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WEB REPORT From : Tony Oswick
26th September 2023
CAN ANYONE STOP THE PANTHERS?
That’s the question that waits to be answered when the new
Clacton and District League season begins next week.
Division One champions for the last ten years, the Panthers retain
the high-class quintet which did them proud last season and,
without an obvious weak link, John Hatley’s team again look the
team to beat.
Windsor Eagles and Nomads Lions, who finished second and third
respectively last season, are also both unchanged and both will no
doubt be challenging hard, but the battle for a top three place could
be too close to call, with three other teams having credible
credentials.
Walton A have added a familiar figure to their regular trio in the
form of former Mens Champion David Binns, a move which may not
improve the team’s average age but which should strengthen their
challenge for minor honours.
Windsor Hawks have boosted their chances by signing talented
young player Daniel Young to their squad, which will give them the
belief they can improve on last season’s fifth position.
There’s no Alan Burgess or Grant Sharpe in the Brotherhood A line-
up but the team welcomes back Gary Young to the League scene
to play alongside Kevin Gowlett, Martin Edwards, Gary Stallwood
and Russell Hillier to form a highly-competitive outfit.
Elsewhere, Walton B are unchanged from the side which recorded a
disappointing set of results last time out, but a team containing
Peter Burrows and Gavin Price should never be underestimated.
Walton C, led by Mark Gale, retain their quartet of hardy fighters,
although they still lack the one top-quality player who will
guarantee points week-in, week-out.

The same might be said of promoted and unchanged Windsor
Buzzards who, with the exception of Dave Martin, lack experience
of top-flight table tennis and, while everyone wishes them well,
they may find it difficult to survive among such exalted company.
It should be a much closer battle at the top of Division Two where
Brotherhood B start as marginal favourites, regulars Barry Allen,
Paul Alden and Mark Salter joined this season by Grant Sharpe to
form a formidable-looking quartet.
Ian Sherwood’s Lawford squad is unchanged and their team is
never far away from the top – they finished third last year and, in
the last eight seasons when they’ve played in the Second Division,
they’ve never finished lower than fourth.
And don’t rule out the chances of last year’s runners-up Walton D
going one better, Paul Woolnough joining Andy Foster and Clive
Allenby for the current campaign.
The new-look Brotherhood D side comprises Kevin Pryor and two
sets of brothers, Sam and Joe Plummer, with Simon Smith-Daye
making a welcome return to League table tennis to play alongside
brother James Smith-Daye. Could they be the season’s surprise
team?
Nomads Jaguars finished mid-table last season but will probably
feel they underperformed, and a team which includes Chris Parr,
Daryl Lott and Chris Petrou will certainly hope to move up the table
this year.
Meanwhile, John Gallagher’s Brotherhood C improves season by
season and their unchanged quartet should be able to maintain a
comfortable position in mid-table.
Nomads Tigers, who were forced to withdraw shortly after the start
of last season, have been completely re-formed, comprising now of
Dave Miller, Colin Webber, Mike Wellum and John Hockley together
with two players new to the League.
Scott Campbell is another welcome returnee to the League scene
and his presence will surely help an otherwise unchanged Windsor
Penguins, last year’s Division Three champions, maintain a much-
needed foothold at this level.
Windsor Kestrels, who struggled in the lower reaches of the Division
last season, are also unchanged, but their route to safety will
largely depend on the form of Graham Bunce and Debra Found,
together with the fitness of Peter Aumord.

In Division Three relegated Windsor Harriers, led once again by
Ferdy Rodriguez and unchanged for a tenth season, start as one of
the two likeliest teams, alongside Duncan Dunne’s Brotherhood E,
who this season have added Tricia Salter to their squad.
Christophe Wilmotte joins the Nomads Leopards’ side which finished
third last season as well as reaching the final of the Knock-Out Cup,
and they will provide stern competition at the top of the Division.
John Plummer’s Windsor Magpies retain their familiar foursome and
neither they, nor Lynette Sparks’ always-affable Walton E, will be
far away from the leaders come the end of the season.
Ruby Gallagher and Lucy Carvell join JJ Barry’s youthful
Brotherhood F team which showed much promise last season, while
Dan Grindrod and Andrey Pavlov are joined by former player Danny
Still and newcomer Gary Simpson in a new-look Brotherhood G.
Nomads Lynx, Nomads Ocelots and Nomads Bobcats finished in the
bottom three places last year but their personnel has been re-
shuffled from last season’s squads, with a number of new players
also added. However, they are all led by the same team captains,
all well-respected local table tennis names – the Ocelots by Sue
Lee, the Lynx by Dave Wright and the Bobcats by Doug Green.
So, on the eve of the new season, we wish good luck to all players
but, win or lose – enjoy your table tennis.

