Frank Neill inspires Writtle success

Writtle were the winners of a thrilling Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League Division Four Down Knock Out Cup final when they beat Danbury 5-3.

Frank Neill was their hero with two singles wins. He beat Dave Powell 3-1 (8-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-4) and in an enthralling eighth game Neill fought back after losing two closely fought opening games to get the better of Dave Goody 3-2 (9-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7).

Andy Fox played his part by defeating Brian Ellis 3-2 (12-10, 6-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-7) whilst Brian Steward wasn’t successful in his singles against Brian Ellis or Dave Goody but he played his part by winning two vital doubles encounters.

Elmtree Excalibur A became the 2012 Handicap KO Cup Champions. Their side of Richard Hiskey (handicap 62), Wiktor Delimat (handicap 40) and Martin Hiskey (handicap 38) defeated Elmtree Excalibur B 5-2. Wiktor Delimat was the “ace in their pack” and he beat Rod Maclennan 21-17, 21-15 as well as Steve Cheesman 21-23, 21-19, 21-12 and Tony Hallett 21-23, 21-8, 21-8.

Rather unusually all three Elmtree Graphics B players were playing off an identical Handicap of 58 and the less experienced Delimat seems to have coped rather well against the contrasting styles of his opponents.

Writtle, semi-final winners over the holders ECC, are the 2012 Chelmsford Veterans Knock-Out Cup winners. Their team of Peter Radford, Kevin Worthington and Gary Ward beat Elmtree Excalibur 5-1.

The big shock here was Lin Attridge’s superb 3-1 (11-7, 9-11, 13-11, 11-9) win over Gary Ward – a contender for any “Win of the Season Award”. Lin also gave a good account of herself against Kevin Worthington before succumbing 1-3 (16-14, 7-11, 10-12, 5-11). Writtle number one Peter Radford also beat Bill Smith 3-1 (11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-5).

The ECC side of Steve Kerns, Mark Mulley and Lucy Wang added the Mixed knock Out Cup to their success in the Open KO Cup Competition with a 5-0 victory over Elmtree Graphics B.

This was the ECC team’s fifth success on the trot. Steve Kerns and Mark Mulley sealed the win by coming through a hard-fought doubles encounter against Gary Cattermole and Peter Mynard 3-2 (13-15, 11-7, 12-10, 9-11, 11-7). Mark Mulley produced a flawless performance as he defeated Gary Cattermole 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-6) whilst Lucy Wang played her part by defeating Melanie Bonnett 3-0 (11-3, 11-6, 11-7).

Steve Kerns

Press & Publicity Officer

Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League