The Burnham & District Table Tennis League is back in business and the opening week saw two upsets in the top division and an unprecedented whitewash of victories for all 6 of the Blackwater Clubs.  What an amazing start for the Maldon based outfit, as they rubbed their local produce into the wounds of their humbled opponents. 

The opening contests in Division 1 saw two of last year’s Championship contenders bested by much lower ranked opponents.  Paddy Power (and other local Bookmakers) have already had to restructure their odds to allow for these momentous results.  The pre-season favourites Mapledene A fell to Woodham B in a 6-4 contest that saw Woodham’s Sanjay Saptarshi unbeaten for his opening hat-trick of the season.  Harry Sawford chipped in with 2 points including an impressive straight sets win over Steve Muth.  The final point came from Captain Eamonn Hall with his own straight sets win over Pat White.  The match of the night saw Sawford and ex-Woodham team-mate Dan Patynski go toe-to-toe in an all out 5 set slugfest that Patynski eventually won after trailing 2-1 earlier on in the match.  Patynski was Mapledene’s best player on the night as he opened his account with 2 singles and the doubles in combination with Muth.  In the second shock of the week the Galacticos of Fambridge were subdued by a very talented and hard-working Mapledene B trio.  Fambridge star player Keith Adams did not disappoint with his personal hat-trick that included a tricky 13-11 fifth set triumph over the unbeaten Glenn Johnson.  For Mapledene the damage was done by the quiet and demure pairing of Johnson and Keith Willett who won 2 singles a piece and teamed up for an excellent 5 set doubles bonus point.  Simon Jacob completed the scoring for Mapledene with a 3 set win over Bruce Kettle.  These early shocks have set the pigeons amongst the cats for sure.

In Division 2 there were plenty of familiar faces and the results went largely as expected given the teams on display.  Blackwater A and B both won their matches against the lower Cold Norton sides.  Blackwater A didn’t take too long to get the measure of the brand new Cold Norton E side where only the experienced Dick Wyman proved difficult to beat.  Wyman took both of his team’s points, but was unable to cope with the loopy forehand attack of Neil Freeman which saw Freeman take his first (of many expected) hat-tricks in this division.  Freeman was ably wing-manned by Blackwater stalwarts Alan Scammell and Denis Balic.  The B team posted a 7-3 victory over the stronger Cold Norton D side with the dancing queen that is Mervyn Perriman unbeaten all night in singles and doubles for a very well deserved Player of the Match accolade.  Louis Gunn partnered Perriman in the doubles victory and added 2 singles victories to boost the score for Blackwater.  Mapledene C fielded a strong trio for the opener against Maldon B and came away with a healthy 8-2 victory with hat-tricks for Dave Woolmer and Tony Ayliffe.  In the final match of the Division Woodham C fielded an extremely strong line-up that bodes well for the season.  Posting a 7-3 triumph over the tough to beat Stow Maries B side with a hat-trick for young star Peter Harverson, and 2 wins for new captain Scott Perry and new signing Tim Pulham.

The Blackwater Siege continued unabated in Division 3 as Blackwater teams C to F won all 4 of the divisional contests to totally dominate the early leader board!.  The very talented C team made fast work of the Maldon E side with Maldon’s trusty John Leavett saving the whitewash with a respectable 4 set win over Andrea Alleyne.  For Blackwater there were hat-tricks for both Colin Barham and Gary Smith.  The D side included a winning return to Burnham for Roger Tiffin in a 7-3 turnover of Maldon D.  All 3 of the D team posted 2 wins as they all fell to the defensive know-how of Maldon’s transfer window signing Tim Huxtable.  For Blackwater Dave Benstead and Jacqui Treacy provided the remaining points.   The E team had the toughest evening as they squeezed past Woodham D with a tight 6-4 margin in a team effort where the trio of Kath Little, Keith Thompson and Deb Ginn all won 2 a-piece.  For Woodham Chris Crooks won 2 and debutant Jean Chasmer added another point before they paired up for an excellent doubles bonus point.  The F team had a much easier time against St Lawrence as they emerged victorious with a decent 8-2 points haul.  A 9-dart hat-trick for Jason Bush as he starts the season in style, and a commendable hat-trick for David McHattie, with Peter Hughes chipping in with 2 wins having lost an epic 5 set battle with the effervescent Dave Siggins.  Siggins and Nigel Brand then upset the odds with an unexpected doubles win to keep the rampant Blackwater trio in check – just a little bit!