Matt’s still pulling all the strings!

Hockley TTC 2023 Annual Championships – Saturday 23rd September

With the inaugural Ladies Final already completed and Alwine Jarvis incorporated as champion the remaining five finals took place bright and early on Saturday morning. Matt Stringer was featuring in two finals and looking to become our Singles Champion for a fourth time.

First up was the doubles final between Gary Beck and Ollie George against Graham Gregory and perennial winner Matt Stringer. Gary, Ollie and Matt all had a second final to look forward to after this. With Matt’s record in these championships he and Graham would probably have been considered to have been the slight favourites for this match but in a tight first set it was Graham and Ollie who edged it 12/10. Another close set followed but this time it was the turn of Matt and Graham to level the scores with another 12/10 scoreline. It was apparent at this stage that the serves of Ollie and Matt were proving more effective against Gary and Graham respectively and this was repeated in sets three and four as first Gary and Ollie romped home 11/4 before Graham and Matt edged the fourth set 11/9. All down to the final set then and there was nothing in it all the way to 9-9 before Gary and Ollie took the honours. A good, close, exciting match to start the finals.

Gary Beck & Ollie George beat Graham Gregory & Matt Stringer

12/10 10/12 11/4 9/11 11/9

Next up was the Junior Plate which saw last year’s Junior Champion Kris Chankov take on Perry Lazell, who has only been with the club for a few months. After the first set which went easily to Kris 11/5 this turned into quite a battle and quite a contrast in styles. Kris looking to attack and bring his strong backhand into play whilst Perry, really keen to attack with his forehand, but also displaying some strong defensive qualities returning the ball from well behind the table at times to keep himself in the rally. Kris took the second set just, 12/10, but all credit to Perry who eventually got himself back in the match winning a marathon  third set 18/16. The fourth set was just as close and just when it looked a fifth set was inevitable Kris took the match 12/10.

Kris Chankov beat Perry Lazell

11/5 12/10 16/18 12/10

The Junior final could well have been billed as David v Goliath as young William Evesham stepped up to take on the, by comparison, very experienced Ollie George, a league player for some time now despite his own young age. Unfortunately for William he couldn’t find his own version of David’s sling shot to damage Ollie and went down in straight sets 11/6, 11/2, 11/6. Nevertheless William did enough to suggest that he can be as successful as Ollie has become displaying good movement around the table, good serves, and good attacking shots. One to watch for the future.

Ollie George beat William Evesham

11/6 11/2 11/6

The Singles Plate between Gary Beck and Roger Sherman turned out to be probably the closest and most exciting match of the day. A great contrast again in styles with Roger looking to bring in his big forehand smash at every opportunity whilst Gary was more defensive, resolute even, waiting patiently for an opportunity to attack. This was Gary’s second final, having already won the doubles with Ollie, so not a bad achievement for someone in his first season with the club,and he got off to the best start coming back from behind to edge the first set 15/13. Fortunes swung back and forth over the next two sets with Roger levelling 11/5 only to lose the third set by the same score. Roger managed to up his game again in set four and levelled again 11/7 and if we were looking for a nailbiting fifth set to decide the winner then we certainly got it! In this set Gary brilliantly demonstrated his ability to return Roger’s big attacking shots and although Roger got off to a great start leading 5-1 and then 10-7 the errors began to creep in and Gary drew level 10-10. During this run he managed to produce probably the shot of the day returning one of Roger’s smashes from well behind the right hand side of the table, looping it back high and diagonally, landing it just over the net before bouncing far away from Roger’s right hand side and out of reach to give Gary the point. At this point the excitement still hadn’t finished with match points being gained and lost in quick succession, together with some fortunate nets and edges before Gary scraped home 18/16. A great match and a great way for Gary to win his second final.

