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

The Southend Summer League is building to an exciting climax with three weeks to go. The main contenders, Basildon A and Rawreth, are separated by just one point and are due to meet each other in the final week of the season in what should prove to be the title decider. Currently Rawreth have the lead and interestingly their progression, and Basildon A’s, could be influenced by Basildon B who have to play both teams.

The top teams were in fine form this week handing out 9-0  thrashings to Invicta A and Hockley B alike. Basildon A were the first in action against Invicta and their team of Ian Wall, Les Hoey and Charles Yeung were in no mood to give any encouragement to their opponents. Tony Ayliffe took a set off Yeung and Malcolm Henstock and David Barnes took a set off Hoey and Yeung in the doubles but the only other game that was remotely close was the doubles between Ayliffe and Henstock and Wall and Yeung. The Wall/Yeung combination somewhat predictably took the first two sets but the Invicta pair fought back admirably winning the third set 11/7 and then edging a nerve wracking fourth set 15/13. Unfortunately for them Wall and Yeung were not to be denied and won the decider 11/8.

Rawreth’s win against Hockley B followed a similar format with their team of Andrew Halling, Debbie Auvache and Dale Gutteridge giving little away to their opponents. In the doubles Paul Strutt and Amar Al-Soufi took a set off Halling and Gutteridge and Al-Soufi and Paul Ogden did the same against Auvache and Gutteridge but it was a singles match that turned out to be the closest Ogden extending Gutteridge to five sets. Ogden had a clear advantage going 2-1 up after losing the opening set but Gutteridge fought back well to take it to a decider and clinched the match 11/8. Hockley remain winless.

Neal Barker, Todd Barker and Berti Makoli were in fine form for Hadleigh as they won 7-2 against Canvey A. Neal Barker remained unbeaten all night, Makoli won both his singles and a doubles and Todd Barker won one singles and a doubles with his Dad. Andrew Murray did best for the Islanders winning his singles against Todd Barker and then combining with Lee Mcgonagle to beat Makoli and Todd Barker in the doubles.

Hockley A moved into third place after a 7-2 win against Matchpoint A. Sanjay Saptarshi took the player of the match honours remaining unbeaten on the night and he was backed up by two singles wins for Eamonn Hall and one from Stuart Adshead. Hall had to fight hard though for his win against Debbie O’neill the match going to five sets before Hall won the decider 11/4. Stephen Heard picked up a point for Matchpoint beating Adshead and then combining with O’neill they beat Adshead and Hall in straight sets.

Team of the Week – Hadleigh A

Player of the Week – Neal Barker

After the latest round of matches there is a new name at the top of Division 1 as Rawreth beat Stanford A 8-1 to move one point clear of their rivals both teams now having played five games. Basildon A sit second after demolishing Hockley B 9-0 and Basildon B are in third place on 35 points, four behind their A team. There is another new face, however, sitting in fourth place as Hockley A have jumped from seventh on the back of an impressive 8-1 away win Hadleigh Forum.

Rawreth’s defeat of Stanford was down to two unbeaten performances from Kevin Read and Russell Mills with Paul Brown winning one singles but losing to Martin Archie. Whilst all but one of the other singles were over in straight sets the match between Brown and Rob Salvage was an epic five set battle with Brown eventually coming out on top 14/12 11/13 11/9 14/16 11/9. Stanford are in fifth place and their good start to the season has come to an abrupt halt losing their third match in succession.

Hockley A are the surprise team of the week their 8-1 victory at Hadleigh Forum coming thanks to good performances from Eamonn Hall, Brian Bissenden and teenager William Evesham. Their only loss was the final doubles of the evening but they had to fight hard in their other games three going to five sets and two going to four. In all the five set matches Hockley were 2-1 down so the team showed great fighting spirit to win those games. Anthon Ranjit-Singh and Martin Turner got the consolation point for Hadleigh.

Les Hoey, Rob Burton and Lee Marson made up the Basildon A team which outclassed Hockley B only three games going beyond three sets and noticeable that all three featured Hockley’s Ross Collins who moved up from their C team for the match. His best performance came against Marson taking him the distance before going down 11/3 in the deciding set. Hockley remain without a win this season.