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Eamonn Hall, Press Officer

Burnham & District Table Tennis League

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John Poysden’s recent call up to the England team taking part in the Home International Tournament came as a big but very welcome surprise, and before starting his first match he was further honoured by being made team captain. Not surprising then that, used as he is to playing in numerous competitions around the country, he was feeling a little bit nervous before playing his first game.

The Home International Tournament was played over three days at Nottingham Trent University and featured teams from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Team matches featured first before individual singles and doubles matches in age bands from Over 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 75’s.

John said ” as a competitor and a representative of England I wanted to do my best and not let myself, my teammates or my country down.” John certainly didn’t disappoint leading by example as the tournament unfolded.

On day one in the team events England were able to field two teams in a round robin format England A being Phil Bowen and Gary Baldwin and England B John and David Tiplady. These pairs actually played the first match and it turned to be a convincing win for the A team 4-1. The format was four singles matches and one doubles. Both A and B teams then proceeded to win all their other games which meant England A took the coveted gold medal and England B the silver. A first medal then for John who finished with 10 wins out of 12, an average of 83%.

The doubles events started on the second day and John and his England teammates would have started as firm favourites for this. Both pairs, Bowen and Baldwin and Poysden and Tiplady, duly made their way to the final where John and David managed to reverse the previous day’s result winning 17/15 11/4 11/7. Gold for John!

The singles event started the following day and, not surprisingly, the four England players lived up to expectations and all reached the semi- finals. These players know each others games well having met in different competitions around the country. John had beaten Phil Bowen recently only to lose to him in the team event and he had beaten Gary Baldwin too the last time they met, so he would have been fairly confident when they faced each other in one semi whilst Bowen and Tiplady met in the other. Unfortunately for John he couldn’t repeat that victory losing in four sets 7/11 11/7 8/11 9/11. Baldwin went on to beat Tiplady in the final.

Mention should also be made of another Essex player, Debbie Auvache, who represented England in the Over 60’s. She reached the semi-final of the singles losing to the eventual winner Jane Vickers, and with partner Carrie Cope also reached the semi- final of the doubles. Debbie and her partner went one better in the team event winning gold for England. Overall England had a clean sweep of all 10 team events in all age categories.

The three day competition tested both physical fitness and concentration John playing 26 matches overall winning 22 and losing just 4. Not a bad start for the new England captain!

John said ” coming away from my first England experience with a gold medal and a silver medal was fantastic and I am naturally very pleased. My England teammates in the 70’s all did well and we made a clean sweep of the 10 medals available.”

Congratulations to John, Debbie and all his England teammates – they well and truly delivered!

In recognition of his recent selection for the England Over 70’s team John Poysden has been invited onto the BBC Essex Sport show tomorrow, 28th July, between 6-7pm.

Great recognition for John and also for local table tennis which needs as much publicity as it can get!

Be sure to tune in tomorrow night to hear about John’s table tennis career and his path to a first England ‘cap’.

Report by Paul Strutt

Rawreth A have strengthened their grip on the Division 1 title of the Southend Summer League after beating Basildon B 7-2 this week. This puts them 12 points clear of rivals Basildon A who do have a game in hand and, of course, meet Rawreth in the final game of the season. A 9-0 win for Basildon would leave them just three points behind and everything to play for.

Having pushed the A team all the way last week they would have been hoping that the B team  could do a similar job against Rawreth but their team of Kim Shead, Russell Mills and Norbert Fullerton gave little away. Racing into a 3-0 lead Lin Roff held them up beating Mills in straight sets but they had to wait until the final match of the evening to get another when Roff and Andy Seaman combined to win a gruelling five set doubles against Shead and Mills 15/13 in the fifth.

Basildon B’s defeat has left the door open for Hockley A who move into third place after beating Canvey A 6-3. Andrew Murray and Terry Giddens started the evening well for Canvey edging out Stuart Adshead and Brian Bissenden in a five set doubles but Hockley then won the next five games to put them firmly in charge. Murray then beat Bissenden in their only singles win of the night before Jo Hills and Giddens won the final doubles against Bissenden and Joseph Odegbami. Odegbami claimed two singles wins for Hockley and Adshead and Bissenden one each. They are now two points clear of Basildon B and have a game in hand.

Stephen Heard was in fine form for Matchpoint A as he led them to only their second win of the season 6-3 against Stanford A. He won both his singles and doubles and received tremendous support from Hannah Harbour who also won both her singles plus one doubles. Sarah Ball combined with Heard for her doubles point. Pat White and Adrian Armstrong both got the better of Ball and White and Rob Salvage also got a point in the doubles.

