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

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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

In the end they didn’t break any records but from very early on it was clear that Netts A were the strong favourites to regain their Braintree Table Tennis League title.

In their first 16 matches, they conceded only 12 sets, three of them when they were forced to field a reserve.

Had they kept that up they would have been the first team since Bocking in 1994 to concede fewer than one set per match.

They faded in the final run-in and doubled their tally over their last four matches but the title was heading their way long before that.

They relied largely on the same three players as last season, when they finished 19 points behind Rayne A, but with the important addition of Gary Young, undefeated in his 24 sets before going on to take the open singles title in the individual championships.

The core three also stepped up, each of them improving their averages.  Paul Davison lost only one out of 49, compared with four last season, James Hicks went up from 75 per cent to 82 and Andy Holmes from 79 to 81. 

They also didn’t need to call on reserves as often.  Last season they used a reserve ten times, this season just four.

Rayne A, by comparison, failed to match the consistency that brought them the title last season and, crucially, did not have the back-up services of 2019 men’s singles champion Lee McHugh to call on.

The crunch came in the first meeting with Netts A, whose 9-1 win set the tone for the season.

The other success story was that of Sudbury Nomads, who jumped up four places to third in only their second season in the top division.

They were able to field their main line-up of Karl Baldwin, Aron Jordan and Ken Lewis more regularly than last season, with Jordan’s 75 per cent return from his 32 sets a major factor.

Baldwin can also reflect on a satisfactory season, jumping from 51 per cent to 62, while Lewis, now 76, showed that age has not yet wearied him, posting an average of 59.6, almost identical to last season.

Liberal C propped up the rest for the second season but they won four times compared with two last season and had the satisfaction of knowing that had the league been calculated on two or three points for a win, they would have avoided the bottom rung.

Next week: a review of divisions two and three.

Report by Ron Fosker

Week 1 Division 2 Southend Summer League

Hadleigh B were 7/2 winners over Basildon D on the opening day of competition.  Two singles wins each here for Colin Barham and Dave Woolmer with Ivan Arabadzhiev adding another win with a close fought 11-9 final set win over Alwine Jarvis.  Michael Elemide was Basildon’s only singles winner with a victory over Ivan.  Alwine and Michael picked up Basildon’s other point with a win in their doubles together.

Stanford C recorded a big 8/1 win over Hockley C whose only success on the night came from Perry Lazell with a 4-set win over Karen Kempster.  Otherwise, it was all one-way traffic for Stanford with Randy Santiago and new recruit Mike Trendell putting in unbeaten performances.

Canvey B hosted Stanford B and it was the away side who left with a 6/3 win.  The 6 singles games were shared but it was the doubles that made the difference with Stanford successful in all 3 games.  Trevor Hayes’ 2 singles wins for Canvey was matched by Vaughan Chambers for Stanford.  

Invicta B did not let the lack of a third player prevent them from getting the better of a youthful Matchpoint B side.  Andrew St John and Mike Keeble won both their singles and then combined to win the doubles to give them a 5/4 win.

The experience of Runnymede’s Tony Millward proved to be the difference when his side took on Basildon C.  Tony came out on top in both of his singles games and both his doubles with partners Steve Wisbey and Andrew Humphris, but 5 sets were needed for both games.  Dave Walton won both his singles games for Basildon.

Week 2

Canvey C crossed the water for their match against Invicta B but were dispatched in double quick time.  The home trio of Mike Keeble, Trish Winter and Brendan Raja were 9/0 winners, dropping just 2 sets on the way.

In contrast, it was a much closer affair as Hockley C entertained Runnymede.  The away side left with a narrow 5/4 win but there were some tight games.  None more so than the meeting of James Evesham and Andrew Humphris.  This game swung in favour of one player and then the other before James got over the line at 11-9 in the fifth set.  Both Ross Collins for Hockley and Steve Wisbey for Runnymede ended the night with 2 singles and a doubles win each.

Basildon C found themselves with only 2 players for their home match against Hadleigh B but managed to pick up 3 points.  A singles win each for Basildon’s Steve Walters and Kieran Wood and a doubles win together saw them restrict their visitors to a 6/3 win, for whom Dave Woolmer won both his singles.

Basildon D proved to be good for Matchpoint B, with an 8/1 victory the outcome.  Sam Morgan picked up the only point for Matchpoint with a win over Michael Elemide.  Despite the convincing scoreline, it was not all plain sailing for Michael and teammates Ross Letham and Errol Anderson, with several games only decided in the fifth set.

The Stanford ‘derby’ was postponed as their venue was not available.

Week 3

Hadleigh B recorded their 3^rd win and top the table, but their match with Hockley C was closely fought.  It seemed at the start of the evening as if Hockley would only have two players, but Gary Beck was summoned from in front of the TV to come and play and he made big impact with 2 singles and a doubles win.  Dave Woolmer was unbeaten in singles and doubles for Hadleigh, and a win for Ivan Arabadzhiev over George Clark ensured a 5/4 win for the hosts.  Ben Brown won Hockley’s other point with a fifth set win over Sineh Ball.

A solid team performance saw Canvey B get the better of Invicta B, 6/3 being the end result.  The Canvey trio of Tony Westwell, Kevin Walsingham and Des Duffield all contributed in both singles and doubles.  For Invicta there was singes win each for Trish Winter and Andrew St John and the pair combined to win their doubles.

Basildon C also visited Canvey this week to play the hosts C team.  For Basildon there was singles win each for Alwine Jarvis, Ross Letham and Anton Kudynuik and the 3 of them made a clean sweep of the doubles.  Steve Kemp was the best on the night for Canvey, winning both his singles.

An experienced Basildon C side got the better of the Matchpoint B juniors but there were good wins for Zachary Samuels and Sam Morgan over Dave Walton and Steve Walters respectively.  Kieran Wood was the leading light for Basildon, winning both his singles and doubles games.  7/2 the score here in Basildon’s favour.

Runnymede were grateful that Tony Millward was in their side when they took on Stanford C, as he won both his singles, and doubles alongside his teammates Steve Wisbey and Steve McQuillan.  However, it was Stanford who were 5/4 winners with Mike Trendell leading the way with two singles wins and a doubles win with Randy Santiago.  Randy also won a singles as did son Jake.

Report by Dave Woolmer