Writtle A have made a very impressive start to their campaign in the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League. Their leading players – Peter Radford and Paul Cuming were both undefeated as they beat a strong OCs A side 7-3.
Radford and Cuming both secured the prize scalp of David Cole with the hard-hitting Cuming winning his clash with Cole 3-2 (11-9, 7-11, 12-
14, 11-7, 11-6).
Bocking also made a winning start. Paul Davison was undefeated as they beat ECC B 6-4. Rik James will be a major acquisition for the ECC side and he made his presence felt by beating Kevin Gowlett 3-1 (4-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-8).
Maldon B beat ECC A 6-4 although none of the Maldon players were able to get the better of ECC’s Steve Joslin who completed his hat-trick with a 3-0 (13-11, 11-8, 12-10 victory over Minda Sinkus.
A strong Liberal side of Steve Elmes, Barry Pritchard and Steve Pennell ran out very impressive 9-1 winners over Hatfield Peverel B in Division Two. The Liberal team won all four games decided in the fifth end with Barry Pritchard giving them a winning start to the evening by getting the better of Dick Wyman 3-2 (11-9, 6-11, 18-16, 12-14, 11-9).
Hatfield Peverel A (John Webber, John Gagg and Dave Calleja) beat Danbury C 7-3 although older players will be interested by Danbury’s new acquisition – Steve Whitely. The Chelmsford Mens Singles Champion in 1974 and 1975 made his first appearance after a 30 year lay-off from the Sport.
Danbury D also impressed. Their trio of Gus Heath, Chris Buer and Andrew Halling beat Writtle B 8-2 and if this team plays regularly they could be the side to beat. Gary Ward made his mark for Writtle. He beat Andrew Halling 3-1 (9-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-8).
Elsewhere, James Hicks scored three good wins as ECC C beat promoted Danbury B 6-4. Hicks completed his hat-trick by defeating Glen Laing 3-2 (8-11, 18-16, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5).
Danbury E (Herbie Smith, Lee McHugh and Norman Smith) made a good start in Division Three with Lee McHugh and Norman Smith both remaining undefeated as they beat ECC E 8-2. Excalibur C also look strong having acquired the services of Glen Johnson.
They beat Chelmsford C 8-2 with Johnson bagging a hat-trick and Lin Attridge and Bill Smith both winning twice. Chelmsford’s Chris Denyer had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Essex Veterans County player Lin Attridge 3-2 (11-9, 11-9, 12-14, 7-11, 11-9).
In Division Four OCs C have made a flying start. They beat OCs D 9-1. Matthew Porter and Mick Hayes were both unbeaten and OCs D had to wait until the last game of the evening to pick up their sole win. Adrian North fought his way to a 3-1 (11-3, 11-3, 7-11, 11-8) success against David Porter.
The match between Writtle C and Maldon C finished all square. Tom Elder won his three singles for Maldon. It was a similar story in the match between EPHQ and Hatfield Peverel D. The match finished tied at 5-5. This time Ray Eldridge won his three singles and in a “grand-stand” finish Ian Hockley defeated Dave Carter 3-2 (11-9, 4-11, 3-11, 11-6, 15-13) to earn EPHQ a draw.
Brian Ellis’s hat-trick ensured that Danbury H held the upper-hand against ECC F. Allison Millard fared best for the ECC team. She beat both Dave Goody and Dave Powell.
OCs E (Dave Newman, Daniel Berry and Charlie Mariner) gave nothing away in beating OCs F 10-0 in Division Five. Charlie Mariner came up trumps in the closest game of the evening, beating Josh Watts 3-2 (7-11, 11-9, 5-11,15-13, 11-9).
A four-player Elmtree Excalibur F ran out 8-2 winners against Chelmsford G. Keith Fitzjohn, Martin Hiskey and Wiktor Delimat all remained undefeated. Danbury K are also off to a flying start. Trevor Palmer and Kevin Willis both picked up hat-tricks as they beat OCs G 9-1.
Steve Kerns
Press & Publicity Officer
Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League