Hockley B look extremely likely to finish their season without a win as they lost 9-0 to Hadleigh A. Paul Strutt and Richard Kidd almost gave them a winning start but lost in five sets to Neal and Todd Barker and Kidd went to five sets again against Todd but went down 14/12 in the decider. Apart from that it was very much plain sailing for Hadleigh Berti Makoli making up their winning team and taking the player of the match honours. Hockley stay bottom of the division and Hadleigh move up to fifth.

Team of the Week – Matchpoint A

Player of the Week – Stephen Heard

Report by Paul Strutt

Fifty years ago George Meakin, while visiting relatives in Belgium,
decided to look for a club in order to play a game of table tennis.
He found TTK Schoten, in a town on the outskirts of Antwerp,
where he was made to feel extremely welcome. The rest is
history.
Over the many years since, despite George’s passing, firm
friendships have developed, nurtured by bi-annual visits involving
George’s beloved Windsor TTC (of Clacton-On-Sea, Essex) and
TTK Schoten.
During the weekend of 7th, 8th and 9th June, Windsor TTC once
again welcomed their friends from TTK Schoten, for the latest in
the series of visits. The 17 Belgian guests stayed with their host
families. This included Jenny Higgins, George’s daughter.
Over the course of a long weekend, the table tennis players and
friends enjoyed both singles and doubles tournaments, a disco,
karaoke and a friendly game of snooker, as well as much
socialising, eating and drinking. Gifts including a Friendship
trophy were exchanged. 
New friendships were made and old friendships renewed. It has
been a wonderful example of people from different cultures and
countries coming together, thanks to their mutual love of the
game of table tennis. Windsor Table Tennis Club will hopefully
travel, as invited, over to Schoten in two years’ time.

Report by Sharon Gowlett

The race for the Division 1 title took a major turn this week as whilst one contender, Rawreth A, cruised to a customary 9-0 victory the other, Basildon A, found themselves in their toughest match of the season so far against, somewhat ironically, their own B team. The narrow 5-4 win for the A team means they are now five points behind their rivals who they must play in the final match of the season next week. They will need to beat them 6-3 as a minimum to pip them to the league title.

The form book would have pointed to a comfortable win for Rawreth when they played Invicta A but they received an unexpected bonus when their opponents could only field two players. That made their progression even more straightforward and resistance was limited to Tony Ayliffe’s five set battle against Peter Barrett. Ayliffe lost the first two sets  12/10 11/9 but then fought back winning the next two sets by the same scores to set up the decider. Unfortunately for Invicta Ayliffe couldn’t maintain his form and wilted,  losing 11/2. The defeat leaves Invicta in eighth place in the league.

Basildon A’s possibly title deciding match with their B team saw a stunning start by the underdogs as they won the first three matches and then led 4-1 with the A team’s title aspirations apparently in tatters. Garry Hartgrove then led the comeback beating Peter Hilton quickly followed by wins for Lee Marson and Rob Burton and sealed by Burton and Hartgrove winning the final doubles. Dawn Baldry and Peter Hilton both won one singles for the B team and two doubles wins for Baldry and Lin Roff and Baldry and Hilton.  The result lifts the B team into third place two points above Hockley A who have a game in hand. The A team will be hoping that Les Hoey and the unbeaten Ian Wall will be available for the crucial final match.

Stanford A welcomed back their talisman Mitchell Jones for their match against Hadleigh A and he provided another match winning performance winning both his singles and doubles and with a single point provided by Derrick Pearson they clinched a 5-4 victory all decided by the final doubles. Hadleigh’s points came courtesy of singles wins for Berti Makoli, Martin Turner and Todd Barker and a Turner/Barker combination in the doubles.

Matchpoint A finally picked up their first win of the season and they did it in style beating Canvey A 8-1. Three of the first four games went to five sets but that left Matchpoint 3-1 up and they cruised through the remaining matches conceding just two sets. Hannah Harbour was the star of the evening finishing unbeaten but team mate Debbie O’neill matched her all the way but did have contend with a strong performance by Kevin Walsingham who pushed her to five sets. Canvey’s consolation point came courtesy of Lee Mcgonagle who came back from 2-1 down against Dan Stewart clinching the decider 11/7.

Team of the Week – Basildon B

Player of the Week – Hannah Harbour

Report by Paul Strutt