a deciding game.  Having seen both teammates fire trebles last week, Writtle F’s Paul Aarons posted his first hat-trick since week two in an 8-2 away win at ARU.  Aarons beat Valentino Marimelli in three, Kingsley Omo-Efe in four and the two-win Connor Casey in five as Writtle move up to third position.  Bruce Wichkam won all three as fifth-placed Hatfield Peverel D won 6-4 at ninth-placed Galleywood E.  Wickham had to recover from 2-0 down against Steve Peacock while Galleywood’s Darren Wright did likewise in his match with Richard Drozd and David Benstead edged a fifth-game decider 12-10 against Galleywood’s Doug Blaber.

Report by Jeremy Hill

Champions elect Stanford B sit 14 points clear at the top of the Southend League Division 2 table with just four games to go and, whilst not impossible, it seems unlikely they will be caught. They did, however, suffer only their second defeat of the season this week going down 6-3 to Hockley C, their first defeat having come at the hands of Hockley D earlier in the season. Something tells me they will be glad to see the back of Hockley this season!

It was an excellent all round performance by the Hockley boys, Brian Bissenden, Paul Ogden and Mike Worship all winning two games but Stanford’s Rob Salvage took the POTM honours maintaining his fine record this season of just one loss so far. Five matches went the distance with Hockley winning all but the first one of the night when Salvage edged out Worship 11/9 in the decider. Bissenden completed the comeback of the night going two sets down to Adrian Armstrong but then won the crucial third 14/12 and the final two sets 11/4 11/9. Despite the win Hockley drop one place to third fifteen points behind Stanford.

Canvey B now sit second courtesy of a 7-2 defeat of Matchpoint C. Trevor Hayes led the way for Canvey with a hat trick with Des Duffield and Tony Westwell winning a brace apiece. Matchpoint had to fight hard for their two points Zach Samuels beating Westwell in five whilst Ollie Milchard, who lost to Westwell also in five, beat Duffield in four sets. The fight for second place between Canvey and Hockley could well be decided when the two teams meet each other twice in the coming weeks.

Matchpoint B returned to winning ways beating Stanford C 7-2. John Lott and Dennis Squirrell both recorded hat tricks with Richard Sloman, stepping up from their D team, picking up the other point. Martin Winter and Vaughan Chambers got the Stanford points, Chambers match against Sloman going to a lengthy five sets 11/6, 12/10, 11/13, 12/14, 13/11. Stanford are ten points clear of the bottom two sides both of whom have games in hand.

Rawreth Meggazone D won a close encounter with Runnymede edging them out 5-4.3-2 down at one stage a surge of three wins on the trot turned the match in Rawreth’s favour. Richard Kidd and Jaspreet Singh both won two games with Steve Mcquillan getting a vital point. Not surprisingly Tony Millward got another hat trick for Runnymede with Steve Wisbey getting the other win. Rawreth move above Runnymede by one point into sixth place.

Team of the Week – Hockley C

Player of the Week – Rob Salvage

Report by Paul Strutt

In Division 1the long-awaited contest between first and second in the league  (Matchpoint A and Basildon A) due to take place this week, had to be postponed due to unavailability of players. Hopefully it won’t be long before it is played.

Lowly Hadleigh Forum C had a morale-boosting 5 – 4 away win at Canvey A. Forum were able to call upon Paul Fawell and his POM maximum, together with Mark Everard’s brace, gave them a 5 – 4 victory. There were a number of five-setters in a close match. Bob Skews got two for the Islanders and Lee McGonagle and Ray Wilson chipped in with one win each.

5 – 4 was the score this week in both the other fixtures.

In another close contest, Mapledene overcame their hosts Rawreth Megazone C by this score. It was a team effort, with Mike Johnston and Dawn Baldry winning two each, and Lin Roff one. Garry Hartgrove was again Rawreth’s luminary, winning all three.  However, his efforts were not quite enough as only team mate Adi Kamma was able to add to the home side’s cause.

 

By all accounts, the match between Hadleigh Forum B and Brand Identity B was a most enjoyable affair with all six players making a contribution. Forum ran out the winners. However, they lost the first three rubbers, Brand’s Dale Gutteridge narrowly overcoming Mick Tappenden 12 – 10 in the fifth set. As fortunes flowed from one side to another, David Woolmer and Mick ended up with two wins apiece and Jim Stait got one other. Jenny Harrison was again Brand’s best player taking two victories, while Dale and Mick Grout managed one each.

