{"id":3712,"date":"2025-03-24T13:10:10","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T12:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=3712"},"modified":"2025-03-24T13:12:23","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T12:12:23","slug":"the-champions-emerge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/2025\/03\/24\/the-champions-emerge\/","title":{"rendered":"The champions emerge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Champions crowned in Division 3, Division 2 all but sorted, and a seismic shock result in Division 1, all in a busy week for the Burnham & District Table Tennis League.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having drawn last week against leaders Fambridge the pre-season favourites Mapledene A needed a decisive win against the surprise Title challengers Cold Norton B.  Anything other than a high scoring victory would be a nail in the coffin of the quest for glory.   So going down 5-0 in the opening half of the match didn\u2019t really help.  The dream was scuppered, the open top bus parade cancelled and the fat lady would never sing again.  The pick of the opening exchanges was a 4 setter where Sam Lowman kept his cool to get the better of Men\u2019s Singles Champion Reece Seddon.   Seddon did fight back and in match 6 used all his nous to come through a tight 5 setter against Ian Wall \u2013 and finally Mapledene were on the scoreboard.  Could they rally and perhaps somehow muster a draw from the dregs of the match.  Absolutely not \u2013 Cold Norton switched on the turbos, won the doubles and went on to clean sweep the last 3 singles for an astonishing 9-1 victory that should see them clinch the most unexpected of Titles.  The final match of the night saw Seddon again lose out in a tight 5 setter against player of the match Eric Green.  Cold Norton travel to bottom team Woodham C for their final match needing just a victory to claim their first ever Division 1 crown. Amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elsewhere in Division 1 there were high scoring victories for Mapledene B and Cold Norton C, and a tight triumph for Woodham A.  Cold Norton C scored a whitewash 10-0 win over Woodham C with hat-tricks all round for Arron Chandler, Kim Shead and Tim Cramphorn.  In this one-sided affair only one match went beyond 3 sets and that saw Cramphorn come from behind to finally best the energetic Adi Kamma.  A good night\u2019s work for Cramphorn who has been struggling to convert his play into points this season.   Mapledene B looked worried after Colin Chatfield lost out to Woodham B\u2019s Dan Patynski in the opening match \u2013 but they needn\u2019t of as that was the last blot on their copy book as they ran out 9-1 winners.  Despite the scoreline it wasn\u2019t all one-way traffic as the Woodham trio fought hard.  None more so than Captain Eamonn Hall who lost out in deciding sets to both Keith Willett and Simon Jacob.  In the match with Jacob, Hall looked like he was cruising to the most unexpected win of the season at 2-0 (11-4, 11-3) and 9-3 up but Jacob suddenly upped his game and went on a twiddle frenzy that befuddled his opponent and as the gap closed the confidence levels switched, Hall became like a fish up a tree, and Jacob somehow grasped a victory from the guts of defeat.  Willett completed his hard-earned hat-trick in a topsy turvy 5 setter against Patynski.  Woodham A were better stacked this week with both Harry Chivers and the travelator that is Lee McHugh in attendance.  In the 6-4 victory over Cold Norton A Chivers hit a treble including 5 set wins over Arron Chandler and Duncan Taylor \u2013 markers for the upcoming Burnham Tournament.  McHugh chipped in with 2 wins including another 5 setter against Chandler but lost out to Taylor in 3.  Tony Bonnici added the final point in a straight sets encounter with Steve Sawyer, but earlier on he had also gone the distance with Chandler but lost out despite having had a decent lead at one point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Division 2 crown has almost certainly gone to Stow Maries A who finished their campaign with a Ken Sheard inspired 7-3 victory over Blackwater B.  They needed 8 points to be sure so now they have to wait for Maldon A to drop just one point in their final two matches \u2013 not an impossibility but Maldon do have to play a couple of the decent mid-table sides who can field some very top Division 2 players, so its very unlikely.  So back to the commentary and less of the speculation, Stow\u2019s trickster Ken Sheard hit an unbeaten treble and his cohort of Peter Chastin and Richard Storey both won 2 out of their 3 matches.  For Blackwater Simon Quelch handed Peter Chastin a \u2018You\u2019ve Been Quelched\u2019 calling card, and Louis Gunn did a number on Richard Storey \u2013 both gaining significant kudos and ranking points in equal measures.  Quelch and Gunn then blotted the Sheard copy book as they took the doubles against Sheard and Chastin in straight sets.  