Gary Beck beat Roger Sherman

15/13 5/11 11/5 7/11 18/16

This brought us to the main event the Singles final between Matt Stringer and Dan Patynski. Already a three times winner Matt got off to a strong start against Dan who never really got going in this set losing 11/3. The second set was a complete contrast as Dan stormed back to level the match with an 11/6 win. At this stage Matt probably realised he needed to up his game and he did that in the third winning 11/6. The fourth set was close all the way up to 8-8 and just when we were looking forward to a fifth set Matt went 9-8 up, and a fortuitous net and then an edge gave him the match 11/8. Well done to our four times Champion!

Matt Stringer beat Dan Patynski

11/3 6/11 11/6 11/8

All in all  a great Finals day and well done to all those who took part, our volunteer umpires and everyone who came to watch. See you all again next year!

Paul Strutt

Chairman

Hockley TTC

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Fambridge are massive!

It was the opening week of the new Winter league season in the Burnham & District Table Tennis League and the teams old and new did not disappoint.  The Fixture Gods had pitted the two top teams from recent years together for an early showdown and boy was it a humdinger.  Supreme Champions Fambridge welcomed their nearest rivals Cold Norton B in the opening salvo in the top division.  Both teams elected to go full-Galactico as 6 of the best from across the County when toe-to-toe and paddle-to-paddle in an encounter that went on into the following morning.  Four of the matches went to a deciding 5th leg, and all of those final matches were extremely close with 2 going to deuce and beyond.  So how on earth did Fambridge come away with an emphatic 8-2 victory – well that’s just what they do.  Fambridge took all 4 of those 5-setters and that’s what sets this awesome Club apart.  Fambridge’s Paul Sayer and Keith Adams both recorded hat-tricks on the night, with Cold Nortons whipper snapper Sam Lowman edging out John Poysden for a notable singles win in an incredibly tight match (-11, 13, 11, 10).  Lowman was on tip top form throughout as he was on the wrong side of those two ‘deuce and beyond’ 5 set defeats.  He did manage to add the doubles point as he and partner Eric Green took a straight sets victory over Poysden and Sayer.

  Elsewhere in the top division it was a good week for the lefties as both Mapledene’s Steve Muth and Colin Chatfield ploughed through their opposition in their respective matches, and Dan Piglet for Woodham also notched an opening day trio of wins.  The Muthinator took his hat-trick against Woodham B including a notable win over Sanjay Saptarshi with a display of fierce hitting and electric serves.  Saptarshi himself took his sides only 2 points in the 8-2 win for Mapledene A.  Chatfield’s hat-trick came in Mapledene B’s 6-4 defeat of a strong Maldon A side.  The clean sweep was only secured in the final match as Chatfield and Harrison Hill went into the match both undefeated and even at 13-13 in the deciding leg it was hard to separate these protagonists – such different styles – but in this instance experience triumphed over youth and Chatfield took the honours.  In the final match of the week Woodham A took a 7-3 victory away from Stow A with both Dan Piglet and Lee McHugh recording hat-tricks – Piglet just coming through in 5 sets against the loopy Keith Martin.