Report by David Barnes

After tucking two more 10-0 wins under their belt, Netts A not only opened up a sizeable lead at the top of the Braintree Table Tennis League division one table, they also kept themselves in the hunt to set a record.

If they keep up their current rate of scoring they will become the first team since 1993-94 to concede less than one point per match.

They have so far dropped only nine points in 12 matches, a ratio that would see them concede just 15 in 20 at the end of the season, an average of 0.75 a match.

The Bocking team of Terry Dowsett, Ian Hayden and Peter Hayden have come closest to that with 17 in 20 matches 31 years ago.

Netts’ latest 10-0 victories came over their own B team and Black Notley B.

In the first match, Szczepan Ziobro did well to stretch both Paul Davison and Andy Holmes to five games – he was 2-1 up in both cases – while Notley’s Luke Burridge came closest to a result, falling to Holmes only at 13-11, 7-11, 8-11, 12-10, 13-11.

Rayne A continue to trail in Netts’ wake and fell further behind after dropping four points to Rayne C and two more to Netts B.

They could raise only two players for the first match, including Oliver Hicks, who stepped up from the B team and took his three singles.

Sudbury Nomads remain third after a 10-0 win over Notley A with Rayne B fourth following a 7-3 win over their own C team.

Brandon Crouchman and Zach Harrington won all seven between them in Liberal A’s 7-3 win over Liberal C.  It was Harrington’s first unbeaten evening of the season.

Louise Hartshorn was unbeaten as division two leaders Sudbury Wanderers overcame Notley C 7-3 while second-placed Rayne E beat Notley E 6-4.

Rayne D’s 7-3 win over Notley F included a maximum return for Dave Moles, while Paul Nicol’s record was similarly untouched in Notley D’s win by the same score against Rayne F.

Top  v bottom in division three was an almost predictable 9-1 win for Finchingfield A over Notley H.  What was not so predictable was Mike Smith’s excellent win over Ray Bradford.

The next two teams faced each other and Sudbury Strollers put a little more daylight between themselves and Notley G by beating them 6-4.

Chad Rose won his three singles for the first time this season in Finchingfield B’s 6-4 win Over Notley I

Fourth-placed Yeldham Whitlocks B had an 8-2 win over Netts E (three wins for Steve Willis) while Rayne G, in fifth, were 7-3 better off against Rayne H (three for Dave Whiting)

Report by Ron Fosker

Round One of the Clacton League’s Handicap Cup was dominated by teams from the lowest Division, with an unprecedented four of the five teams from Division Three making it through to the quarter-finals.

Third Division leaders Brotherhood F faced Brotherhood C  of Division Two, an encounter which saw a first competitive meeting of father and daughter, John and Ruby Gallagher. But it was the youngsters of the ‘F’ side who emerged victorious 5-1, with Ruby (+1) defeating Dad John (-6) 11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8 in the process. Ruby and team-mate Joe Sherwin remained undefeated.

There was victory also for a second Brotherhood team of youngsters, Brotherhood H beating top-flight Brotherhood B 5-3, having led 2-0 and then fallen behind 3-2. Both Savindu De Silva (+1) against Joe Plummer (-5), and Harindu De Silva (+1) also against Plummer (-8), won individual matches which went the distance.   

Windsor Falcons were another Third Division team pitched against Division One opposition. But another unbeaten performance from Kelvin Olano-Harper, with sterling support from team-mates Ferdy Rodriguez and Matt Thomas, earned them a 5-2 victory against Walton C.

However, it was a somewhat earlier evening for Nomads Bobcats, 5-0 winners against Windsor Kestrels. Alex Baldock and Sam Watling (+1) wrapped up affairs in the closest match of the contest, winning 11-9, 11-4, 13-15, 9-11, 11-4 against Graham Bunce and Jackie Bunce (-5).  

Three teams from Division One – Nomads Lions, Brotherhood A and Walton B – did make it to the quarter-finals.

The Lions had to fight hard, winning two matches which went close in five, before defeating Windsor Harriers 5-2. Lions’ skipper Jason Lloyd, who remained unbeaten in both singles and doubles, settled the tie with victory (on -5) over Barry Allen (+1) 9-11, 11-9, 5-11, 12-10, 11-7.

Brotherhood A were 5-1 winners over club-mates Brotherhood D with, once again, two of their wins being settled close in five. Kevin Gowlett (-8) defeated (+2) Paul Alden 11-8 in the decider while Russell Hillier (-8) edged past Tricia Salter (+1) 12-10 in the decider.

Walton B had the easiest ride, breezing past a two-player Nomads Ocelots 5-1, meaning the Ocelots were the only Third Division side which failed to win in the Round.

