Danbury A are the early pace-makers in the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League and they recorded their second 10-0 win of the season as they blitzed Danbury B 10-0. Ben Warner, Gary Young and Minda Sinkus all bagged hat-tricks.
Young was the only Danbury player to come under real pressure and he had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Peter Mynard 3-2 (9-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-7, 16-14).
OCs A were every bit as impressive as they beat Elmtree Excalibur A 10-0. Brandon Crouchman, Terry Dowsett and John Cleasby all won their three singles with Cleasby getting the better of Scott Dowsett 3-2 (8-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 12-10) in the closest game of the evening.
OCs A didn’t fare so well against Bocking and last year’s champions won 7-3 even though they only had two players. Dave Cole and Keiran Lally gave nothing away. Lally set the ball rolling with a fluctuating 3-2 (8-11, 11-2, 11-6, 10-12, 11-4) win over Brandon Crouchman.
Bocking also beat OCs B 7-3. David Cole was again undefeated whilst Alan Burgess contributed excellent wins over Kevin Worthington and Robbie Burton.
Danbury C in turn did well to beat OCs B 8-2. Dave Richardson won his three singles with room to spare and he was well supported by Steve Whiteley and Ian Whiteside who both won twice.
Liberal top the table in Division Two with 19 points from three matches. Andrew Huckson was their match winner as they beat Danbury E 6-4 with Dean Andrews (two wins) providing valuable support.
Elmtree Excalibur B ran out 7-3 winners against Hatfield Peverel A. Lee McHugh was the difference between the two sides and he remained undefeated. Guy McKenzie wasn‘t able to contribute to the Hatfield Peverel score but he came “oh-so-close“ against Ryan Pitt before succumbing 3-2 (14-16, 11-5, 9-11, 11-7, 13-15) – one of those games where the losing player actually won the most points.
Danbury G (20 points) made it three wins out of three by beating Chelmsford B 6- 4. Dan Anderson led the way with three victories with Dan Richardson winning twice. Richardson won “the battle of the Richardsons” by beating Mick (no relation) 12-10, 11-2, 9-11, 11-8.
It was honours shared in the match between OCs E and OCs D. Four players picked up two wins – Mick Hayes and Dave Porter from the E side and Nat Ravlic and Tom Barker from the D team. Tom Barker beat League stalwart Roy Moore 3-2 (9-11, 11-13, 11-8, 11-8, 14-12) in the closest game of the evening.
There was a big win for Maldon B who had Ev Lucas undefeated as they beat Danbury F 8-2. Brian Riedling and Dawn Baldry both won twice.
In Division Four Danbury H did well to draw 5-5 with Chelmsford D – good going as they were a player short. Ivan Chaplin picked up three wins and Maurice Hardy won twice.
The match between Danbury J and Elmtree Graphics also finished all square with the two-player Danbury side (Dave Goody and Brian Ellis) coming out on top in the games played.
The indefatigable Norman Hayes, in his 52nd season in the league, led Danbury L to an 8-2 win over OCs G in Division Five. Ray Cheung was also undefeated, with Steve Pratt picking up a hard-fought singles win over Alan Shrimpton for the losers.
Danbury L didn’t fare so well against OCs H and missed out 6-4. Tejas Kotwal impressed for the Old Chelmsfordians team by beating both Norman Hayes and Mick Robinson.
Elsewhere, Chelmsford G were convincing 9-1 winners over Chelmsford F in a match where Steven Chambers and Michael Whelpdale were both undefeated. Harry Isaacs beat Harry Matthews in five ends for the losers.
Maldon D shaded their match 6-4 against Highwood despite the fact that Highwood’s Kevin Barber remained unbeaten. Maldon’s Shirley Carroll won twice and this included a last gasp 3-2 (11-9, 5-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-9) success against Martin Goddard.
There was success for Chelmsford H (Harry Matthews and Callum Day) in the CLICK League. They beat OCs J 4-1. Harry Matthews won twice whilst Adam Chalk notched up a 3-0 success over Callum Day for the losers.