Blackwater A surprised everyone in Division 2 with a surprisingly comfortable 7-3 turnover of the usually combative Maldon C trio.  It was wily ol’ Merv Perriman who caused the most trouble as he went unbeaten all evening and only dropping a single set en route.  Perriman’s sidekicks of Alan Scammell and Roger Slade chipped in with a brace of wins apiece – but they couldn’t contain the doubles expertise of Maldon’s Steve Aspland and Colin Barrell who took the consolation doubles point.  It was a welcome return for two former Woodham players as both Graham Briggs and Chris Hancox notched familiar hat-tricks back at their old stomping ground as Woodham C scored an impressive 9-1 victory over a beleaguered Stow D side.  Stow’s Tim Pulham saved the whitewash with a 5 set victory over the tricky David Meah.   Cold Norton D will be looking for a more consistent run of form this year which should see them fighting for a podium finish and they kicked off with a solid 7-3 triumph over Blackwater B with awkward lefty Peter Lucraft doing the damage with a fine hat-trick of wins.  Perennial podium chasers Maldon B fielded a very strong side as they blasted their way through the challenge from Stow C.  The match ended up at 9-1 with Maldon’s Colin Napper and Dawn Baldry going unbeaten in singles and doubles.  Stow’s most difficult player was Peter Chastin and he at least saved the whitewash with a long and hard fought 5 set victory over Hamish Innes (rumours of expedite being called after the first ½ hour cannot yet be verified).  Last year’s champs Mapledene C kicked off their campaign with a comprehensive 8-2 victory over the newly promoted Maldon D.  Lin Roff and Bill Smith went unbeaten for Mapledene, and Maldon’s Marty Englander registered an excellent singles point in a 4 setter with Sue Body.

It was mixed fortunes for the Blackwater teams in Division 3 this week as Blackwater C stormed to the top of the leader board with a stunning 10-0 whitewash – unfortunately against their very own Blackwater E side.  The regular Blackwater C trio of Kath Little, Deb Ginn and Phil West all registering opening day hat-tricks – its like they had been playing all summer!  The match wasn’t without its drama though as Little had to make two amazing comebacks from the ‘dead’.  Against Peter Hughes, Little was 0-2 down and then 6-10 down in the match before she went on a run of 6 winning points to nick the 3rd leg and then take the final two legs for the most unlikely of victories.  Then in her final match Little found herself 0-2 down again against Ron Tam.  As the 3rd leg got underway there was some disturbance in the other match and the leg had to be restarted and this short delay appeared to break Tam’s concentration as fortunes changed and Little took the final 3 legs for her hard-earned hat-trick.  Woodham E fielded 2 debutants and 2 players with a bit more experience as they secured an 8-2 home win over the knowledgeable trio from Maldon F.  Debutants Reece Arundell and Peter Harverson both notched a brace of wins but it was the wily old Chris Crooks that took the plaudits with an impressive hat-trick of wins including a 5 setter against Maldon’s best player John Leavett.  Crooks was joined by Val Board for their Brucie Bonus doubles point against Leavett and Roger Warren.

Pic 1 – The unstoppable Mervyn Perriman in action against Garry Eames in Maldon this week

Pic 2 – George Reeves in action for Mapledene A this week

Pic 3 – Eric Green of Cold Norton v Paul Sayer of Fambridge

Pic 4 – Kath Little in action in one of her marathon matches against Peter Hughes

Pic 5 – Sanjay Saptarshi and Steve Muth battle it out for supremacy this week

Pic 6 – Blackwater C’s reliable doubles pairing of Phil West and Deb Ginn

Essex Assessment Trials

Details of the trials have been announced and can be seen below or via the following link . https://forms.gle/nCTYeot1NsewhZmz8

Essex Assessment Trials 2023 – Entry Form

This is the entry form for the 2023 Essex Assessment Trials for Essex junior and cadet players. The aim of the Trials is to produce a snapshot ranking list of the Essex players based on their performance at the Trials which will be considered with National Ranking data to guide selection for the County’s Junior and Cadet teams,

We have an announcement to make! This year we have entered a second cadet team into the lowest cadet county division.  There are now two junior teams and two cadet teams each requiring three boys and two girls. So, more opportunity to play for Essex! If you require any information or advice about the Essex Assessment Trials, please contact Martyn Green on martyn.green5@ntlworld.com or 07478 078780

Once you have completed this entry form, we will email confirmation of entry within a few days. Payment details for the entry fee are below. The Table Tennis England qualifying date for age categories is December 31. Juniors are defined as any individual under 19 years old on December 31, 2023. Cadets are any individual under 15 years old on December 31, 2023. Seeding will be based on August’s Table Tennis England National Ratings where available or else by the organisers’ estimation of standard. We invite junior and cadet players of all ages and abilities to enter these trials – we would love to see you playing and hope to spot a lot of talent for this season’s teams and the teams of seasons to come.