With Brotherhood C, Windsor Kestrels, Windsor Harriers and Brotherhood D all falling by the wayside, it was left to Windsor Penguins to uphold the honour of the Second Division, the trio of Neil Chegwidden, Sharon Gowlett and Paul Stanton defeating Walton C 5-2. Gowlett was unbeaten on the night, although it was a close-run 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 11-13, 11-8 against Walton reserve Lynette Sparks in a match played off scratch. The Penguins crucially won both doubles.

The draw for Round Two, to be played in week beginning 24th February, will be circulated by 7th February.

* The League’s Handicap Singles Tournament takes place at the Windsor venue of St James Hall this Saturday (8th February). Play starts at 9.30 am. Further information, including details about check-in times, has been sent to all 32 entrants. Any player  who does not receive these details should contact League Secretary Isabel Barton.

* Entry forms for the League’s Closed Championships, which take place on 12th and 13th April, will sent out later this month. The closing date will be 14th March and players who wish to enter will need to ensure they’ve played sufficient matches by this date in order to qualify. This is likely to be six matches.

RESULTS

Handicap Cup : Round One

Windsor Penguins 5 Walton C 2;

Brotherhood B 3 Brotherhood H 5;

Windsor Falcons 5 Walton A 2;

Windsor Harriers 2 Nomads Lions 5;

Brotherhood D 1 Brotherhood A 5;

Nomads Ocelots 1 Walton C 5;

Brotherhood C 1 Brotherhood F 5;

Nomads Bobcats 5 Windsor Kestrels 0.

League : Division 3

Nomads Bobcats 6 Brotherhood H 4.

Report by Tony Oswick

Cold Norton B have tightened the screws on Division 1 leaders Fambridge with an almost impeccable performance this week in the Burnham & District Table Tennis League.  The Ice Cold Norton trio finally put the current champions Woodham A back into their box as their beleaguered attempt at retaining the championship fell away in tatters.  Fambridge and Cold Norton B have the points in the bag and it’s now up to Mapledene A to decide if they mean business this year and catch up with the leaders – they will need significant wins in their 2 games in hand to do this.

Contenders Cold Norton B travelled to Woodham A this week and were met by a huge queue outside the venue.  Cold Norton captain Dan Anderson assumed it was the crowd coming to watch him play but alas it was just a Psychic evening – we should have known!  With a late start due to traffic and parking issues we were able to get some divine insight from the Woodham Psychic Don Chunno who predicted a whitewash victory for the Cold Norton visitors although he was a bit muddled about the outcome of the final leg of the final match.  Well Mr Chunno was better than I thought as Cold Norton quickly rattled through the card and found themselves 9-0 up.  In the final match protagonists Dan Piglet from Woodham A and Anderson went to 2-2 and now we could see why there was some fuzziness about the outcome.  Piglet was not for the abattoir this evening and rallied round to eventually secure his team’s sole point with an 11-8 final leg victory.  Cold Norton’s Eric Green and Ian Wall went unbeaten all night in singles and doubles – a win that puts Cold Norton B just 2 points behind leaders Fambridge.  At the other end of the table Woodham B rejoiced in just their second win of the season with a 6-4 winning margin over Cold Norton C.  Dan Patynski was the main man for Woodham winning all his singles – but only just.  Against Kim Shead, Patynski was 1-2 and 5-10 behind and faced 5 match points against his tricky opponent.  Somehow Patynski survived that ordeal and went on to win in 5 sets.  Eamonn Hall had a good evening for his Woodham side winning against both Tim Cramphorn and Dick Wyman.  But Wyman and Cramphorn did their own Houdini impression with a fantastic doubles win having faced several match points before winning the deciding set 16-14 against Patynski and Harry Sawford.  Shead was the best of the Cold Norton trio with 2 singles victories on the night.  In the only other first division match this week bottom placed Woodham C were extremely unlucky in the Cold Norton A lottery as they put out their 2 top players giving the Woodham tryers a tough challenge.  True to form both Duncan Taylor and Kevin Read won all their matches including the doubles leaving Woodham just an opportunity for points against third player Steve Maltby.  Maltby battled hard in all of his matches, making comebacks in every one but alas was unable to get over the line as Woodham notched 3 welcome points.

