Maldon D, runaway leaders of Division Four of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League, scored their 14th win of the season and they now hold a huge 25-point lead over second-placed Danbury H. Only Buttsbury A – the totally dominant leaders in this year’s CLICK League have a better record.
Ciaran Whelan (40 wins out of 42) and Colin Napper (23 wins out of 30) were both undefeated as they beat fifth-placed Elmtree Excalibur D 9-1. Colin Napper had to dig deep to beat Neil Thompson 3-2 (11-4, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9).
OCs E consolidated fourth spot by beating Writtle 7-3. Charles Yeung was a triple-winner in his singles. OCs E also drew 5-5 with Galleywood C. Adrian North was unbeaten for the Old Boys side. Newcomer Tejas Kotwal won once, coming out on top 3-2 (8-11, 15-13, 16-18, 11-4, 11-8) after a really hard-fought battle against John Wickens.
Chelmsford D ran out 8-2 winners against EPHQ. Jaroslaw Pietraszuk won all three singles for the Chelmsford side and he completed his hat-trick with a hard-earned 3-1 (5-11, 15-13, 12-10, 11-6) victory over Pip French – the best of the EPHQ players.
Hamish Innes impressed in Division One this week. He picked up three singles wins as Maldon A beat Bocking A 9-1. Alex Abbot was also undefeated whilst Simon Webber made his mark for the Bocking side. He beat Peter Norcott in five ends – 11-4, 12-14, 6-11, 11-7, 11-6.
Bocking A did not fare too much better against Galleywood A either, losing 8-2. Lucy Wang was again the best of the Galleywood players. She beat newcomer Andy Holmes 3-1 (11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 15-13) and Kevin Gowlett 3-2 (6-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 11-6).
One of the stars of this year’s M&G Investments Chelmsford Championships, Brandon Crouchman, was again the most successful player on view when OCs A beat Elmtree Excalibur A 7-3. Brandon won his three singles whilst Scott Dowsett impressed for the losers. Scott beat both Michael Andrews and John Cleasby. Also worthy of mention was Cleasby’s fine 3-0 (14-12, 13-11, 11-9) win over John Poysden.
Danbury produced a strong performance in Division Two by beating Chelmsford A 7-3. Dave Richardson won three times whilst Steve Whiteley and Ian Whiteside both picked up two wins. Waseem Qureshi, with two wins was the best of the Chelmsford players and he beat Steve Whiteley by a last gasp 3-2 (8-11, 11-5, 11-8, 3-11, 11-9 )margin.
Chelmsford in turn came out on top 6-4 against OCs B despite the fact that none of their players were able to get the better of Kevin Worthington. With a record of 34 wins out of 39, or 87%, Worthington continues to enjoy an outstanding season.
A mere two points separates the top two teams in Division Three and Hatfield Peverel B stay top after getting the better of fourth-placed Maldon C by a convincing 8-2 margin. Neil Freeman led the way with three wins and Gareth Davies and Gordon Fairchild both won twice. Fairchild defeated the hard-hitting Ciaran Whelan in four ends (11-7, 5-11, 11-6, 11-9).
Danbury E, scored their second win of the season by beating Chelmsford B 8-2. Herbie Smith was undefeated for the Danbury side and he beat Ryan Gooday 3-0 (12-10, 11-4, 11-8).
Chelmsford B also lost 6-4 to OCs D. This time Gooday won his three singles whilst the OCs trio of Mick Hayes, Roy Moore and David Porter all picked up two wins.
Melanie Bonnett produced the performance of the week in Division Five. She won all three singles, beating Ron Biggs, Peter Taylor and Keith Cullen but it wasn‘t enough to enable Elmtree Excalibur E to beat Hatfield Peverel D as they lost 6-4. Her closest match was against Peter Taylor where she pulled through 3-2 (11-13, 7-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-9).
Maldon E (Mervyn Perriman, Ross Wheeler and David Lamb) ran out 9-1 winners against OCs G. David Bishop was OCs’ sole winner and he beat Ross Wheeler 3-0 (12-10, 11-6, 11-6).
Steve Kerns (press & publicity officer)
March 2, 2015