Organising Committee
Tournament Organiser: David Gatheral (TO2)
Committee Member: Martyn Green
Committee Member: Neil Brierley

Dates: Saturday, 16th September and Sunday, 17th September 2023
Venue: Mildmay Sports Hall, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 1SQ
Entry Deadline: no later than 6pm, Tuesday, 12th, September 2023
Entry Fee: £12.00 (siblings £10.00 each)

Anticipated Schedule
Cadet (U15) boys: Saturday – 9am to late afternoon.
Cadet (U15) girls: Saturday – 12pm to late afternoon.
Junior (U19) girls: Saturday – 12pm to late afternoon.
Junior (U19) Boys: Sunday – 9am to late afternoon.

This schedule could change depending on entries. There are no U11 or U13 events this year, but we will have prizes for the highest ranked U11 boy, U11 girl, U13 boy and U13 girl as well as prizes for the highest ranked cadet boy and girls and the highest ranked junior boy and girl.

GDPR
The last two questions pertain to the storage and use of personal data. Please indicate whether you consent for Essex County Table Tennis Association to store and use the information you provide in this form for
a) the purposes of running the 2023 Essex Assessment Trials and;
b) for notifying parents of other junior tournaments and coaching opportunities in Essex and further afield.
Player and parent data will be deleted once a player reaches the age of 19 on 31st December of any playing season or earlier if the parent writes to the General Secretary of the Essex County Table Tennis Association.

Player’s first name?*

Player’s second name?
Player’s TTE number? 
Player’s Date of Birth?
Player’s postcode?
Player’s nationality?
Player’s county of affiliation?
Which Assessment Trial would the player like to enter?
*Junior Girls (Saturday 16th September – afternoon) Junior Boys (Sunday 17th September – morning and afternoon) Cadet Girls (Saturday 16th September – afternoon)Cadet Boys (Saturday 16th September – morning and afternoon)

Name of player’s primary table tennis club?
Name of player’s primary table tennis coach?
Parent’s first name?
Parent’s second name?
Parent’s mobile number?
Parent’s email address?
I consent to the data I enter in this application form to be stored and used by the Essex County Table Tennis Association for the following purposes. I understand that player and parent data will be deleted once a player reaches the age of 19 on 31st December of any playing season or if the parent writes to the General Secretary of Essex County Table Tennis Association
1. Running the 2023 Essex Assessment Trials. (Required for participation)

2. Notifying me of other junior tournaments and coaching opportunities.

Please pass these details on to you relevant coaches.

Brand first in race for second

With the Division 1 title already decided in favour of Northlands, who still have one game to play, the fight was on this week for the runners up spot, and third and fourth places.

Favourites for second place are Brand Identity who did themselves no harm at all beating Hadleigh Forum 8-1. The brothers Jacob, David and Simon, together with Steve Muth, were rarely troubled on the night winning six matches without dropping a set, the only hiccup coming when Paul Fawell defeated Steve Muth in five sets.

Invicta completed their season with a 6-3 away win at Hockley but it wasn’t quite enough for them to catch Brand Identity, currently third, so they settle for fourth place. The match wasn’t easy for Invicta but they started well winning the first three games and benefited greatly from the return of Steve Marr, playing only his second summer league game, but he won both his singles and took the POTM award. Joseph Odegbami got Hockley’s only singles win beating Tony Ayliffe and also went to five sets against Marr. Their other successes came in the doubles Stuart Adshead and Harry Sawford beating Marr and Lee Marson in five sets, and Odegbami and Sawford beating Ayliffe and Marson also in five sets. Marson also picked up two singles wins and Ayliffe got his point beating Adshead in straight sets.

Hadleigh Forum were back at the table for a second time this week taking on bottom of the table Canvey and this time coming out on top winning 6-3. Fellow DRS Dave Woolmer got the POTM award but he and team mates Colin Barham and Anton Ranjit-Singh all won their singles with the doubles matches proving to be their Achilles heel. Doubles matches have proved to be quite a leveller in this division and what was remarkable about Canvey’s performance was that all three matches went to five sets, and they were behind in all three, twice coming back from two sets down and once from 2-1. Closest of these three was probably Des Duffield and Lee Mcgonagle’s win against Woolmer and Barham 11/7 11/5 13/15 12/14 9/11.