Maldon A are hanging on by a thread at the head of Division 2 as rivals Stow A just failed to overtake them this week.  Stow needed a full house victory over Maldon B to leapfrog Maldon A but with Steve Aspland in their side Maldon B were never going to roll over and die.  Aspland was his side’s best performer by far with 2 straight sets singles victories over Peter Chastin and Ken Sheard, and a similar outcome in the doubles when he paired up with Garry Eames.  For Stow Richard Storey played a Captain’s innings with 3 hard fought singles wins including a 4 set triumph over the in-form Aspland, and with Chastin and Sheard winning their remaining singles Stow walked off with a decent 7-3 win leaving them just 2 points adrift of the leaders.  Mapledene C are capable of beating any side in this division on their night and this week they recorded an impressive 7-3 scoreline against the very tricky Blackwater A trio.  Mapledene’s Tony Ayliffe was in fine hat-trick form that included a rollercoaster 5 set victory over Denis Balic.  Balic did win his other singles matches and combined with Alan Scammell for a 5 set doubles bonus point, but that was it for the Blackwater scoring as Mapledene’s Andy Seaman and Lin Roff were able to come through their remaining singles encounters.  Cold Norton D posted an impressive 8-2 win over Woodham D this week with a hat-trick for Neil Want.  Want was ably supported by wingmen Dave Hancox and Gordon Gatheral who both scored a brace of wins, with Hancox and Want partnering up for a simple doubles point.  Woodham’s Peter Harverson was in good form, just losing out to Want and Hancox both in 5 hard fought sets.  Then with Gatheral going for his hat-trick, the inexperienced Harverson somehow quickly got the measure of the Gatheral style and won out in 4 sets.  Scott Perry took the other Woodham point with a 4 set triumph in the penultimate match of the evening.  Blackwater’s Noah Sage continued his fine vein of form with an unbeaten performance against 2 player Stow C.   This was matched by Captain Gary Smith, and although unsuccessful in her singles campaign Tina Hutchinson paired up with Sage for a convincing doubles point to give a final 8-2 win for Blackwater B.

In Division 3 Blackwater C continue to put in the best challenge to runaway leaders Maldon C.  This week they defeated their own D side with a closer than expected 6-4 winning margin.  Merv Perriman did his bit with a classic nine-dart hat-trick where he was barely troubled.  Chris Rolison was in a good supporting mood with 2 out of 3 victories over David Sage and Ron Tam, just losing out to the powerful Jason Bush.  Third Player Colin Barham, usually so reliable in this division, had an off night by his standards losing out in all of his singles including an oh-so-close 5^th set 11-13 loss to the incorrigible Ron Tam.  In the other Blackwater derby E beat F with both Phil West and Keith Thompson registering hat-tricks in the 8-2 victory.  West needed all his experience to get past the up and coming Oscar Wyman in 5 sets, who took this form into his final game to record a win over Vanessa Thompson.  In her other matches Thompson had all the drama with a 5 set victory over David McHattie, and a 5 set loss to Mike Crumpton going all the way to 11-13 in that final leg.  St Lawrence and Maldon E ended up in a stalemate in their encounter this week.  Maldon’s Ross Kirby was the star player winning all his singles in straight sets.  Despite this setback the experienced St Lawrence players went to work in the other matches with Mikes Pratley and Burton winning a brace of singles each and then combining for the draw saving doubles point.

Entries for the Burnham Closed tournament are now open and entry forms and details can be found on the League website :- https://www.tabletennis365.com/Burnham/Pages/Tournament_2025

Pic 1 – Cold Norton B’s doubles pairing of Eric Green and Ian Wall in winning action this week.

Pic 2 – Woodham B’s hat-trick man – Dan Patynski

Pic 3 – Stow A’s Richard Storey in flamboyant mood this week

Pic 4 – Woodham C’s Chris Hancox taking on Cold Norton A’s Kevin Read

Pic 5 – Peter Harverson in his victory over Gordon Gatheral this week

• 

Report by Eamonn Hall

Number one seed Duncan Taylor earned the 2025 men’s singles title at ‘Finals Night’ with a 3-1 victory over Reece Seddon.  Taylor beat Chelmsford’s Harry Chivers in the semi-final after victories over Jamie Elliott and Nikita Tkachuck in the earlier knockout rounds.  Seddon’s path to the final saw wins over Dan Anderson (last 16), John Poysden (quarter-finals) and Keith Adams (semi-final). 2024 ladies singles runner-up Alesha Ellis-Austin went one better with an exhilarating final victory over number one seed Dawn Baldry.  Ellis-Austin had beaten Frances Hutt in the semi-final while Baldry beat Lucy Elliott at the same stage.