Invicta pulled off a surprise win at Basildon B winning an extremely tight match 5-4 in the final doubles of the evening. 3-1 down at one stage and then 4-3 Malcolm Henstock levelled the scores before Paul Sims and Tony Ayliffe saw them home. Ayliffe is a man in form at the moment picking up his second successive maximum with the other point coming from Henstock and Ayliffe in the doubles. Lin Roff took the honours for the home team winning both her singles and a doubles with Andy Seaman, with Seaman defeating Sims in five sets for their other point.

Team of the Week – Hockley A

Player of the Week – Tony Ayliffe

The Burnham & District Table Tennis League held a very successful and well attended Presentation Evening last week.  Prizes and cups for all the league and individual competitions were presented by League Representative David Oxley-Goody and League President Peter Ballard.  Compere for the evening was League Chairman Alan Dadswell.

A highlight of the evening was the multiple junior winners of Peter Harverson and Arthur Shadforth – not only sweeping the board with the junior events but also winning and making the Finals of some of the open events too, what a bright future they all have.  Other notable achievements were Dawn Baldry and Shirley Carroll winning the Ladies Doubles event – a familiar feeling for Carroll as she has won this specific tournament 16 times now, and the first time being in black & white back in 1975.  Duncan Taylor and Kevin Read won the Veterans Doubles for the seventh time as a pair but not as long ago as Ms Carroll!  In the main singles events the winning trophies were presented to Dawn Baldry for retaining the Ladies Singles, and a new name for the Open Singles title Mr Liam Squirrell.  In fact Squirrell achieved a notable double by winning both the Singles and the Doubles title (with partner Reece Seddon).  Both Champions now get automatic entry into the Essex Closed Tournament where they will face the champions and other notable stars from around the County.

For the League events the Division 3 crown was presented to the unbeaten Maldon C team, with the Division 3 player of the year going to Woodham’s Allan Steel with a remarkable 100% win rate.  In Division 2 Stow Maries A displayed great bounce-back-ability as they were crowned champions and make an immediate return to Division 1.  The Division 2 player of the season went to Stow’s Gary Brignall with a 96% win rate.  The Division 1 title went to the wire and was only finalised with a game to go as Cold Norton B emerged the unlikely but brilliant new Champions.  What a year it has been for this Cold Norton side as they also retained the Handicap Cup for the 3^rd year in a row.  The Division 1 player of the year and Peter Ballard Cup winner was Reece Seddon.

This year the Presidents Trophy – presented for services to the League – was presented to Dave Goody in recognition of 45 years serving on the League and County Committees.  What an innings. 

____________________________________________

Eamonn Hall, Press Officer

Burnham & District Table Tennis League

____________________________________________

Pic 1 – Liam Squirrell receiving the Singles Title Trophy from League President Peter Ballard

Pic 2 – Division 3 winners Maldon C with League President Peter Ballard

Pic 3 – Division 1 winners Cold Norton B with League President Peter Ballard

Pic 4 – Presidents Trophy Winner Dave Goody with League President Peter Ballard

Danbury Table Tennis Club Championships – Club Championships 2025

Danbury Table Tennis Club is one of the largest Clubs in Essex and has recently held its annual Club Championships and Tournament.  As with every year the Club Tournament throws up plenty of unexpected victories as the players all know their team-mates strengths and weaknesses.

The first competition to be concluded was the Handicap Singles Cup where players receive a points handicap depending on their abilities and official rankings – the idea is to produce an even playing field.  After several rounds of play our two finalists emerged and it was no surprise that Ian Wall and Eric Green had made the final as they are both very successful handicap proponents across various county organisations.  A big nod though to the Wyman family as Dick Wyman took Green to deuce in the final set in their quarter-final encounter, and grandson Oscar Wyman went one better and defeated Arron Chandler at the round of 16 stage.  In the final itself, despite some brilliant counter-hitting from Green, Wall had a little too much on the night and was crowned Champion.