Stanford edged out RESSC 5-4 thanks to two singles wins each from Pete Weatherall and Rob Salvage and a doubles win from Weatherall and Mark Downey. Ron Coutts and John Tendler picked up a point each for RESSC and the doubles provided two more with wins from  Tendler and Bob Skews and Skews again with Coutts.

Doubles delight for Basildon!

Results stayed very much to form in the latest round of matches in the Southend Summer Table Tennis League Division 1 with the top teams winning comfortably but we did see probably the closest match of the season so far when Invicta took on Basildon.

At the top of the table Northlands completed the perfect 9-0 whitewash against Canvey the team of Keith Adam, Kim Shead and Paul Brown not dropping a single set.

Brand Identity stay comfortably in third place after chalking up two 9-0 wins against Canvey and Stanford. The Jacob brothers Simon and David together with Steve Muth did the damage against Canvey repeating Northlands feat of a perfect whitewash. Against Stanford David Jacob, Jenny Harrison and Adam Jackman took the honours meeting a bit more resistance from the Stanford trio of Peter Weatherall, Pat White and Rob Salvage. The doubles pairing of White and Salvage almost got them off to a winning start against Jackman and Harrison but the Brand pairing came back from 2-1 down to take the deciding set 11/5. There were several close four set matches after that the closest being Jenny Harrison’s win against Pat White 9/11, 12/10, 13/11, 16/14.

Hockley find themselves in a comfortable fifth position after an 8-1 demolition of RESSC. Sid Dorn picked up his first wins of the season beating Ron Coutts and Bob Skews whilst Stuart Adshead also weighed in with two wins also beating Skews and then just edging Tarun Goel in a close five set match. Joseph Odegbami picked up the other singles win against Coutts but Tarun Goel got RESSC’s consolation point beating him in four sets. Two of the doubles went to five sets in both cases RESSC fighting back from 2-0 down to 2-2 only to lose the deciding fifth set.

Invicta stay just above Hockley in fourth place after beating Hadleigh Forum 7-2. Forum started the match well winning the first doubles but promptly lost the next four before Anton Ranjit-Singh claimed their second point beating Barbara Chabior in straight sets. Tony Ayliffe and Lee Marson both won their singles for Invicta but Ayliffe was pushed to five sets by Ranjit-Singh and there was another close five set match in the final doubles with Ayliffe and Chabior just edging Ranjit-Singh and Colin Barham 11/9 in the fifth.

By far the closest and most exciting match of the week was the encounter between Invicta and Basildon. No less than five matches went to five sets including the first four games of the evening leaving the score at 2-2. Tony Ayliffe and Lee Marson set the tone for the evening coming back from two sets down against Lin Roff and Garry Hartgrove winning the final set 11/8. Szymon Jarka levelled things up for Basildon with a 12/10 final set win against Martin Shaugnessy before Ayliffe restored Invicta’s lead with another comeback win from two sets down winning 11/9 in the fifth against Roff. The score see sawed back and forth after that with Basildon leading 4-2 before Invicta pulled it back to 4-4 leaving the final doubles as the deciding match. Marson and Shaughnessy lined up against Hartgrove and Jarka and it was the Basildon pair who edged the first two sets 12/10 11/9 before Invicta fought back to level the match winning 11/9 11/8. The decider turned out to be a little more straightforward as Hartgrove and Jarka took the win 11/7 and the match 5-4.

Basildon stay in second place in the division.

9-0 just the norm for Northlands

Northlands have returned to the top of Division 1 of the Southend Summer League after chalking up two 9-0 wins and now sit 7 points clear of Basildon and still with a game in hand. Their large squad of top ranked players continue to carry all before them and it is now just a question of how many individual games they might lose as they certainly won’t lose any matches on this form!

They started their week with a rearranged match at Hockley where Kim Shead, Dan Zeffie and Peter Barrett did the honours. David Chenery came closest for the home side leading 2-1 at one stage against Dan Zeffie before Dan stepped up a gear winning the last two games 11/5 11/5.

Two days later they were in action again against Invicta, Kim partnered this time by Paul Brown and James Elliott but no game went beyond four sets.