Third seed Joshua Freeman was victorious over top seed and defending champion Charlie Ware in the final of the under 13’s singles.  Freeman earned his place in the final with a 11-9 fifth game success over second seed Grace Liu while Charlie beat his younger brother Jago.  The unseeded Kuzey Musabak earned the under 15’s singles title with victory over third seed and 2024 runner up Joshua Freeman.  Musabak beat second seed Grace Liu in the semi-final while Freeman won his match with number one seed Charlie Ware.

Alesha Ellis-Austin made it three junior girls singles titles in a row by going undefeated in this ‘Round Robin’ event. Ellis-Austin was pushed to fifth-game deciders by both Lucy Elliott and Grace Liu but won in three straight games against runner-up Adhuna Das. Third seed Aidan Lees won an exciting junior boys singles final over defending champion and number one seed Harry Chivers.  Chivers earned his place in the final without dropping a game in either the quarter-final against U15 boys champion Kuzey Musabak or semi-final opponent Jamie Elliott while Lees beat Nikita Tkachuk and Joshua Bickles at the same stages.  In the final itself Lees held his nerve to take the deciding fifth game.There are new names on the junior doubles trophy as second seeds Aidan Lees and Nikita Tkachuk beat first seeds and defending champions Joshua Bickles and Harry Chivers 3-1 in the final.  Lees and Tkachuk beat Jamie Elliott and Lucy Elliott 3-1 in the semi-final while Chivers/Bickles beat Cleon and Dion Fernandes 3-0.

Top seeds Dawn Baldry and Reece Seddon won the mixed doubles title with a 3-1 final victory over Jamie and Lucy Elliott.  Baldry and Seddon beat Jacqui Smith and Duncan Taylor 3-1 in the semi-final while Jamie and Lucy Elliott posted the same scoreline in their victory over Gary Young and Adhuna Das. Despite being on the opposite side of the table in the final of this event last year Dawn Baldry and Alesha Ellis-Austin joined forces for victory in the ladies doubles over the sister duo of Francesca and Freya Hart. Second seeds Gary Young and Keith Adams became men’s doubles champions with a straight game final victory over the unseeded Jamie Elliott and Joshua Bickles.  Ellott/Bickles won through to the final having disposed of top seeds Duncan Taylore/Kevin Read over five games in the semi final, while Young/Adams beat fifth seeds Paul Davison and Sanjay Saptarshi at the same stage.

In the division two singles event, last year’s semi-finalist Sanjay Saptarshi produced a comeback from 2-1 down in the final for victory over last year’s division three singles winner Jamie Elliott.  Both finalists won their semi-final matches by a 3-0 scoreline, Saptarshi seeing off Ian Whiteside while Elliott beat Robert Burton. Hatfield Peverel’s Neil Freeman lifted the division three singles title with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Harry Sawford (Buttsbury).  Freeman’s route to the final included victories over last year’s finalist David Moles and division four singles winner Cleon Fernandes, while Sawford’s path included wins over Ryan Pitt and Peter Harverson.

Charlie Ware (Hutton) lifted the division four singles title following a 3-1 final success over second seed Oscar Hutt (Buttsbury).  Ware’s route to the final included victory over top seed Alex Ware (runner-up last year) in the last four while Hutt beat Buttsbury clubmate Lucy Elliott in the other semi-final. Third seed Lee Vallis recovered from 2-1 down to get the better of unseeded Hutton clubmate Gheorghe Nita in the division five singles final.  Vallis beat first seed Peter Davenport (Chelmsford) 3-1 in the semi-final while Nita fought back from 1-0 down to beat Jago Ware (Hutton) in four games.

Buttsbury’s Jamie Elliott defended the handicap singles title he won last year with a 21-19, 21-19 win over Hutton’s Vincente Beco.  Elliott had beaten last year’s runner up Peter Davenport in the semi-final while Beto got the better of Lucy Elliott in the other semi-final to dash hopes of a brother/sister showdown. Charlie Ware and Lucy Elliott eased to the handicap doubles title by losing just one game in their three knockout matches beating Alex Ware and Jago Ware in the semi-final following wins over Douglas Bawuah & Ken Wilding as well as Felix Reeve and Rev Matthews  Their opponents in the final were the duo of Joshua Bickles and Richard Pond who had a more complex route to the final when overcoming the duos of Adhuna Das/Peter Harverson in three, Cleon Fernandes/Mark Glenister in three and Davina Brazier/Neil Freeman in two close games in the semi-final.  The final itself was relatively close in the first game which Ware/Elliott won to 16 before clinching victory to 11.  Elliott retains her half of the title she won last year with Saul Chivers.