Maldon A didn\u2019t really help themselves as they stumbled to a 6-4 win over Stow B, although the Innes family pride was on full show as Hamish Innes and son Ross Kirby both hit impressive hat-tricks for the 6 winning points.  The Innes senior treble might have been expected but this was Kirby\u2019s first Division 2 treble and was much less expected so what a night for the duo.  Naturally they celebrated by losing the doubles in a long and tight 5 setter against Peter Hance and Nicky Reece-Ford.  Maldon B recorded the same score as their A team as they overcame the Cold Norton D challenge with a 6-4 triumph.  As is often the case, Steve Aspland was their stand out player with another unbeaten night.  Terry Hyland was the best of the Cold Norton bunch with wins over Colin Barrell and Garry Eames.  The Blackwater A trio warmed up for the upcoming Burnham tournament with a perfect night against 2 player Stow C \u2013 only one match went beyond 3 sets when plucky Jean Chasmer took the second leg of her match against Neil Freeman.  Trebletastic times for Blackwater\u2019s Alan Scammell, Denis Balic, and Freeman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maldon C have been the long time Division 3 champions-elect, following this week\u2019s 9-1 result against Blackwater F they are now actual bonafide Champions.  With a Maldon twist the squad and their support crew will be holding an open top barge parade this weekend along the Promenade \u2013 everyone is welcome, banners are encouraged.  Not to be outdone each of the Maldon players this week scored a hat-trick of wins but somehow that form evaded them in the doubles which was won by Blackwater\u2019s Oscar Wyman and Anne Brewer.  So 8 straightforward victories and one tough one as Ella Sach came from behind to edge her match against Wyman for her hat-trick, with the other trebles going to Shirley Carroll and Chris Ravenhill.  Blackwater C have all but secured the runner-up spot but they\u2019ll be disappointed they didn\u2019t close that mathematical certainty as they just squeezed past St Lawrence A with a tight 6-4 win.  Colin Barham was in fine fettle with his hat-trick and Chris Rolison bagged a brace, and they combined for the Brucie Bonus doubles to secure the overall victory.  For St Lawrence Mike Burton was back in action and taking good wins over Rolison and Jacqui Treacy.  Allan Steel maintained his 100% win rate as his Woodham E side drew with Kath Little\u2019s Blackwater E trio.  Nothing the Little Crew could do against the hardened Steel but they battled hard in all the other matches to secure enough points for the draw \u2013 with Phil West and Deb Ginn each winning their other 2 singles matches, and Little taking a nervy last gasp 12-10 in the fifth point over Diane King.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pic 1 \u2013 Cold Norton B\u2019s heroic Eric Green taking his season defining hat-trick against Mapledene A<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pic 2 \u2013 Dan Patynski takes Woodham B\u2019s only point in the opener with Colin Chatfield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pic 3 \u2013 Mapledene B\u2019s wily Keith Willett in hat-trick form against Woodham B this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pic 4 \u2013 Tim Cramphorn serving for the match and his personal treble against Graham Briggs this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pic 5 \u2013 Stow A\u2019s hat-trick man Ken Sheard in action this week<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pic 6 \u2013 Maldon C\u2019s Ella Sach, one of the many hat-trickonians from Maldon this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Report by Eamonn Hall<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eric Green<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Colin Chatfield (left) v Dan Patynski<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Keith Willett<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Tim Cramphorn (right) v Graham Briggs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Ken Sheard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Ella Sach<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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    <\/ul><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Champions crowned in Division 3, Division 2 all but sorted, and a seismic shock result in Division 1, all in a busy week for the Burnham & District Table Tennis League. Having drawn last week against leaders Fambridge the pre-season favourites Mapledene A needed a decisive win against the surprise Title challengers Cold Norton B.  […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":2554,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[10],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3712"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3712"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3719,"href":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3712\/revisions\/3719"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}