Second placed Basildon kept up their winning ways with a 7-2 win at RESSC. Tarun Goel and John Tendler got the points for the home side both getting the better of Garry Hartgrove and RESSC almost got a third point in the final doubles of the evening when John Holland and Tarun took on Ian Wall and Garry. Ian and Garry took the first two sets only to see a strong fight back ending in a decisive fifth set. Needless to say Ian and Garry took it 11/6. Les Hoey was POTM winning both his singles. Basildon are 21 points ahead of Brand Identity in third place who have no less then three games in hand.

Final game of the week saw Canvey take on Stanford and the away team travelled home with a 7-2 victory the match actually being level at 2-2 at one stage. Des Duffield and Kevin Walsingham got the Islanders off to a good start beating Peter Weatherall and Mark Downey in a closely fought five set match coming back from two sets down to win the last three 12/10, 13/11, 12/10. Two singles wins for Peter and Robert Salvage put Stanford in front only for Des to level things up with a straight set win against Mark. After that though it was all plain sailing for Stanford winning the next four games and then claiming the final doubles as Tony Westwell had to withdraw due to a back injury – fortunately not serious. Canvey stay bottom after this with just four points won from the four games played so far.

Doubles matches hold the key in Southend

With the top two teams in Division 1 of the Southend Summer league without a game this week, the stage was clear for some of the chasing teams to make an impact and close the gap at the top.

Third placed Brand Identity must have been hoping for a good win against Invicta but found themselves in a see saw battle not settled until the final game of the evening. They certainly had the edge in the singles winning four out of the six on offer thanks to Steve Muth and David Jacob, both unbeaten, but Invicta won two out of the three doubles to keep them in the match until the final game. Invicta actually led 4-3 with two games to go but Steve Muth levelled things up to take it to the final doubles and Invicta must have been hopeful going into it. Tony Ayliffe and Lee Marson lined up for Invicta against Steve Muth and David Jacob but their hope of pulling off a shock win disappeared quickly as Steve and David ran out 11/9 11/5 11/7 winners to give Brand a 5-4 victory.

Hockley pulled off the biggest win of the week storming to a 9-0 whitewash of Stanford which keeps them in fifth place but now level on points with Invicta albeit they have played a game more. High points for Stanford were hard to find their best performance coming in the doubles between Mark Downey and John Handscombe for Stanford and Harry Sawford and Stuart Adshead for Hockley. Stanford held a 2-1 advantage at one stage before the Hockley boys turned up the heat and won the last two sets 11/6 11/8. Other than that Joseph Odegbami claimed the POTM award for his straight set singles wins against Chris Crooks and John Handscombe plus two doubles wins dropping just one set. Stanford stay seventh in the table.

RESSC finally won their first match of the season and lifted themselves off the bottom of the table with a hard fought 6-3 win at Hadleigh Forum. Four games went to five sets but the key to the win was in the doubles all won by RESSC. This must have been frustrating for Forum’s Tony Jacks who won both his singles and took the POTM award but still finished on the losing side. John Holland, John Tendler and Tarun Goel made up the winning team whilst Dave Bassett got Forum’s other point beating John Tendler.

Mossford Table Tennis Club – 75 years and counting!

On the 29th May Mossford TTC met to celebrate their 75th anniversary! Former Chairman Dave Humble writes as follows:-

“We had well over 200 attendees at our venue and, as an aside, raised well over £400 for a local child hospice charity. The day was an outstanding advert for table tennis both for devotees and newcomers. The Mossford committee has put on a wonderful show. Emotionally I am just about recovering today.

I was asked to put together a brief history of the club and this was available on the day and is also available on request by either hard copy or email attachment from the club. Josh Dye held court on the TT side with Sam Walker being the star attraction. Tony Cantale handled the presentation and some publicity, but as usual attempted to keep in the background – no chance. Our reasonably recent Chairman John Bath is a wonderful acquisition and is backed by a very strong team.

All in all, a fabulous day for a fabulous club.”

I’m sure everyone in the Essex table tennis community will wish to congratulate Mossford on their achievements over the first 75 years and hope for their continued success in the future.

It’s Summer in Southend !