Harry Chivers defended the hard bat singles title he won last year with a 2-0 victory in the final against Dan Anderson.  Chivers was taken the distance by both brother Saul and Maldon’s Derek Balding in the knockout rounds while Anderson made the final with straight game wins over Paul Mulley, Mark Glenister and Ian Wall.

Second seed Reece Seddon felled top seed and defending under 40’s singles champion Ian Wall in the final following wins over Daniel Piggott and Arron Chandler in the previous two rounds.  Wall made the final with a semi-final win over Dan Anderson and quarter-final success over Matt Stringer.  Top seeds Ian Wall and Matthew Stringer defended their under 40’s doubles title with a 3-1 final victory over Dan Anderson and Arron Chandler.  Wall and Stringer made the final with victory over Paul Sturton and Harry Sawford while Anderson and Chandler squeezed through with a 3-2 come-from-behind success over Saul Chivers and Wiktor Delimat.

In the senior age categories, Gary Young earned the over 50’s singles title with a 3-1 victory over Kevin Read.  Young made the final with 3-0 wins over both Robbie Burton (quarter-finals) and Mark Glenister (semi-finals) while final opponent Read came through 3-0 against Neil Freeman (quarter-Finals) and 3-1 against John Poysden (semi-finals).  Bruce Kettle (Danbury) Trevor Lloyd beat Sanjay Saptarshi 3-2 in an exciting final to earn victory in the over 60’s singles event.  Lloyd made the final with comfortable victories over Davina Brazier (quarter-finals) and Rev Matthews (semi-finals) while runner-up Saptarshi beat Hamish Innes (quarter-finals) and John Poysden (semi-finals) en route to the final. Ian Whiteside went one better than his runner-up position in the 2024 event as he beat Hamish Innes in the final of the over 70’s singles event.  Whiteside beat Derek Balding in the semi-final while Innes triumphed over Denis Crapnell. 

Third seed Keith Adams beat seventh seed Sanjay Saptarshi 3-1 in the veteran’s singles final. Saptarshi made the final with victories in the knockout stages over Adi Kamma (last 16), top seed Kevin Read (quarter-final) as well as John Poysden (semi-final), while Adams had wins over Matthew Brown, Bruce Kettle and Paul Davison.   In a repeat of last year’s final, reigning veteran doubles champions Kevin Read and Keith Adams beat top seeds Duncan Taylor and Paul Davison in three straight games.  Read and Adams made the final with victories over Gary Young and John Poysden in the semi-final while Taylor/Davison saw off Neil Freeman and Matthew Brown at the same stage.

Report by Jeremy Hill

There were no positional changes in week 19 of division one as leaders Danbury C extended their lead at the top to nine points thanks to trebles from Gary Young, Paul Davison and Trevor Lloyd in a 10-0 home win over Galleywood A.  Chelmsford A lost ground in second place as they were held to a 5-5 draw by Danbury A despite Chelmsford’s Joshua Bickles firing his ninth league treble of the season. Bickles and Danbury’s Chris Penrose entertained the crowd with an awesome five-gamer which went in favour of Bickles 15-13, 11-9, 9-11, 13-15, 11-7. The only other five-gamer was the previous match in the running order which saw Simon Jarvis fight back from 2-0 down to beat Dave Richardson.  C&DTTL men’s singles champion Duncan Taylor was back in action and posted a treble alongside Mark Mulley and Trevor Carter in Writtle A’s 10-0 victory over Chelmsford B who sit just three points above bottom side Galleywood A.

Ian Whiteside went unbeaten for Danbury F in a 6-4 home loss against division two leaders Buttsbury A. Whiteside had to recover from 2-0 down against David Gatheral for the first of his three wins while there were two other five-gamers – Buttsbury’s Grace Liu beat Alan Scammell before Rob Burton saw off Ken Sheard. Second-placed Maldon A narrowed the gap on Buttsbury with a 7-3 home win over Old Chelmsfordians B in a fixture which saw a third treble in his last four outings for Chris Hancox. Hancox’s biggest test was from OC’s David Porter who had held a 2-1 advantage before the Maldon man fought back. Porter had earlier given up a 2-1 lead against Colin Napper. Chelmsford C narrowed the gap on the two teams above them when posting an 8-2 home win over Writtle C.  Simon Jarvis won all three and remains undefeated in 28 division two singles matches this season.  Mark Glenister was unbeaten as ninth placed Galleywood B won 6-4 over Hatfield Peverel A – a seventh consecutive loss for the visitors. Sanjay Saptarshi and Daniel Patynski won three apiece as fourth-placed Danbury D won 7-3 on the road at Writtle B – Patynski dropped just one game in his three singles wins with Saptarshi flawless. 