At the Finals Night itself the first set of matches were the Open Singles semi-finals.  The first match was between our two giant killers, as player of the tournament Arron Chandler had knocked out top seed and holder Ian Wall at the quarter-final stage, and Sanjay Saptarshi had bested another top seed in Eric Green in a tight 5 setter in his quarter-final.  The match itself was a cagey affair with Saptarshi struggling to adapt to the pimples and variety of shots from Chandler.  Chandler was just too good on the night and came through for his first Singles Final.  In the second semi-final seeds 2 and 3 met as Keith Adams took on his team-mate John Poysden.  Familiarity didn’t help Poysden in this one as he struggled to get going in the first leg as Adams dominated, and even though he came out fighting in leg 2 and took an ‘unassailable’ 8-1 lead he still managed to snatch a defeat from the jaws of victory to go 0-2 down.  In what turned out to be the winning set Adams was just too consistent in the 3^rd leg and marched onto the Final.   The Final was a great match-up, very much David v Goliath stuff.  Adams came out strong and steady and made minimal mistakes, with Chandler a bit more erratic, even though at times his play was exceptional.  Adams took the first 2 sets for a comfortable lead and Chandler needed to buck his ideas up if he wanted to stay in this match.   That he did, cutting out some of the unforced errors and pushing Adams all the way with thoughtful positioning and shot selection, combined with some phenomenal defending form distance.  Chandler found himself with game point at 10-9 but couldn’t secure the winning margin, and this happened for the next 3 match points until Adams squared up at 13-13 and then on his first Championship point Adams smashed a winner that took him to glory as he lifted the Peter Linnett Cup for the 3^rd time.  A worthy Champion!

The Restricted Singles Final went all the way to a fifth and final leg before a champion emerged.  This year’s protagonists were Denis Crapnell and Peter Hance.  Players with very different styles that led to a tactical battle as they each tried to play on the other’s perceived weaknesses.  Hance took the opening leg when really it was there for the talking by Crapnell but he capitulated in the final crucial points. This only served to steel the Crapnell focus and he rattled off the 2^nd and 3^rd legs to take the lead.  Hance played a bit more open in the 4^th set and this suited his style more than his opponents and he was able to square off the match and take us into a deciding winner-takes-all 5^th leg.  Hance continued where he left off and switched ends with a 5-2 lead, and this even extended to 7-4 before Crapnell braved up and began to push his player around the court and force him out of position and this ultimately won him the match as Hance off-balance could not get his shots where he wanted and Crapnell came from behind to secure a famous victory.

The Drawn Doubles Final for the Pat Dukes Cup was an interesting match up as Arron Chandler & Peter Harverson took on Bruce Kettle & Dave Marsh.

So what do you get if you combine the most improved player in the Club, and the most in-form player of the tournament? Red hot favourites, I guess. However, despite their odds-on starting position Chandler & Harverson needed to overcome the trickery and doubles mastery of Kettle, with Marsh having the simple role of just getting the ball back!  This one was all about who faced who in the doubles combinations.  The first leg was a bit cagey as the players sized each other up looking for weaknesses in the combinations but Chandler & Harverson came through eventually at 15-13.  The combination in the second leg favoured Chandler & Harverson as Kettles fantastic serves were less effective when Chandler was receiving, and they quickly rattled off this one for a 2-0 lead.  The third leg was all about Kettle as his service against leftie Harverson was too dominant and the leg was swiftly over following a final flourish of winners from Marsh.  Back to their favoured combination in leg 4 and Chandler & Harverson made few errors to finish off the leg and be crowned Doubles Champions.    

Our newest competition is the Hardbat Singles where players are restricted to provided plain bats with no additional rubber – it completely changes the game back to a bygone era.  At Danbury we have some very talented hardbat proponents, and luckily our two most talented made it through the qualifying rounds to set up the Final everyone wanted.  The crowd was not disappointed as Bruce Kettle and Eric Green went about their business with some amazing lengthy rallies of attack versus defence.  Kettle is the master of attack on both wings, Green can retrieve everything and force his returns just over the net to thwart any idea of an easy killshot.  In the opening leg Kettle was at his majestic best, attacking whenever he could with Green playing catch-up on the adjustment back to hardbats.  So first blood to Kettle, but in the second set Green was more accurate and more athletic in his retrieval and the frustrated Kettle became a bit loose with his shots and Green was able to wear him down and dominate the leg to even up the match.  The deciding leg was a closer affair but Kettle was always ahead as his attack was more cautious and accurate than pure power.  With Kettle leading 11-8 (hardbat is played to a sudden-death 15) Green needed to catch up and do it quickly.  Kettle was having none of that and rattled off 4 quick points to take the leg and retain his Hardbat Crown.  A truly awesome watch.