We are into the fifth week of the Southend and District Summer League and already it’s not too hard to see who are likely to be the winners in Division 1.  Northlands sit top having played and won three games, dropped just one point, and are two points clear of second placed Basildon who have played a game more.

The Northlands team is packed full of Premier Division talent being able to call on the likes of Kevin Read, Keith Adams, Gurjit Bhambra and Deborah Auvache, all top 40 ranked players. They have already beaten closest rivals Basildon 8-1 and that point was in the  doubles so all their players boast 100% records in singles at the present time.

Basildon, having played the top team, have also played Brand Identity currently sitting third, and fared much better winning 6-3 with Ian Wall picking up two good wins beating the Jacob brothers Simon and David.

There is already a seven point gap between third and fourth where we find Hockley A and, a point behind them but with a game in hand, are Invicta A. Based on rankings it looks like Invicta have the stronger line up but it will be interesting to see how Sid Dorn performs for Hockley who returns to league action after some time, and they also feature Joseph Odegbami who is making his Southend league debut this season. Good to see young Harry Sawford showing improving form having won 5 of his 6 singles matches so far.

Hadleigh Forum haven’t made the best of starts but are full of experienced Div 1/Prem players like Dave Bassett, Anton Ranjit-Singh and Tony Jacks, and these three saw them to a first win of the season 6-3 against Hockley this week.

At the bottom of the table at the moment are Stanford and RESSC who may struggle to make an impact featuring players more used to Div 2 level. RESSC have enjoyed two highly successful seasons in the lower divisions but it will be interesting to see how this team of really experienced players will do against the top Premier players in this league.

In Division 1 Wakering are one of three unbeaten teams, and top the table at this stage, albeit that they have played more games than their closest rivals.  The backbone of the side is the trio of Stew Mills, Paul England and Zac England.  These three performed well in the recent winter league and their good form has clearly continued.

Hockley ‘B’ occupy second place, 6 points off the top having played a game less.  With Paul Strutt and Ben Cook currently unbeaten in singles, and good experience at this level in their squad, they seem sure to be challenging for the title at the end of the season.

The third unbeaten team is Basildon ‘B’ who have games in hand on both the top two, although they have 15 points to make up.  Another experienced squad includes Szymon Jarka who has only been beaten once in singles, and that defeat came against a tough Premier League opponent.  Of the other 6 players who have turned out for Basildon, 3 of them remain unbeaten.

Runnymede are in fourth position and could yet challenge the top sides, but only if their quality players, Tony Millward and Dmitry Kisil, turn out together on a regular basis.

Of the other teams, Invicta ‘B’ seem likely to finish in the top half of the table.  They have 2 players new to our league, Barbara Chabior and Martin Shaughnessy, who have both shown good form, Barbara is unbeaten and Martin has won 6 of his 8 singles.

Hadleigh Forum ‘B’ occupy the mid table position.  They have a largely inexperienced squad but the experience and quality of Neal Barker has ensured that they have stayed away from the lower reaches of the division. 

The remaining 5 teams are separated by only 4 points and have won only 3 matches between them.

Although winless, Megazone have picked up seful points in every match so far. Jonathan Allen is their leading player to date, and with a number experienced players to back him up, their first win is surely not far away.

Stanford ‘B’ and Invicta ‘C’ are locked together on 11 points after 5 games matches played. Stanford were the winners when these 2 sides met earlier in the season, and they have picked up good points in 2 other matches, but have also suffered two 9-0 defeats.

Trisha Winter is the leading player so far for Invicta ‘C’ with 5 wins from her 8 singles, but she will need some support from the rest of the squad if they are to move up the table.

Hockley ‘C’ are on 9 points but have played a game less than the 3 teams above them.  Their sole win came against a Hadleigh Forum side who were without Neal Barker, but they have only managed to pick up 3 points in their other matches.

Canvey ‘B’ are bottom of the table and lost their first 4 matches, gaining only 2 points. However, they have recently added Jo Hills to their squad and this paid immediate dividends as she was player of the match when they defeated Invicta ‘C’  to record their only win to date. 

Reports provided by Paul Strutt (Div 1) and David Woolmer (Div 2).