Chelmsford D made it seven division three victories in a row with a 7-3 home win over Writtle D who slip from third to fifth.  Chelmsford’s Christopher Denyer was the only undefeated player though he was taken the distance by Malcolm Hemstock.  Writtle’s Hemstock saw two further five-game losses against Alex Tkachuk and Mike Johnson. Following a second loss of the season in week 17, second placed Buttsbury B were back to winning ways with a 7-3 home win over Danbury J thanks to trebles from Paul Sturton and Joshua Freeman, while third placed Danbury G beat Writtle E 7-3 despite a treble from Writtle’s Dave Moles. C&DTTL under 15 boys champion Kuzey Musabak won all three of his matches in Chelmsford E’s 7-3 home win over Hatfield Peverel B, while Colin Blore went undefeated in Galleywood C’s 6-4 away win at Danbury H.  Bottom side OCA C earned their second victory of the season when overcoming eighth placed Chelmsford F, Tom Barker fired a hat-trick though had to recover from 2-1 down against Cleon Fernandes in his first match of the evening.

Hutton A extended their lead at the top of division four with a seventh victory on the trot – a 9-1 win over Danbury K, Alex Ware and Gheorge Nita won three singles matches with Charlie Ware winning two. Danbury M are still searching for their first league victory of the season though they walked away from their meeting against eighth placed clubmates Danbury L with a credible 5-5 draw – Graham Naggs scored a hat-trick for the M team who remain bottom of the table.  Second placed Maldon B lost some ground on the leaders despite earning a 7-3 away win over 10th placed Hatfield Peverel C.  Ella Sach, Chris Ravenhill and Brian Reidling won two apiece for Maldon while Neil Wood carried the fight for Peverel with two victories.

Week 19 saw a thirteenth win of the season for division five leaders Hutton B who moved 17 points clear with an 8-2 success over Hatfield Peverel E.  Division five singles champion Lee Vallis won all three of his singles matches, dropping just one game in the process. Buttsbury E remain in second place despite a 6-4 reversal at home to Chelmsford H, Jason Clark won three and Shengbing Zhu two for the visitors who remain sixth.  Arthur Shadforth won both of his matches as Maldon C beat the two-person team of ARU 8-2.  Ron Tam and Michael Anthony were in fine form as they both posted trebles in fourth placed Writtle F’s 9-1 home win over Galleywood E, while fifth-placed Hatfield Peverel D won 8-2 over Hatfield Peverel F thanks to three victories from Richard Drozd and two apiece from Andy Simmonds and Bruce Wickham. 

Report by Jeremy Hill

Only three clubs will be represented in the quarter finals of the Braintree Table Tennis League handicap cup.

Four teams from Black Notley, two from Netts and two from Finchingfield made their way through the set of second round matches.

Rayne, Sudbury and Yeldham Whitlocks all missed out.

Notley’s A, B, D and H teams all got through, the H team knocking out the club’s F team.

Notley H are rooted at the wrong end of division three so a handicap cup game was a pleasant interlude for them.

It was especially so for Mike Smith, whose league form has not quite cranked into gear this season.

He won his three sets comfortably in the 6-2 victory.

While Notley H took advantage of their handicaps, the A team had to come from behind in their match against Rayne H, who received starts of between 12 and 14 (up to 21).

Chris Parr, starting 0-14 down on both occasions, won both the singles he played in the 5-3 victory.

New signing Roger Hance was to the fore with three singles in the B team’s 5-2 win over Rayne G, while  Richard Upson won two out of two in the D team’s 5-3 win over Sudbury Strollers.

Notley’s G team were unable to make it five teams through when they came up against the (mostly) young talent at Netts F’s disposal. 

JJ Calisin won both his sets in the 5-2 victory.

Netts D are the club’s other team through to the last eight and they featured in the closest match of the round, edging through 5-4 against Rayne F after coming back from 4-3 down.

Jack Dearsley was unbeaten.

Finchingfield’s two teams had the most convincing passage to the quarter final, coming through both matches without a blemish.

The A team of Chad Rose, Lucien Nolan-Bradford and Ray Bradford came past Yeldham A 9-0 while the B team declared at 5-0 against Notley C.