Club Chairman Eric Green also awarded Peter Harverson with the Village Hall Trophy for being the most improved player across the Club this season as evidenced by his massive increase of 709 ranking points.  Green also thanked tournament organiser Dan Anderson for all his hard and efficient work setting up and running the Tournament.

Pic 1 – 2025 Open Singles Winner Keith Adams

Pic 2 – action from the Singles Final

Pic 3 – 2025 Hardbat Singles Winner Bruce Kettle

Pic 4 – Action from the Doubles Final 2025

Pic 5 – Restricted Singles Winner – Denis Crapnell

Pic 6 – Action from the Handicap Final – Eric Green v Ian Wall

Pic 7 – Peter Harverson – Village Hall Cup Winner 2025

Report by Eamonn Hall

• 

Gary Young completed the double in the Braintree Table Tennis League.  He not only won the open singles, but also topped the individual averages, a feat much rarer than might be expected.

It’s only been achieved once in the last 14 years – in 2017, by Brandon Crouchman.

Young finished with a hundred per cent record from eight matches, something that has not been done since Kevin Gowlett in 2014.

He was stretched to four games three times, by Steve Pennell, Adam Buxton and Sam Burrows, and only once to five, by Victor Chan.

For most of the season it looked as if his teammate and predecessor as open singles champion Paul Davison would join him on 100 per cent but he slipped up against Sean Clift with only two matches left.

Paul Lucas, equal first in 2023 and fourth last year, jumps up one place to third.  He lost three times, to Davison and twice to Young.

Matthew Brown in division two likewise waited until late in the season before he lost his unbeaten record.

He had won everything in three or four games before Rev Matthews took the first two games off him – and stretched him to 12-10 in the fourth – at the end of February. Then in his next match lost to Natalie Dodd.

Of those who had played enough matches to qualify, Rev Matthews moved up from seventh to second and Dave Moles from sixth to third.

The averages are notable for the dominance of division winners Sudbury Wanderers, whose players finished fourth, sixth, ninth and eleventh.  In addition, Natalie Dodd, who did not play enough to qualify for this feature, won 11 out of 12.

Richard Fifield, in division three, was the only other player to remain undefeated.

He joined Sudbury Strollers at the end of November and made the division sit up and take notice in his first outing when he won his three singles against league leaders Finchingfield A.

It was the first defeat of the season for John Barrett and the second for Peter Clark and Dave Punt.

Barrett and Clark finished in second and third places with Punt eighth.

Encouragingly, two of the league’s youngest players made the top ten, ten-year-old Ethan Collins and Lucien Nolan-Bradford, 17, sharing fifth place.

Matthew Brown was one of seven players throughout the three divisions to play in every match.  Sean Clift, Joe Meleschko, Karl Baldwin, Ian Shrubsole, Richard Taylor and Alastair Brown were the others.

Individual averages*, last season’s position in brackets (qualification one-third of team’s matches):

Division 1

1 (-) Gary Young 24 wins in 24 sets, average 100 per cent; 2 (3) Paul Davison 48-49, 97.9; 3 (4) Paul Lucas 51-54, 94.4; 4 (-) Adam Cuthbert 23-27, 85.2; 5 (7) James Hicks 42-51, 82.4; 6 (5) Andy Holmes, 30-37, 81.1; 7 (6) Adam Buxton 29-36, 80.6; 8 (2) Maria Boulton 38-48, 79.2; 9 (-) Luke Burridge 22-28, 78.6; 10 (10) Aron Jordan 24-32, 75; 11 (11) Scott Dowsett 29-39, 74.4; 12 (12) Oliver Hicks 27-40, 67.8; 13 (-) Karl Baldwin 33-53, 62.3; 14 (-) Jon Hill 14-23, 60.9; 15 (14) Ken Lewis 28-47, 59.6; 16 (-) Steve Noble 20-35, 57.1; 17 (18) James Mullane 21-37, 56.8; 18 (8) Alistair Hill 13-23, 56.5; 19 (16) Chris Parr 29-54, 53.7; 20 (-) Zach Harrington 25-51, 49.0.

Division 2

1 Matthew Brown 59-60, 98.3; 2 Rev Matthews 48-56, 85.7; 3 Dave Moles 35-42, 83.3; 4 Ian Shrubsole 47-58, 81.0; 5 Alesha Ellis-Austin 41-51, 80.4; 6 Louise Hartshorn 36-46, 78.3; 7 Roy Hooper 42-54, 77.8; 8 Adi Kamma 20-27, 74.1; 9 David Hitchen 17-23, 73.9; 10 Richard Whiteside 31-42, 73.8.

