Maldon D (with a squad of Ciaran Whelan, Ev Lucas, Colin Napper, Steve Scholz, Mervyn Perriman and Peter Scholz) – the long-time leaders – have been crowned champions of Division Four of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League.
They completed their task in style by beating third-placed Danbury H 9-1 and second-placed OCs F 7-3. Ciaran Whelan, who has won a massive 96% of his games – 49 wins out of 51 – was undefeated in both matches. Whelan beat his three OCs opponents as follows – Tom Barker 3-1 (11-6, 11-8, 10-12, 11-7), Charlie Mariner 3-1 (7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6) and Peter Windley 3-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-5).
OCs F are assured of second place and they produced a strong performance just when they needed it to beat Chelmsford D 8-2. Peter Windley and Tom Barker both won their three singles.
Further down the table, EPHQ gave themselves a great chance of avoiding relegation. A Calvin Wright hat-trick fashioned their 7-3 victory over OCs E. Wright had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Charles Yeung 3-2 (8-11, 11-7, 2-11, 12-10, 16-14).
In Division Two, the battle for second place remains undecided. OCs B (108 points) currently hold that position whilst Rawreth & Hullbridge B follow next, four points back but with a game in hand. OCs B beat Elmtree Excalibur C 6-4 – Kevin Worthington‘s hat-trick being the main difference between the two sides. With a record of 44 wins out of 51 – 86 % – Worthington has been this side’s outstanding player.
The match between Galleywood B and Danbury D finished tied at 5-5. Danbury’s Steve Whiteley completed his hat-trick with a last-gasp 3-2 (8-11, 6-11, 14-12, 11-9, 12-10) victory over James Hicks to earn his side a share of the points.
Danbury D also beat Elmtree Excalibur C 9-1. Steve Whiteley and Dave Richardson were both undefeated on this occasion. This match also featured the longest individual game of the season as Dave Richardson beat Clacton and Colchester stalwart Phil Smith in a marathon 3-2 (12-10, 11-8, 12-14, 23-25, 11-4) encounter.
In Division Three, Chelmsford C overcame OCs D 7-3. John Barrett was undefeated for the Chelmsford side. He had to work hard to beat Mick Hayes 3-1 (11-3, 12-10, 10-12, 11-9) and David Porter also in four (7-11, 11-9, 11-6, 14-12).
All-conquering Danbury M showed their superiority in Division Five this week. They hammered second-placed Hatfield Peverel D 9-1. This was the 17th win out of 17 for Dan Richardson (three wins), Dan Anderson (three wins) and George Ashley (two wins). Richardson’s record of 40 wins out of 42 – 95% – and Anderson’s record of 33 wins out of 35 – 94% – are outstanding.
When a team is carrying all before them it is the games they lose that make the most interesting reading and here it was Keith Cullen who came up trumps with a very strange-looking 3-2 (11-1, 11-4, 5-11, 6-11, 11-2) win over George Ashley.
Chelmsford E beat OCs G 8-2. Adam Pitt led the way with a hat-trick of wins.
Buttsbury A continue to carry all before them in the CLICK League and commendably they have done so without having to call on reserves. Nathan Fry (34 wins out of 35 – 97 %) was undefeated as they powered past Buttsbury C (4-1), Buttsbury B (5-0) and OCs H (3-2). The match against OCs H was the most competitive. Fry was tested by Lawrence Bartlett before he won 3-1 (11-6, 11-5, 8-11, 14-12) and Aswin Siam beat Matthew Elliott 3-1 (11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6). The OCs pairing of Siam and Bartlett also beat Fry and Elliott 3-2 (11-9, 8-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7) in the doubles.
Elsewhere, Buttsbury B (George Cobley and Grant Clark) beat Black Notley B 5-0 and Chelmsford G led by an undefeated Harry Matthews beat Buttsbury C 3-2. Buttsbury C (Tom Picton and Alex Headley) in turn beat Chelmsford H 3-2 although neither of their players were able to get the better of Kristian Krejcirik.
Steve Kerns (press & publicity officer)
April 10, 2015