One story dominates the news in Southend Division 2 this week and that is the end of Matchpoint B’s John Lott’s unbeaten run. After 24 successive wins Lott finally met his match at the hands of Hockley C’s Hannah Harbour who defeated him in four sets 5/11 7/11 11/7 5/11. Hannah had in fact stepped up from her normal D team duties to help out her Hockley team mates and she recorded an impressive maximum on the night as Hockley pulled off something of a surprise win running out 7-2 winners. Paul Ogden and Paul Strutt provided the support both winning two games each but falling to Lott. No wins therefore for Dennis Squirrell or Max Mayo and the defeat drops Matchpoint to fourth place with Hockley C now second and Canvey B third.

At the other end of the table Invicta B ended a 10 match losing streak by beating fellow relegation strugglers and bottom of the table Matchpoint C 5-4. This down in no small way to John Blackman who recorded his first hat trick of the season, backed up by Steve Lennox who won two five set battles against Ollie Milchard and Roger Sherman. Invicta are now two points above Matchpoint who stay at the foot of the table.

Fellow promotion contenders Canvey B beat Runnymede 7-2 with Trevor Hayes taking the POTM honours with two wins apiece for Tony Westwell and Des Duffield. Tina Hutchinson was the points provider for Runnymede and spare a thought for Barrie Edgar who led 2-1 in matches against Duffield and Westwell but finished up losing both in the final set

Despite the absence of Hannah Harbour Hockley D were in good form against Stanford C with Elliot Brackenbury firing a perfect hat trick, William Evesham winning two and Ben Cook claiming the other point. Chris Crooks got a brace for Stanford and Peter Moxham the other point in the only five set match of the night against Cook. Hockley sit in a comfortable fifth place but nine points adrift of fourth placed Canvey.

Player of the Week – Hannah Harbour

Team of the Week – Hockley C

Report by Paul Strutt

With neither of the top two teams in action this week in Division 1, Rawreth Megazone C took the opportunity to move into third place courtesy of a 9 – 0 home thumping of bottom team Hadleigh Forum C. Paul Brown took the POM award, although Garry Hartgrove and Trevor Ward were also unopposed. Credit should go to the Forum team (of David Thomas, Mark Everard and Todd Barker) for their commitment.

Brand Identity B could be being drawn into the bottom end of the table. Their visit to Canvey A saw them on the wrong end of a 7 – 2 scoreline. Canvey’s Ray Wilson again took the POM prize and his team mates Bob Skews and Andrew Murray added two victories each. Jenny Harrison was Brand’s best player, securing both their points.

Having lost his 100% record last week, Wakering’s Callum Turner returned to his undefeated ways with a hat trick on his team’s trip to Hadleigh Forum B. However, Forum were too strong for the rest of the Wakering side, with David Woolmer, Michael Tappenden and Jim Stait each managing two wins. There were some close five setters in this match and Wakering could have picked up at least one more point.

Report by David Barnes

We are into the business end of the season in Division 3 and it is now a two-horse race in the chase for the title.  Basildon A have headed the table all season and as they, and their close rivals, Invicta C, approach their last four matches, Basildon hold a seven point advantage.

In this week’s round of matches, Invicta hit the table first and recorded a 6/3 win over Canvey C.  Maximums here for Trish Winter and POM Andrew St John and, in reply, there was a win apiece for Canvey’s Ray Baker, Che Martin and Steve Parker.

Basildon had to wait until the end of the week to show their hand and, when they did, they were ruthless.  They only conceded two sets in a 9/0 win over a young Hockley F side who have found the going tough this season, but who will surely benefit from the experience.  Richard Riebold was the POM here, with Andy Roff and Dave Walton also unbeaten.

Elsewhere, Hockley E travelled to Rayleigh to take on Rawreth Meggazone E and emerged as 7/3 winners. Robert Garlick and George Clark were both unbeaten on the night, with Keith Denyer picking up the extra point.  For Rawreth, there was a win apiece for Graham Back and Ro Brett.

The junior teams of Matchpoint D and Evolve came together and a close match ensued.   Matchpoint started well and led 5/2, but Evolve came back to win the last two games, the final score being 5/4 in Matchpoint’s favour.  Samuel Morgan was the POM after a flawless hat-trick, well supported by Blake Stewart with a double.  Nova Narayanan was the best on the night for Evolve recording two wins, with his teammates Leo Goodey and Ben Berwick picking up a win each.

Finally, there was another 5/4 outcome in the match between the D teams of Hadleigh Forum and Stanford.  Douglas Brown (3) and Todd Barker (2) were the point winners for Forum but Douglas had to work hard for his hat-trick with both Randy Santiago and Andrew Jessop extending him to a deciding set.  Randy won his other two games with Andrew and Mandy Till each adding a point