Division 3

1 Richard Fifield 30-30, 100; 2 John Barrett 41-43, 95.4; 3 Peter Clark 33-37, 89.2; 4 Stewart Grant 29-33, 87.9; 5= Ethan Collins, Lucien Nolan-Bradford 17-21, 80.9; 7 Peter Davenport 38-47. 80.9; 8 Dave Punt 32-40, 80; 9 Dave Montgomery 38-48, 79.2; 10 Steve Willis 44-56, 78.6

* Where a player has played for more than one team in the same division, all matches are counted

Report by Ron Fosker

English League Cup Competition (ELCC)   Report by   Mitchell Jones

On Saturday, 10th May, two teams proudly represented the Southend Table Tennis League in the English League Cup Competition (ELCC).

Southend 1 – Zone E (St Neots Table Tennis Club, Cambridge)

Mitch Jones and Liam Squirrell travelled to St Neots Table Tennis Club in Cambridge to represent Southend 1 in Zone E. Their first match was against the Bedford League, resulting in a narrow 3-2 defeat. However, they bounced back in the second match with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over the highly regarded Wembley and Harrow League—widely considered one of the strongest leagues in the country.

A standout moment came when Liam defeated Sammy Kaye in straight sets, an impressive feat given Kaye’s ranking is 343 places above Liam. Wembley and Harrow went on to beat Bedford 4-1, leading to a countback scenario. Unfortunately, Wembley and Harrow edged ahead by just one game, meaning Southend 1 finished second in the group and narrowly missed qualification for the national finals.

Southend 2 – Zone B (Wensum Table Tennis Club, Norwich) 

Ian Wall, Kieran Skeggs, and Arron Chandler represented Southend 2 in Zone B at the Wensum Table Tennis Club in Norwich. The opening match saw Norwich defeat Peterborough 5-0. Southend 2 then faced Peterborough, securing a 3-2 victory. In their final match against Norwich—last year’s ELCC champions—Southend 2 put up a strong fight but ultimately lost 5-0. As a result, Southend 2 also finished second in their group and did not qualify for the national finals.

Both teams displayed great skill and determination, and the Southend League can be proud of their strong performances against top-level competition.

Mitchell Jones

13 May 2025

• 

While the well-established Netts A team won the division one title, it was two new teams that took the honours in the second and third divisions of the Braintree Table Tennis League.

Sudbury Wanderers, winners of division two, were in their third season in the league and division three winners Finchingfield A in only their second.

Both dominated their divisions.  Wanderers were 40 points clear, while Finchingfield, the only team in the three divisions to win all their matches, were 29 points ahead.

Wanderers improved from third last year to first, having been promoted from division three in their first season.

The nucleus of their team has remained the same, the duo of Ian Shrubsole and Louise Hartshorn remaining with them throughout the three years.

Both improved their averages impressively this year, Shrubsole from 71 per cent to 81 and Hartshorn from 67 to 78.

They were backed up by new signings David Hitchen, 74 per cent, and Colin Moss, 72.

The race for second place was the closest in the league, only three points separating three teams.

In the end, Rayne E just sneaked home, one point ahead of Black Notley D.

Rarely can a team have relied so much on one player.  Of Rayne E’s 123 points, Matthew Brown was responsible or half responsible for 77.  He played in every match, won 59 singles and shared in 18 doubles wins.

In division three, Finchingfield split their resources after using ten players last season. 

This time they added a B team and, more importantly to their title success, they signed on two highly experienced players for the new A team, Dave Punt, whose league experience goes back to the 1960s, and Peter Clark, who had been in the Netts C team that won division three in a canter three years ago.

:Punt and Clark were joined in the A team by John Barrett, who had won 24 of his 27 sets last season.

This time Barrett lost only twice, both to Sudbury Strollers mid-season signing Richard Fifield.  Clark won 89 per cent, Punt 80 and Ray Bradford 61.

Strollers were heading comfortably for second place before Fifield joined their ranks but his 30 wins out of 30 cemented their position.

He was ably backed by George Berry, Peter Abbott, Geoff Barrett and Tim Matthews, giving the team a 19-point cushion over third-placed Notley G.

Report by Ron Fosker