Hayden scores three excellent five-end victories against Maldon B
The evenly matched nature of the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League was illustrated perfectly this week. Two of the three matches resulted in 5-5 draws whilst Maldon A shaded it 6-4 against Bocking. The match between OCs A and the leaders Maldon B was arguably the top encounter of the week and it finished tied at 5-5. No less than six games were decided in the fifth end and Peter Hayden came out on top.
The OCs star toppled James Denyer, Keiran Lally and Ben Warner in three well-contested five enders. In his first game of the Season David Cole beat Keiran Lally 3-2 (12-14, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9, 12-10) but he also missed out against Ben Warner (0-3) and James Denyer (0-3). ECC A and Danbury B also drew. The hard-hitting Tony Halling won his three singles beating Peter Radford (3-1), Steve Kerns (3-0) and Mark Mulley (3-1).
Maldon A’s 6-4 win over Bocking owed a lot to a hat-trick from M&G Investments 2013 Mens Singles Champion Alex Abbott. Bocking’s Kevin Gowlett and Paul Davison both scored fine wins over Paul Sayer.
In Division Two Chelmsford A drew 5-5 with ECC C. Waseeem Qureshi won his three singles whilst James Hicks picked up two wins for ECC. Danbury C emerged as 6-4 winners against Danbury D – good going as none of their players were able to get the better of Dave Richardson.
OCs B made it nine wins out of nine in Division Three by beating Hatfield Peverel B 7-3. Robert Burton stayed undefeated although Steve Northcott suffered his first reversal of the season. He missed out against Neil Freeman 3-1 (11-4, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6). Chelmsford C were comfortable 9-1 winners against ECC E. Dave Parker and Ryan Gooday both won their three singles. Elsewhere, Danbury G had Tim Pulham on unbeaten form as they beat Maldon C 8-2.
ECC F have jumped into third place in Division Four after they beat Chelmsford D 8-2. Peter Sun and Allison Millard both won their three singles. Chelmsford’s Richard Upson was unlucky to draw a blank. He just missed out against Mohammed Mohseni 3-2 (5-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 13-11.
Danbury L were narrow 6-4 winners over Elmtree Excalibur D. Alan Dadswell and Kevin Willis both won twice for Danbury L whilst Martin Hiskey and Wiktor Delimat picked up two wins apiece for Elmtree Excalibur. Willis had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Wiktor Delimat 3-2 (9-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7, 11-9). Sarah Austin was on match-winning form for Chelmsford E. She beat Scott Perry (3-0), Eamon Hall (3-0) and Dan Anderson (3-2) as Chelmsford beat Danbury M 6-4.
Maldon D were the week’s big winners in Division Five. Colin Napper and Steve Scholz both remained undefeated as they beat Chelmsford F 9-1. OCs G had Tom Barker to thank as they beat Highwood 7-3. Peter Windley won twice which included a widely-fluctuating 3-2 (11-8, 11-1, 4-11, 16-18, 11-9) win over Russell Downton. OC s G also beat Chelmsford F 7-3. Tom Barker (21 wins out of 23) was again the outstanding player and he again stayed undefeated.
Steve Kerns
Press & Publicity Officer
Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League (December 16, 2013)